Growing Success: The Benefits of Integrating Sustainability and Project-Based Learning in Education

Whether you’re a teacher, a parent or a guardian, we all want to give children a space where they can learn and grow.  

However, learning and education come in many forms. Students are engaged on various levels to ensure they’re all gaining the tools they need in life to succeed.  

In Kadimah’s Environment and Sustainability group, we gave students the space to grow – literally.  

We tasked them with a large-scale project that involved complex engineering, sciences, mathematics, literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration. We also had them do this without our help, and us teachers remained almost completely hands-off throughout the entire project.  For this project, we ask them to make our school a garden.  

From the classroom to garden 

Children go to school and learn for a reason. We adults know that, but do they? Why they’re learning literacy or why they’re learning STEAM subjects isn’t something discussed enough with children. In traditional learning environments, they’re just told to do their work. 

One of the things we wanted to achieve with our garden project was not only to use it as a tool to integrate what they had been learning in the classroom but also to show them why they are learning it and how it all applies to real life.  

Getting started  

Equipped with what they learned in the classroom, the children got to work on planning and designing their projects.  

They started by researching what it takes to create, grow, and sustain a garden. Teachers provided a list of valid online resources at this project stage to prevent the children from getting lost in incorrect sources. However, by working through the material, they could start to piece together what they needed to do.  

When we discovered that the area where the garden was going to be built was clay-based, we took the children to the Simon Street Community Gardens, where they learned how those gardens had brought their clay back into good soil by using legumes and nitrate-based plants.  

On top of understanding what they needed to do, they had to work out how they would do it. They needed to consider the available materials, the engineering skills needed to put everything together, and even how the garden would operate throughout the changing seasons.  

Using a large roll of brown paper, they worked in groups to create pictorial plans for their projects, which they then presented to their teachers.  

Working together  

This group learning worked on a vertical scale, with the older children and younger children working together. The older ones tended to take the younger ones under their wings, but everyone nonetheless worked together equally. 

As Kadimah is a smaller school, our staff end up working more closely together than they would in a larger school. As a result, the children were able to model their collaboration approaches based on what they witnessed between the teachers on a daily basis.  

However, conflicts arise with any project, whether you’re a child or an adult. 

More often than not, these issues were resolved between the children, but occasionally teachers stepped in. We worked with them to help them overcome their conflicts by asking questions like, “What could you have said differently?” or “Is this just your project or a group project?”  

By making them think about these things and realise on their own that this was everyone’s project and they too had to listen to others to be heard, they were able to carry out the rest of the resolutions on their own and move forward together.  

We also found that avoiding conflict was more easily achieved by having the children go through the early planning stage. In this stage, they worked across that big brown page as a group, talking things through together and incorporating new ideas. Any little arguments usually were had and resolved at this point, making the rest of the project much smoother. 
 

Learning through failing  

Sometimes the teachers accepted project plans, even though we knew they might fail. Failing is an unavoidable fact of life. And a vital one for children to learn.  

When researching, the students recognised the value of incorporating chickens into gardens. They eat plant-destroying bugs and add nutrients to the soil, helping to create a natural and sustainable lifecycle.  

We listened to their plan and introduced two hens into the garden.  

However, it didn’t take long for the students to find that their free-roaming chickens had eaten everything they had planted. Instead of being distraught and downtrodden about having their hard work destroyed by two farm birds, they got motivated and returned to the drawing board.  

Not wanting to leave the chickens stuck in their coop all day, they used their engineering and technology skills to build new structures and used fencing to create designated areas where the chickens could do their job without ruining the garden.  

Confidence and empowerment  

We now have a beautiful, healthy, and sustainable garden designed and cared for by Kadimah students.  

They’ve grown vegetables, fruits, and flowers in plant boxes they engineered and built. They’ve planted and cared for the plants drawing on their own research. Using a heavy plastic tarp, they created their own little greenhouse where they can plant seedlings in the winter, which can then be rolled up and put away in the spring and summer.     

While the children got to apply what they learned in their classrooms to real life, they also gained unparalleled confidence and empowerment they would never have gotten by just sitting at a desk.  

Adults listened to them, allowed them to carry their plans, and it worked out well. And when it didn’t, they worked together to make it work.  

For children, success is created through a combination of listening, opportunity, and failing – which is exactly what our students experienced during this project.  

The pride and confidence they feel then feeds back into the classroom. They suddenly realised, “Hey, I didn't mess up. I can do this.” 

Conclusion 

The garden project at Kadimah School allowed students to apply what they learned in the classroom to real-life situations and instilled in them a sense of confidence, empowerment, and the importance of teamwork. Through research, planning, and working together, the students were able to create a sustainable garden. 

This project serves as a reminder of the fundamental Jewish values that drive Kadimah. In Judaism, Tikkun Olam, is a concept that refers to repairing and improving our world.   

Our students created something that will certainly improve our world and theirs.  

If you're looking for a school that prioritises hands-on learning and empowerment, get in touch with us about starting your child their learning journey. https://www.kadimah.school.nz/contact-us