Garden Mosaics in South Africa Discovering connections between people, cultures, science, and action

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Garden Mosaics in South AfricaDiscovering
connections between people, cultures, science,
and action.

• Kendra Liddicoat, Dr. Marianne Krasny, Jamila
  Simon
• Cornell University

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What does Garden Mosaics offer?

• Educational Materials
• website and online databases
• training DVD
• program manual
• colorful science pages
• i. m. science investigations
• Gardener Story,
• Community Garden Inventory,
• Neighborhood Exploration,
• Weed Watch.
• Action Projects

Connecting youth and elders to investigate the
mosaic of plants, people, and cultures in
gardens, to learn about science, and to act
together to enhance their community.
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Garden Mosaics in South Africa June 2005, the
beginning

• Environment and Language Education Trust (ELET)
  
• Training teachers, developing English language
  teaching materials, promoting health education
  (cholera and HIV/AIDS), planting trees at KZN
  schools, and the INK Greening Project.

Pilot programs at two township schools in the
Durban area participating in ELETs INK Greening
Project.
INK Greening (Inanda, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu) A
2-year project which aims to green school yards
in INK, promote social and economic development
of adjoining communities, and employ 180
gardeners.
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EE in Southern Africa

• Well established and coordinated across the
  region.
• Supported by SADC-REEP, EEASA, Share-Net, and
  Rhodes University.
• Broad in scope and actively involved in the UN
  DESD.

The Environment
Political
Social
Economic
Biophysical
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EE in Southern Africa

• Active Learning Framework

Information Seeking
Reporting Ideas
Inquiry Encounters
Focus
Action Taking
ODonoghue, R. B. (2001)
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EE in Southern Africa

• Active Learning Framework

What do we already know?
Information Seeking
What do we need to find out?
Who can we contact for help?
Reporting Ideas
Inquiry Encounters
Focus
What can we report on the issue?
How will we investigate the issue?
Action Taking
ODonoghue, R. B. (2001)
What can we do?
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Kethamahle Senior Primary SchoolKwaMashu

• grade 7 learners,
• 4 educators, and
• 3 community workers

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Sandasonke Primary SchoolNtuzuma
55 grade 7 learners, 3 educators, and 3
community workers
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Neighborhood Exploration
i m science investigations
Learning from aerial photographs and topographic
maps
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Neighborhood Exploration
i m science investigations

• Learn how to make and use a key.
• Locate where we can
• get fresh vegetables
• attend a community event
• talk with friends
• get exercise
• enjoy nature
• At our school!
• Take a virtual or actual tour of the community.

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Gardener Story
i m science investigations
Where are you from? How did you learn to garden?
What vegetables do you grow? How are they
planted? How do you water and weed them? Who
eats the vegetables from the garden?
What indigenous herbs do you grow? How do your
gardening practices relate to your culture?
Then review the information and, if possible,
share it through the Garden Mosaics website.
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Choosing a Project
action project

• Planning in groups
• Come up with 3 realistic ideas.
• What would you need?
• Why would you do this project?
• planting vegetablesplanting herbs
  cleaning the schoolbuilding housesfixing
  shoesclearing more landmaking broomsmaking
  trash binsplanting treesmaking a sports
  fieldselling the vegetables starting a tuck
  shop
• Our decision focus on marketing the vegetables.

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Designing Signs and Price Lists
action project
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Focus Group at Kethamahle
evaluation

• What did you like and learn?
• Looking at our school on the map and seeing
  places to develop in the community.
• I know why they do the garden, to feed people
  who are sick.
• The gardeners says that we must eat the
  vegetables because give us vitamins--good for our
  bodies.
• How to prepare the garden, need to dig a deeper
  hole, measure for the spinach. I like watering
  and preparing plants.
• I went into the garden to pick up papers,
  plastic. To clean the garden.

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Focus Group at Kethamahle
evaluation

• What did you learn about people and plants?
• Respect the gardeners, and plants are needed to
  feed their families so don't step or kill them.
• Need to know that the principal and everyone
  uses the garden to survive.
• In the garden don't walk in the plants. They
  are people, they breathe just like me.
• Cannot live without plants--give us food,
  medicine, shelter.
• I learned not to look down at gardenersGarden
  is not for old people.
• Garden is very important in my community. Don't
  play, run, disturb.

