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"... If there were some evidence gardens help achievement... she reports there's never been any evidence -- beyond the supporters' anecdotal warm fuzzies ..."
by bootload 17y ago
"... If there were some evidence gardens help achievement... she reports there's never been any evidence -- beyond the supporters' anecdotal warm fuzzies ..."
Yet there is ample evidence that obesity in school age students is on the rise. It's in the UK where a dyslexic chef decided to do something about it, "Feed me Better" ~ http://www.jamieoliver.com/school-dinners/my-manifesto http://www.jamieoliver.com/school-dinners/my-manifesto It doesn't matter if its removing "junk food" from school menus and revising them with healthier alternatives or creating gardens outside to show how food is grown.
"... What evidence do we have that participation in one of these programs—so enthusiastically supported, so uncritically championed—improves a child’s chances of doing well on the state tests that will determine his or her future ..."
To not see the link between better understanding food, nutrition, health and learning shows a fixed and narrow mindset.
- gcheong 17y agoTo not be willing to let a theory stand or fall according to empirically gathered evidence shows a fixed and narrow mindset.
- gojomo 17y agoI can see a plausible link between garden-food-awareness and learning or health. But what weight should that link be assigned, compared to everything else? That is, would students with weak reading and math skills be better served by an hour in garden-education or an hour of other classroom work? Does garden-education reduce childhood obesity? Answering those questions requires evidence, not just an attractive theory (or appeal to a 'broad mindset'). The author reports there is no hard evidence proving gardens benefit students, and provides some testimony that schools without gardens do more for their students.