Peace Gardens: Transforming Schoolsfor Global Peace

B. Jeannie Lum

A meaninglulvisionfor education in the twenty-

first century. That is the challenge to educatorsin these transitional years before us.

-Thomas Berry

Introduction

Gardening has now become a popularpastime among urban and city dwellersaround the world. Edible landscapes, rooftopgardens, vertical green walls, aquaponics,hydroponics, vegetable gardens, shadegardens, frontyard gardens, xeriscape,raised bed gardening, indoor and outdoorcontainer gardening, water gardens, com-munity gardens, and organic gardening are

all buzmvords for the numerous types and

styles of gardening that are designed to fitmost anyone's living conditions. It seems

that one does not need a yard, or even soil,to grow plants or live sustainably.

Yet, the activity of gardening is some-

thing that has been with us since the begin-ning of civilizations and the frrnctions that

gardens have served for humanity go far

beyond our modern thinking about thern

for merely utilitarian purposes. It is no

wonder that we find this kindred interest

spread among individuals from differentdisciplines, professions, and the public ingeneral: Horticulturists, landscape design-

ers, plant biologists, culinary artists (cooks

Peace & Policy, Vol. l9

and chefs), building architects, land use and

natural resource managers, artists (painters,poets, musicians), historians, uriters. ciwand urban planners, philosophers, religiousclergy; even mental health physicians. psr'-chiatrists, and psychologists speak about the

virfues of gardens. Gardening has becomea truly transdisciplinary matter of universalappeal.

On a more substantial level, with the

environmental crisis due to climate change,

depletion of natural resources, overcon-sumption, continued waste of materialgoods, and the disruption to the vital ecosys-

tems that suslainfloraand fauna essential to

human survival, the integration of gardening

into educational curricula becomes ever

more imporknt. This is because ofthe possi-

bilities it generates in creating an ecological

consciousness through education, to educate

for sustainability, to increase our awareness

about our human interconnectedness and

our interdependence as a living species withother life systems that make up the planet

earth as we strive to achieve universal cul-

tures ofpeace.In this article, I introduce the Peace

Gordens for Schools and CommunitYProject (PGSCP) initiative-a vision oftransforming schools and communities as

peace gardens that are designed with the

intentioo to create cultures of peace thus

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fr::gng us closer to conditions of globalpeace. I begrn by putting forth a vision ofpeace gardens in schools and local coflrmu-niry settings that are designed to develop a"peace consciousness" in students, youth,and adults. Secondly, I explain the vision andconceptual framework for peace gardens bytaking a glimpse into history to discover howgardens evolved around the world-thet dif-ferent foci, functions, designs, and purposesin accommodating human needs. Thirdly,I situate the phenomena of peace gardenswithin the culture of school gardens duringmodern times to accentuate what we havelost in our collective consciousness aboutgardening and the narrowed associationswithpeace gardens, in particular. Fourthly, Iexpand on describing apeace garden projectin Hawai'i, its evolution, current state, andpossibilities for the future. In recalling col-lective cultural memories about the activityofgardening and the construction ofgardens,we can link the past to present and the futurein order to determine the intentionality ofour present actions toward manifesting ahopeful vision of peace gardens now and inthe future. Throughout I approach the topictran sdisciplinarily in constructing a concep-tual &amework for cultures of peace gar-dens to be shared globally with other peaceeducators, professionals, the general public,and anyone interested in integrating peacegardens into their various locales, schools,and communities.

Visioning Cultures of PeaceGardens

The organization of this article followsthe first four of the seven stage visioningworld construction process introduced byfuturist Warren Ziegler (1989) and the latesociologist andpeace activist Elise Boulding(1990) that was developed as a workshopfor students to imagine a future to changethe world based on their highest hopes and

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PEACE GARDENS

desires for a peaceful world. In this vein, iris my hopes that the readers will traverse thisthought experiment with me by reflecting ontheir own particular cultural history expe-riences, and locale and further universallyactualize the proposed vision in their schools

and communities. The last three steps can becarried through in line with the particularitiesof individual contexts. Ziegler andBouldingmapped out the flrst essential step needed inthe creation of a goal statement about thekind of society you wish to have exist thirtyyears into the future, "a deliberate settingaside of ordinary notions ofthe possible anda focus primarily on hopes and wishes." Sec-ondis exercising the imaginationby recallngmemories ofpast experiences to "free up the

imagining capacity." Third is moving into the

futureby seeing the presentlresent as part ofthe future--present. Fourth is constant c I arifi -cation through communication and explain-ing your imagery to others. Fifth is mappingconsequences and world construction ofthefuture-present social order and how life andinstitutions function in it. Sixth is examiningthefuture's history by looking in the past inincrements of five-year periods in order tolink thepast to the present andunderstandinghow the future-present got to be how youhave imagined it. And finally, in sight of thefuture and the memories of events leadingup to it in the present, creating a short-termaction plan and long-term strategy plan forintentional action to make the future a reality(1 13-1s).