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Interview with the Principal
evaluation

• What impact do you think Garden Mosaics had on
  your school, your learners, your educators, and
  the community workers?
• They developed a love of working in the field,
  knowing that the soil is everything. This was for
  the educators as well as the learners. The
  educators never showed interest in the garden
  before. Now I know that they will accompany the
  learners and go to the garden with them.The
  learners were so eager. They would come to the
  office and remind me.It was excellent for the
  community workers. It made them know that even
  you from overseas work in the garden. It showed
  them dedication and love and support.

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Garden Mosaics fits well with the active learning
framework used in the SADC region.
Information Seeking
Reporting Ideas
Inquiry Encounters
Focus
Action Taking
ODonoghue, R. B. (2001)
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Garden Mosaics fits well with the active learning
framework used in the SADC region.
What do we already know? NELabeling places
from memory
Information Seeking
Reporting Ideas
Inquiry Encounters
Focus
Action Taking
ODonoghue, R. B. (2001)
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Garden Mosaics fits well with the active learning
framework used in the SADC region.
What do we already know? NELabeling places
from memory
Information Seeking
Who can we contact for help? SPprinted
resources, GS--meet elders
What do we need to find out? GSseek help with AP
Reporting Ideas
Inquiry Encounters
Focus
Action Taking
ODonoghue, R. B. (2001)
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Garden Mosaics fits well with the active learning
framework used in the SADC region.
What do we already know? NELabeling places
from memory
Information Seeking
Who can we contact for help? SPprinted
resources, GS--meet elders
What do we need to find out? GSseek help with AP
Reporting Ideas
Inquiry Encounters
Focus
How will we investigate the issue? NEanswering
questions GSasking gardeners
What can we report on the issue? GSenter data on
website
Action Taking
ODonoghue, R. B. (2001)
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Garden Mosaics fits well with the active learning
framework used in the SADC region.
What do we already know? NELabeling places
from memory
Information Seeking
Who can we contact for help? SPprinted
resources, GS--meet elders
What do we need to find out? GSseek help with AP
Reporting Ideas
Inquiry Encounters
Focus
How will we investigate the issue? NEanswering
questions GSasking gardeners
What can we report on the issue? GSenter data on
website
Action Taking
What can we do? AP
ODonoghue, R. B. (2001)
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Lessons learned about Garden Mosaics in South
Africa.

• GM can work in South Africa as a special in-class
  project
• How can it be integrated into the curriculum?
• What informal settings are possible?
• GM in South Africa should place greater emphasis
  on food production as a reason for gardening.
• To move GM in South Africa forward, teacher
  trainings and adapted educational materials are
  necessary.

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Lessons learned about adapting environmental
education programs.

• Program materials should be flexible and
  adaptable.
• Youth learning indigenous knowledge from elders
  makes the scientific content relevant to
  participants in many countries.
• Language issues must be considered and are
  especially complex in South Africa.

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Siyabonga

• National Science Foundation (ISE) and Cornell
  University
• Garden Mosaics Program Director, Keith Tidball
• And to our many friends in South Africa who
  welcomed us, answered our questions, translated
  for us, drove us around, provided important
  insights, and invited us to come back. To name a
  few of you
• ELET staff Nontobeko Gasa, Mervin Ogle, Shradha
  Singh, Zain Amod, Govin Reddy, Hajira Mohamed,
  George Pillay, Cecil Fynn, and Udeshan Reddy
• Ms. Ngema and the learners and educators of
  Sandasonke.
• Ms. Mtshali, Ms. Ngidi, and the learners and
  educators of Kethamahle.
• WESSA/SADC-REEP Bridget, Elizabeth, Jim, Mike,
  Mumsie, Priya, Shephard
• Participants in the July 2005 Attachment
  Programme.
• Durban Botanic Garden, Southern African Wildlife
  College, and Kids in Kruger