ABSTRACT

Literature on school education suggests that teaching and learning science in basic level community schools in Nepal is largely theoretical. Consequently, achievement levels and the understanding of concepts of science is much below policy expectations. This paper builds on a shift from dogmatic lecturing to activity-based pedagogy using school gardening as contextual scaffolding for learning science in community schools in central Nepal. Five focus group discussions and observations were carried out among sixth and seventh graders, science teachers, and parents of an action (intervention) school located in the Chitwan district of Nepal, with support from the NORHED/Rupantaran project. At the beginning of the PAR project, the barriers associated with startup gardening activities were time allocation, integration of gardening activities with the science curriculum, and the ongoing engagement of parents. Later in the project, students, science teachers, and parents reported on their experiences such as active and meaningful engagement in activity-based pedagogy through school gardening. Overall, school gardening activities were found to have positive effects on students’ understanding of scientific concepts, connecting school gardens in a contextual scaffold.

摘要

有关学校教育的文献表明，尼泊尔基层社区学校的科学教学在很大程度上是理论性的。因此，成就水平和对科学概念的理解远低于政策预期。本文建立在从教条式讲授向以活动为基础的教学法转变的基础上，该教学法使用学校园艺作为尼泊尔中部社区学校学习科学的上下文支架。在 NORHED/Rupantaran 项目的支持下，在位于尼泊尔奇旺区的一所行动（干预）学校的六年级和七年级学生、科学教师和家长之间进行了五次焦点小组讨论和观察。在 PAR 项目开始时，与启动园艺活动相关的障碍是时间分配，园艺活动与科学课程的结合，以及家长的持续参与。在该项目的后期，学生、科学教师和家长报告了他们的经历，例如通过学校园艺积极和有意义地参与基于活动的教学法。总体而言，发现学校园艺活动对学生对科学概念的理解产生了积极影响，将学校花园连接在上下文支架中。