An Inclusive Approach to Gardening in Children's Settings: An Observational Study

Abstract

In recent years, gardening has spread in European Early Childhood Education and Care centres through projects and specific programs with a developmental, educational and inclusive focus. Despite the extensive literature that has confirmed the impact of gardening on the development of children's skills, and the importance of providing teachers with suggestions for the full implementation of this activity, most studies lack specific guidelines to help them conduct and plan gardening activities with a focus on inclusion. Based on video observations of gardening activities conducted in children's museums (Rome, Italy and Sofia, Bulgaria), kindergartens and primary schools (Italy, Bulgaria, United Kingdom and Spain) and an agro-ecological foundation (Spain), as part of a European Erasmus Plus Project, the study aim was first of all to map how gardening activities are planned and conducted and then to transfer the identified dimensions into a coding grid to be used as an instrument for training teachers to become observers both of themselves and of their colleagues. The data were analysed with reference to three indicators of an Inclusive Approach, that is, the organisation of activities, the children's emotional states and the forms of interaction. In the Discussion, reflections on the potential for inclusion of gardening activities are solicited and implications for the practice are advanced.