School Gardening and Children's Agency: An Auckland Case Study

Abstract

Against the backdrop of academic debate on children as human ‘beings’ vs. ‘becomings,’ this research adhered to the view that children are human ‘beings’ who have their own unique worldview and agency. This study observed children at four Auckland schools during gardening sessions as part of the ‘Garden to Table’ (G2T) programme, applying Sen’s theory of agency as a theoretical framework from which to observe demonstrations of children’s agency in terms of ‘autonomy’, ‘responsibility’ and ‘decision-making’ while participating in school garden activities. For triangulation of observational data, questionnaires were distributed to children, parents, teachers, and the G2T organizer to understand their view of children’s agency through school gardening. As New Zealand is becoming a multicultural society, corollary objective was to understand whether familial intergenerational knowledge acquired in different cultural contexts may have any significant impact on children’s demonstrated agency. The key findings of this exploratory research highlighted that a decorative and colourful view of school gardens, rather than similar green plants only, practice of diverse means of participation (e.g., painting garden murals, playing with pets, etc. in addition to mere planting), and an ‘explicit’ agenda to facilitate children’s freedom of participation in school gardening may promote children’s agency even further. Although no significant impact of familial intergenerational cultural knowledge on children’s agency during school gardening was visible in the limited extent of this research, further research may confirm this issue. The outcome of this research has the potential to identify further research niches and inform public policy initiatives designed to promote children’s agency through school gardening.