UrbSTEAM

The aim of the UrbSTEAM project is to teach STEAM by using hands on activities on urban gardens and integrating permaculture values. STEAM is an integrated approach to learning which requires two or more standards from Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and the Arts to be taught AND assessed in and through each other. Participants (educators and children) will become familiar with the space of a garden as a rich environment for teaching and learning across the curriculum, especially on STEAM field. Ecological and social justice considerations will frame all aspects of the project, with a particular focus on the place of the teacher (personal, cultural, and geographic positioning and identities) in garden-based education. Extensive engagement with gardening practices, food preparation activities (including eating!), and critical dialogue will be the pedagogical modes of exploration throughout the project. The idea is to support, scaling up the existence initiatives or catalysing new actions related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education and especially in preschool. While there are hundreds of pedagogical ideas for classroom activities, there is a gap in implementing age-appropriate activities outdoors. This project bridges the gap by detailing how best to integrate Urban Gardening into teaching and learning, specifically in preschool. We are trying to strengthen to the means of implementing STEAM, by using garden as co-teacher in preschool.