Meadows, Meadows, and Randers (2005)

write:

Visioning means imagining, at first general-ly and then with increasing specificity, whatyou really want. That is, what you reallywant, not what someone has taught you towant, and not what you have been willingto settle for. Visioning means taking offthe constraints of "feasibility," of disbeliefand past disappointments, and letting your

Peace & Policy, Yol. 19

Peace Gardens

mind dwell upon its most nob1e" uplifting.treasured dreams (. . .) We should say imme-diately, for the sake ofskeptics, that rve donot believe vision makes anything happen.Vision rvithout action is useless. But actionwithout vision is directionless and feeble.Vision is absolutely necessary to guideand motivate. More than that, vision, whenwidely shared and firmly kept in sight, doesbring into being new systems (272).

Imagine

Imagine thirry years from now enteringa school on a pathway through garden trel-lises covered with vines surrounded by fruittrees and plants full of buds and blossomingflowers. The air is filled with the scent ofgardenias and the aroma of fresh bread driftssubtly from the direction of the cafeteriadrawing students into a place called schoolwhere they feel welcomed, relaxed, loveleaming to learn, and learning to be. Imag-ine a bin of ripe fruit at the entrance to theschool building and coolers with water spicedwith rosemary lime, or other combinationsof fresh herbs. Meals are made with freshingredients picked from gardens maintainedby students, staff, and faculty with rotatingresponsibilities for planting, caring, gtowing,menu selections, preparation, and cleanupthroughout the school year. Everyone has anappetite and taste for healthy food and whenthey eat they experience the nourishment thatfresh food provides to their bodies and minds.School classrooms are "open spaces" locatedinside buildings and outdoors flexibly suitedto the kind of activities, intended lessons tobe leamed, climate and environmental condi-tions. Curriculum is integrated across subjectmatters, linked with activities in real worldexperience, joining local with global under-standings about human conditions of surviv-al, lifestyle practices, and the flourishirg ofcivilizations. When problems arise, students.

faculty, and administrative stafftake *'alks inthe gardens to dialogue and conr-erse abt-.u!

Peace & Policy, Vol. l9

the human complexities involved as they

arrive at a fair decision that benefits all ofthose involved. Resolutions are found withcommitments to inclusiveness and mutualsupport for constructive engagements that

contribute to the extended well-being of the

school community as a whole. Schools are

createdparadises on earth,as gardens were

consciously intended during early civiliza-tions, so that students are inspired and moti-vated to learn, feel a personal commitment to

themselves, others, a public responsibility forthe sustainability of their school and realizethe potential global impact they have on the

world as a whole. School becomes a secondhome with nurfuring relationships and asource ofjoy, comfort, safety, and creativir-v-.

meaningful encounters, and acruaiization ofdreams for the present and future that are

carried over into thek social communities.Compare this vision of the future to the

schools we knorv today. Instead of rvalkingthrough metal detectors when you enter a

school modeled after industrial factories,hospitals, and prisons . . . Instead of cafeteriafood that is loaded with fat to make students

feel fulI or that give sugary "highs" to stayawake in lessons they don't relate to . . . In-stead of a principal's office where students

fear the power of punishment rather than

anticipate a heart of compassion . . . Insteadofthe isolated teaching ofseparate subjectsunrelated to real life experiences . . . Insteadof classrooms without windows, concrete

hallways, and barren landscapes . . .

We must pose some serious questions:

Why are schools this way and so hard to

change? How can we reflect on the past toinform ourperspective of schooling that can

enable us to transform current conditionsof schooling that do not repeat or reembedpractices and beliefs that will undermineotrr efforts?

