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2006 Knowledge Bank Rich Picture Case Studies
Collingwood College - Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation

 

Name: Melanie Ruchel
School: Collingwood College
Postal address: PO Box 104, Abbotsford 3067
Telephone no: 9417 6681
Email: collingwood.co@edumail.vic.gov.au

 

 

[img] Teacher and children at the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden at Collingwood CollegeThe Kitchen Garden Foundation - Growing and Sharing Knowledge

Not all kids eat well. A disturbing number go to school each day without breakfast. Many others are overweight or obese. Stephanie Alexander:

'Children aren't interested in whether something is 'good for you' or 'not good for you'. They only care if it's fun exciting and tastes good, so that's what we aim to provide.'

 


 

Case study focus

The subject of the case study is the Kitchen Garden at Collingwood College, a hands-on program delivering food education to primary aged children supported by the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation as its best practice model.

The aim of the Kitchen Garden program is to pleasurably engage and educate primary aged children in growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing delicious and healthy food at school in the belief that this holistic approach offers a better chance of positively influencing their food choices than other methods tried so far.

The program is embedded in the school curriculum. Each child in grades 3-6 spends one period in the garden and two periods in the kitchen, every week of the school year.

What aspect of best practice will be the focus of the case study?

[img] Aubergine

The program is delivered by a team comprising specialists, classroom teacher and volunteers but the students are also team members. The program employs two part-time specialist staff – a gardener and a qualified cook – who promote pleasure in learning, rather than presenting the program as being primarily about ‘health’ or describing certain vegetables or foods as being ‘good for you’. They are employed to pass on their passion for their topic through their deep knowledge of their subject area. Activities are planned with an emphasis on fun.

The classroom teacher is actively involved in the kitchen and garden classes and the non-classroom settings – sitting around a table together or digging alongside one another – encourage a different mode of interrelating with the students outside the traditional student-teacher dynamic. The role of the classroom teacher in the Kitchen Garden program is:

The program is learning rich. Authentic learning takes place and learning outcomes across all Key Learning Areas are embedded in the program. It meets the new VELS standards across many domains. For more information see: How the Program links into the Curriculum

Follow-up classroom activities include:

The students work co-operatively in small groups of no more than five students under the supervision of volunteers from the school and wider community. There are 6 classes in Years 3 – 6 at Collingwood College and each weekly garden and kitchen class requires a minimum 4 volunteers, translating to a contribution of 2000 hours per year. The Kitchen Garden at Collingwood College was one of seven Victorian winners of the 2006 NAB Volunteers Awards, in recognition of the positive and inclusive environment created for volunteers in the Kitchen Garden program. Volunteer guidelines were developed by the Foundation in collaboration with Kitchen Garden at Collingwood College staff. For more information see: Volunteering for the Program

[img] Volunteer helping children in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden
Volunteer Jen Kitchen helps a group of students to identify herbs in the garden.

I look forward to seeing my kids every week and am fascinated how they progress throughout the year (Paul 52.5, kitchen volunteer)

As a volunteer, working in the kitchen has been a truly rewarding experience for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the children and not only is it a learning experience for them but also for me. (Toni, kitchen volunteer)

It is a joy to work with children who are all so interested and passionate about cooking and eating. Their knowledge and skills are amazing. (Dianne, kitchen volunteer)

I love it when a child tries new food reluctantly, then lights up with excitement over how delicious it is! It is such a pleasure helping kids discover new foods and learn different cooking skills – they amaze me with how much they pick up in one class. (Stephanie, kitchen volunteer)

 

Active, constructive participation is fundamental in both the garden and the kitchen. The children are involved in all aspects of growing the produce and preparing it.

