The London Experience

While I have traveled fairly extensively all over the world, this trip was particularly exciting because we had a purpose; we were there to explore new ideas for gardens in American schools, and develop cultural awareness  in ourselves as well as the students we interacted with in the classroom. Having said that, I did not really understand how we were going to fulfill our purpose when I arrived.  Despite how hard we tried to be prepared, the best we could do was prepare to be unprepared.

Our first stop: Brandelhow Primary School

I felt a little unhinged because I wanted our presence to be mutually beneficial to both us, as U of M students, and the students/teachers at Brandelhow, but did not know how to strike this balance.  At the time of our visit I was still in a state of adjustment, trying to develop a feel for basic teaching philosophies in the UK compared to the US.  I found that they put more emphasis on formative assessment, particularly informal formative assessment, which may contribute to their academic competitiveness.  Just like any system, there are pros and cons, but what is interesting is that the garden provides benefits to both systems, English and American, no matter their assessment emphasis.

Second stop: Hampton Hill Junior School

This is where I really felt our purpose was defined and the experience was beneficial to all participants. The primary reason for this positive development was Jim Bliss from the Royal Horticulture Society.  His lessons were so applicable and easily incorporated us into the instruction.  We got to participate in an inquiry based lesson on herbs and work in the garden with the students.  Many thanks to Jim for helping us define our purpose and direct our efforts in a cohesive and productive direction.

Third stop: Growing Schools Conference

Participating in this conference provided the opportunity to obtain high quality teaching resources and idea sharing pertaining to school gardens.  The day was slow to start, but ultimately valuable.  I even took advantage of the chance to explain aquaponics to some of the teachers in my workshops. Speaking of the workshops, there were so many good options, but we could only participate in 3 so I did the Inquiry based learning, Hands-on Farming: with Livestock in the garden, and the Hatfield House tour.  I found it very interesting to be on the house tour with people that live relatively close to Hatfield, but were just as intrigued as I was.

Fourth Stop: Brockwell Community Greenhouse and Garden

In contrast to the schools that we had been visiting, this garden was located in the middle of a park that was previously an estate.  It had a very projecty feel, meaning that there was a lot going on, but also a lot of potential for new projects.  The primary objective was to use the space as a practicing area that allows people from the community to learn and work together.  They did a significant amount of work with at-risk students who tend to be criminally inclined and with students with special needs.  The manager was known for her bug hotels in particular, which illustrated the marriage of science and art as one beneficial and beautiful project.

Fifth stop: Christ Church Primary School

Again, Jim Bliss artfully orchestrated another classroom to maximize the benefit for everyone involved.  Jim taught the children and the children taught us how to sow tomato seeds. Then, at the end of the class, Jim finished the teaching cycle and taught some of us how to prune the pear and apple trees.  While Jim did a great job teaching, I am still not very confident in my pruning abilities, but he did inspire me to do a little more research and experiment on trees back here in the U.S.

Final stop: Phoenix Secondary School

Just when we thought that we had everything figured out when it came to English school gardens, we visited Phoenix.  This school had the most  amazing garden complete with a learning area fitted with wooden desks, a beautiful pond, and rabbits. I was struck by how big the space was, especially after seeing all the tiny cramped spaces and discussing the issues of limited space in London.  After the garden tour we had a great discussion with some teachers and students about the importance of horticulture and communication.  That is when I realized that communication is important in any profession and that I want to emphasize communication in my classes when I become a teacher because communication leads to inquiry and inquiry leads to learning.

Now that the trip is over I am proud of the work we did and grateful to everyone I met for opening my mind as a teacher and as a student.  I developed a lot of ideas and had a lot of fun in the process.  I think that we fulfilled our purpose, but I would not mind going back and doing it all again.