Intergenerational Landed Learning



Research in the Intergenerational Landed Learning project investigates experiences of students, teachers and community elders who participate in this year-long project.

Students' Experiences


	Through working on the land, students develop a personal relationship with the environment and start to feel an emotional connection and begin to identify with the plants they are nurturing.

		I really like being outside and like being able to be one with the ground. I like just being outside and being a part of nature (Student)


	Through developing relationships with farm-experienced elders the girls gain a situated understanding of land and its significance in supporting human life.

		[The farm] teaches you about the environment and how it interacts with things around it … how the insect interacts with the plant and how the plant interacts with us and how we really depend on each other. (ILLP Student)


	Participation in the project fosters responsibility, collaboration, and decision-making skills. The girls did not see this project as a competition but rather as a collaborative undertaking in which everybody has a role to play and “a say” in the decision making process.

		At the farm I have more responsibility. We get to do our own thing and make our own decisions (Student).


	Students form a novel relationship with their adult farming partners, whom they see not as a parent or a teacher, but rather than a buddy and mentor.

		We usually ask our farm friend for help. Then they discuss it between themselves. They are good friends. And we just talk to them like they are our friends (Student).


	Teaming community farmers and young students in a farming project is effective in fostering a responsible, caring attitude toward the land.


	The partnering also promotes a change in students’ perceptions of farms and farmers.

		Now I know how much work farming is because I used to think you don’t have to weed and dig the holes and wait for that long of a time. I just thought that farming was you just put it in and then you take it out and then you have vegetables. It takes a really long time and I didn’t know that. (Student)


	Through their farming activities students gain understanding of environmental concepts and acquire scientific knowledge.

		We’re planting things and we’re seeing how different things in the environment affect their growth (Student).


	Working on the land becomes a powerful and memorable experience for the students in the project because it engages all their senses and emotions. Such experiences have the potential to foster ecospiritual knowing (Riley-Taylor, 2002).

		I’ll end up remembering this because I actually did something for it. The farming stuff I am learning so when I have a garden when I’m older, I’ll remember and be able to take care of it. I can apply it to other things (Student).


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Teachers' Experiences

	Teachers recognize the value of teaching science and environmental education at the farm but find it difficult to implement. Connecting science with the process of farming was viewed as “complex”.

	Teachers find it challenging to meld the informal farm project with mandated curricula. Time, curriculum structures, and accountability were among the issues cited.

	Teachers’ and students’ perspectives on learning science led them to question whether “real” science learning happens in informal spaces.
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Community Elders' Experiences

	The reciprocal learning of the elder participants included learning about the children. They also enjoyed keeping in touch and learning about schools, science and environmental education.

		An opportunity to learn a little bit about the different group of people who may see the world a little differently than I do. (Farm Friend)


	The farm elders found rewards in sharing their knowledge and experience with the children, and were inspired because they were making a difference in the children’s lives.

		If I can help those girls to understand farming, I will be satisfied (Farm Friend)


	Seeing change in the young people added to the elders’ realization of their contribution.

		It is very gratifying to see these children, even in the short time you work with them, you see them grow - not is size or stature - you see them with a little more strength in knowledge as you progress.(Farm Friend)


	The experience for the elders also provided hope and pride. They took pride in the bright, energetic, and enthusiastic students. The work with the children was “Something to look forward to,” and an experience that, “puts you back in…touch."

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