[img] Teacher and children in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

The premise of the Kitchen Garden is that hands-on participation is the most effective way of engaging children in learning. The small group structure of the classes facilitates this. The activities are not ‘dumbed down for kids’. The children undertake all the tasks required to plan, maintain and tend the growing area; they use real equipment in the kitchen and cook real food. A typical weekly menu might be: Homemade pasta, broad beans, bacon & herbs; Our salad greens with croutons, eggs, edible flowers & salad dressing; Silver beet, spinach, sorrel, baby leek & pecorino jalousie tart; Salad of snow peas, sugar snaps, baby carrots, chickpeas, borage flowers & mint dressing; Borage leaf & cucumber dip; spiced beetroot dip. Every age group cooks the same menu.

Each day before the kitchen classes the students harvest the selected crops and deliver them to the kitchen. The kitchen is organised into 5 work stations each with stove, workbench and sink. In an hour and a half session the students prepare the dishes, wash their dishes and clean up their work area, set the tables then sit down to eat together. They chop with real cooks’ knives, they use heat safely, they work cooperatively as a team. They understand organic principles in the garden, the reason for composting, water conservation and the importance of healthy soil.

How does the case study intend to showcase or demonstrate best practice?


The case study seeks to demonstrate:

In preparing material for the movie podcasts we talked to the students about the different aspects of the program and what it meant to them:

I like the fact that we get to eat what we grow and cook. (Andrew, 11)

I like cooking because you get to learn how to cook and taste new things. I really enjoy it. (Felix, 10)

I enjoy harvesting and bringing it into the kitchen. (Janice, 12)

I like the volunteers’ help. It is much easier to cook with them. (Tugce, 12)

I like to water the garden and get some herbs to use in the kitchen. (Adam, 12)

When we cook we know that the stuff is fresh straight form the garden. (Linh 11)

I like cooking because it is fun and you get to eat the food together after. Gardening is great fun too. (Ngoc hue, 10)

I think the garden is ace because I like working outside and doing the activities like sawing and digging. (Tom, 12)

I feel rewarded. (Max, 8)

I really enjoy watering the plants and I like cooking with my friends and volunteers. (Lyn, 11)

I like working with Phillip my volunteer. (James, 7)

I love doing it. I love all the food. The kitchen and the garden is great fun. (Dee, 12)

My favourite meal is fried rice. I really like to make pasta. My kitchen garden teachers are delightful people to work with. (Liam, 11)

I like to be in a team. (Anthony, 9)

In the kitchen I have learnt how to make loads of yummy food. I’ve also leant some new foods. In the garden I’ve learnt different methods of growing and looking after plants. (Leon, 11)

The form of the case study

The case study seeks to represent the above in the form of seven short movie podcasts. The movies were filmed by freelance filmmaker Mitchell Forrester, who worked with the Foundation, school and project staff to film the key aspects of the Kitchen Garden program: Growing, Harvesting, Preparing, Sharing.

In mid-2006 the Department of Education & Training announced $2.5M in funding for forty primary schools to introduce the kitchen garden program over the next 4 years (20 in the first 2 years and 20 in the following 2 years) under the Kids Go For Your Life umbrella. The successful schools are required to demonstrate their capacity to generate additional funds to support the implementation of the program and ongoing operation of the program beyond the funded period. The programs will commence in the 20 schools in 2007. The SAKGF is working with DE&T to oversee this ‘rollout’.

In the future we would like to investigate software which would enable the students in all Kitchen Garden schools to record their activities via video camera and post them to a central site.We have seen such software in use in a similar program in the United Kingdom (Grow It! Cook It!) and will continue research in this area.

What multimedia and/or online tools have been used?

The videos are were originally created using Quicktime and published on The Kitchen Garden Foundation website. Smaller copies of the video podcasts are provided in the alternative Windows Media Video [.WMV] format below:

Download the video podcasts as .WMV files below

  1. Inspiration [WMV 2.1MB] 
  2. Growing Knowledge [WMV 1.5MB] 
     
  3. New Worlds New Flavours [WMV 1.5MB] 
     
  4. Our Organic Garden [WMV 1.6MB] 
     
  5. Harvesting Ideas [WMV 1.7MB] 
     
  6. Volunteer Support [WMV 1.6MB] 
     
  7. Preparing and Sharing [WMV 1.9MB] 

     

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