Tongue-Tied No More: Diversity Pedagogy and Sense of Place in the Learning Gardens

Authors

  • Dilafruz Williams Portland State University
  • Jennifer Anderson Ashland Park-Robbinsin school, Omaha, Nevada

Abstract

This case study explores what it is like for culturally and linguistically diverse adolescents who are low-income English Language Learners to experience garden-based education at their school's Learning Gardens in southeast Portland, Oregon, even as they and their families—driven from their homelands as immigrants and refugees—try to establish roots and call Portland their new "home." This is a story of 16 sixth graders from seven countries for whom the Learning Gardens provide context and milieu for expression of their connection to place as they grow food and engage in significant ways in learning that encourage communication, crossing the English language "barrier." Students' experiences and conversations are captured as they develop a sense of belongingness, home, and place when connecting with soil, food, nature, peers, and adults in the Learning Gardens.

Author Biographies

Dilafruz Williams, Portland State University

Dilafruz R. Williams is Professor, Leadership for Sustainability Education program, in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. She is co-author of Learning Gardens and Sustainability Education: Bringing Life to Schools and Schools to Life (Routledge, 2012), and has published extensively on garden-based learning, urban education, ecological education, and service-learning. She is co-founder of Learning Gardens Laboratory and Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland. Additional information about her can be obtained at www.dilafruzwilliams.com. For contact: williamsdi@pdx.edu

Jennifer Anderson, Ashland Park-Robbinsin school, Omaha, Nevada

Jennifer Anderson, M.S. is ESL Resource Specialist at Ashland Park-Robbinsin school in Omaha, Nevada. At the time of the research she was graduate student in Leadership for Sustainability Education program, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, and also served as a garden educator at the Learning Gardens Laboratory in Portland. For contact: jenandsmith@yahoo.com

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Published

2017-05-07

Issue

Section

Articles