Building a Garden
In my science class I would have my class become a community. The lesson would
be that they are going to build a garden, and grow something that the class decides
on. As a class they will assign positions amongst themselves. “Not only
this, but practically every member of the household had his own share in the work.
The children, as they gained in strengths and capacity, were gradually initiated
into the mysteries of the several processes” (Dewey pg.10) For example,
group leader, banker, farmer, marketing department, and so on and so on. They
will all help with the garden, but have different jobs when different things are
happening with the garden. “It gets a chance to be a miniature community,
an embryonic society.” (Dewey pg. 18) Dewey explains on p.19 about how the
earth is the final source of all people's food, and that students should learn
skills of more technical such as cooks or carpenters. The garden would teach about
the earth as a final source and they would learn such technical skills by producing
what they are growing in their garden.
I would have the students go out and see other gardens and have them try to find
out the best season to plant a garden, and the best season to plant certain plants
and vegetables. The students would go and look at the other gardens to come back
and see what they want to do with their garden. It would give them an example
of how other gardens are set up and how successful they were with doing different
things. It is important for the students to go see this in person instead of reading
about it. It is better to see with the eye. The student could see someone else
garden and examine everything around it to see why it was a good or bad way to
do it. Then when they get back to school they can discuss why they should plant
their garden certain ways from what they have seen.
“From the standpoint of the child, the great waste in the school comes from
his inability to utilize the experiences he gets outside the school in and complete
and free way within the school itself.” (Dewey pg. 75) The student will
be able to use what they have learned in school and go home and build their own
garden, and they will be able to grown their own food. The students could go home
and plant their own garden and provide different food to their family. They would
use what they have learned in school and use at home to provide.
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