
Cultivating Failure  - bootload
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/201001/school-yard-garden
======
ctrager
Caitlin Flanagan is one of my favorite essayists, and here is my favorite
essay of hers, "The Wifely Duty":
<http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200301/flanagan>

If you are young or single or childless, it's not for you. Yet.

~~~
s3graham
I'm (we're) still childless for a few months, but that was great, thanks!

------
skmurphy
Key quote is by <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Sizer> from Horace's
Compromise

    
    
       If students have yet to meet the fundamental standards of literacy, 
       numeracy and civic understanding, programs should focus exclusively 
       on these. Some critics will argue that the school must go beyond 
       these subjects to hold the interest of the pupils...but a fourteen 
       year old who is semi-literate is an adolescent in need of intensive, 
       focused attention.

------
patio11
A quote that has stuck with me for 20 years now, by a Mexican immigrant who
was not in favor of bilingual education: "They teach my son to be a busboy or
waiter. I want them to teach him English, to teach him to be a doctor or a
lawyer."

Now, I know, satisfying the social urges of yuppie parents to have their kids
get their hands dirty (in a carefully supervised way with a bottle of
disinfectant close at hand and absolutely no chemical pesticide or genetically
modified seed used) probably won't hurt anyone. Those kids are going to be
decently educated in spite of it all. But for the kids who actually need
school to get ahead in life, can we focus on teaching them to be
doctors/lawyers, etc?

Incidentally, I am reminded of a Chris Rock comment regarding Martin Luther
King Blvd: if you attend a school named Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School,
you probably can't afford to have your education planned by trendy educators.

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spamizbad
There's a very solid take-down of this article by Alissa Novoselick at
Salon.com:

[http://www.salon.com/food/2010/01/15/school_gardens_strike_b...](http://www.salon.com/food/2010/01/15/school_gardens_strike_back_at_flanagan/index.html)

~~~
nfnaaron
When the page loaded, the site started shouting at me through my speakers
about something National Geographic wanted me to see about some kind of law
enforcement group that has something to do with illegal immigration. I think.
I actually swore at the page as I was desperately playing "find the close
button on _this_ ad." I finally just closed the tab, while it was still
shouting at me.

Sheesh.

I'm actually still tense. It really pissed me off, I have an aversion to being
shouted at.

~~~
vdm
Thank you for the warning.

Browsers should provide users with the same opt-in control over audio that
they do over pop-up windows. Unsolicited audio is a scourge.

------
ranprieur
Does this person really not understand the difference between picking someone
else's food under slave-like conditions, and learning to grow your own food?

~~~
skmurphy
Her point is that educational basics are more important for academically at
risk children than learning how to garden.

------
camccann
The article seems to be more interested in mocking other people's
social/political ideas than talking about the _actual_ problem, viz.,
ineffective schooling. Smugly telling someone that what they're doing is a bad
idea doesn't really accomplish much, even (perhaps especially!) when it's
true. Why not talk about how to make things better?

I tend to suspect the answer to that is "because the author is more interested
in political cheap shots than in problem solving", but I admit to being
reflexively cynical about such things.

~~~
gojomo
She does mention that other charter schools that skip the gardens get better
results.

And what she's proposing is clear, too: replace gardening time with more
instruction in traditional subjects.

If there were some evidence gardens help achievement, or if it was just
replacing other necessary 'rec' time, they'd be fine. But she reports there's
never been any evidence -- beyond the supporters' anecdotal warm fuzzies --
that gardens fix educational gaps, and strongly implies garden time is trading
off against more beneficial instruction.

So I appreciated the strong point of view and ironic opening scenario -- given
her beliefs it's appropriate to be a bit caustic.

~~~
bootload
_"... If there were some evidence gardens help achievement... she reports
there's never been any evidence -- beyond the supporters' anecdotal warm
fuzzies ..."_

Yet there is ample evidence that obesity in school age students is on the
rise. It's in the UK where a dyslexic chef decided to do something about it,
_"Feed me Better"_ ~ <http://www.jamieoliver.com/school-dinners/my-manifesto>
It doesn't matter if its removing _"junk food"_ from school menus and revising
them with healthier alternatives or creating gardens outside to show how food
is grown.

 _"... What evidence do we have that participation in one of these programs—so
enthusiastically supported, so uncritically championed—improves a child’s
chances of doing well on the state tests that will determine his or her future
..."_

To not see the link between better understanding food, nutrition, health and
learning shows a fixed and narrow mindset.

~~~
gojomo
I can see a plausible link between garden-food-awareness and learning or
health. But what weight should that link be assigned, compared to everything
else?

That is, would students with weak reading and math skills be better served by
an hour in garden-education or an hour of other classroom work? Does garden-
education reduce childhood obesity?

Answering those questions requires evidence, not just an attractive theory (or
appeal to a 'broad mindset'). The author reports there is no hard evidence
proving gardens benefit students, and provides some testimony that schools
without gardens do more for their students.

------
RyanMcGreal
Is this the same Caitlin Flanagan who was obsessing a few years ago over
Rainbow Parties?

~~~
gabrielroth
Yup.

------
jay_kyburz
I haven't heard of this School Garden movement before, but despite this
article it sounds great! I'd love my kids to have an opportunity to do this at
school here in Australia.

There is nothing more satisfying than picking some fresh tomatoes or a big
zucchini out of my garden.

You all should try it!

~~~
bootload
If you are in Melbourne you can take a look at Stephanie Alexander's [0]
effort setting up Kitchen Garden Foundation. [1] There are gardens in
Collingwood ~
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/sets/72157607256687360...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/sets/72157607256687360/)
and St.Kilda and a few more places. Alternatively you can investigate how to
get your school (Victoria only) ~
[http://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/grants-
goforyourli...](http://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/grants-
goforyourlife.shtml) The _"garden"_ to _"plate"_ , slow food idea is important
for food literacy.

[0] <http://www.stephaniealexander.com.au/garden.htm>

[1] <http://www.stephaniealexander.com.au/garden.htm>

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s3graham
Good lord, did the _The Atlantic_ have to lay off its editors?

I agree with the last paragraph, but that's really all you want to read,
unless you're looking for verbose ranting and raving about other people's
politics.

------
bootload
_"... The cruel trick has been pulled on this benighted child by an
agglomeration of foodies and educational reformers who are propelled by a
vacuous if well-meaning ideology that is responsible for robbing an increasing
number of American schoolchildren of hours they might other wise have spent
reading important books or learning higher math (attaining the cultural
achievements, in other words, that have lifted uncounted generations of human
beings out of the desperate daily scrabble to wrest sustenance from dirt)
..."_

There is great irony of this statement. In Australia we have high rates of
obesity ~ <http://www.google.com/search?q=australia+obesity> a combination of
low levels of physical activity and poor diet.

    
    
      Mens sana in corpore sano
    

What you eat is important. It is far better to regulate fitness through a
combination of good nutrition than exercise. So understanding what to eat, how
to grow it and cook is just as important as traditional education.