The Peace Garden in the Schools andCon"ntunitv Proiect (PGSCP) proposed inthis anicie is a comprehensive approach to

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PEACE GARDENS

ransfonaing educational rnstitutions as plac- that our life experiences on the purely phys-

es ro grow and lir e peaceabl_v- in sustainable ical plane will have resonances within our

u,ays- It is informed bl current dialogues own innerrnost being and reality, so that we

about the state ofcivilization that inspire new actually feel the rapture of being alive" (5)'

transdisciplinary perspectives for envision- Mircea Eliade (L971) finds that "mythiciza-ing the kind ofplaces schools canpossibly be tion" is a historicizing process that insepa-

andpractical actions thatcan be adopted in rably links traditional archaic and so-called

existing schools to create new myths in con- primitive societies to modern and currentstructing a collective peace consciousness in postmodem times. Myhs continue to operate

the cultures of our schools. Schools can be in contemporary times by reproducing theplaces where individuals canexperience and underlying rationale, hence, intensiona| andpractice a peaceable existence so that they intentional structures of thought that givecafi carry the sensibilities and sense of wAal meaning to social and institutional rifuals.itb like as a wellspring of knowledge, expe- Eliade shows that the modern struggle forriences, relationships, attitudes, motivations, an awareness of a "historical consciousness"desires, intentions, and skills to consciously is up against a much wider scope traversedengage and sustainpeace in their life joumey. in the notion of the eternal return that lies

Edmund O'Sullivan (1999) and O'Sulli- buried deep in our collective intentionality.vanandTaylor(2004),inalignmentwithoth- The process of searching for a new mythers'substantive critiques ofthe consequences where human beings discover this integralof modemity (Sagan 1980; Swimme 7994; cosmologicalsenseofself,yetdonotfallintoToulmin 1985; Bohm and Hiley 1995), pro- the trap oftradition in seeking thatreturn, ispose that the present aim in schools should fundamental to the fiansformative challengesbe to develop an integral pl anetary ecological in education for the twenty-first century.consciousness that provides a cosmologicalperspective on human evolution as a living Conceptual Frameworksystem in relation with all other systemson earth. Regenerating human biophilia There are four structural aspects to build-(Kellert and Wilson 1993; Wilson 1993) ing a new educational ethos for twenty-firstu,here human activities nurture life-sus- century schooling based on gardening.taining practices and lifestyles is a criticalstep in the survival of human civilization. 1 Peaceconsciousnessisadefiningchar-

For this, O'sullivan suggests that we need acteristic of the kind of human being

to find new myths that account for the past we desire for the twenty-first century'

and the evolving process of our collective It can be achieved individually and

consciousness and the innate human bonds collectively through gardening activ-ities that aim to cultivate four human

of humanity (Jung 1990) to propel us into capacities and guiding intentions: (a)a future with an educated'wrderstanding of learning how to find and experienceour fundamental interconnectedness with peace within oneself; (b) learning how

all things. Joseph Campbell (1988) saw to manage peaceful relations withfour dimensions of how myth impacted our others and relations with all living

lives-the mystical, the cosmological, the creafures in ways that are harmless and

sociologicalandpedagogical.Mythteaches il1}Xt'lffX'ff'*iji]t;T#X'"I?Xus "how to live a human lifetime under any and manmade environment and thecircumstances" (3 l). The gift of clues they planet earth that sustains an ecologi-offer is our "experience of being alive, so cal balance; and (d) learning how to

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122 Peace & Policy, Vol. 19

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Pe:ie Gardens

experience an interconnecteii s.t-rbaisense of identity and belongin* thartranscends yet contributes to rhe sus-tainability of interdependenr er olr inscultures ofpeace.

2, Environmentalism through garclenittgincludes an integated core curriculumfrom Kindergarten through trvelfthgrade (in an Arnerican based system)where the garden(s) provide a thematiccenterpiece to curriculum der,elopmentarticulated across grade leveis. Inte-grated learning across the curriculumentails an interdisciplinary approachto learning based on our understandingthat human beings fundarnentally learnthrough their life experiences and ex-perience knowing in multidimensionalways, not narrowly through separatesubject matter, single disciplinary per-spectives. Education needs to reflectthis in teaching practices that include anaccount of human ecology (Wimberleyand Haught 2009) and research aboutplanetary life systems.

3. Peace values qnd a transdisciplinary 4.approach is adopted from the UNESCOCulture of Peace Programme (CPP)initiative that educates to remedy ourcurrent social, cultural, economic,and environmental crises througheducation for sustainability by bridg-ing theory with practice, indoor withoutdoor classroom learning, culturalborder crossings that incorporateglobal diverse cultural perspectives,and the constant relating of local toglobal concems. Peace education is akansdisciplinary discipline that honorsthe academic traditions and historicalevolution from mono-disciplinary tocross-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary,and interdisciplinary approaches in ac-

ademic studies and research. However,in today's shifting methodological par-

adigm it recognizes the networks ofre-lationships across culfures, disciplines,educational instifutions, business, the

arts, and govemrnent policies that mustbe accounted for in understanding thecomplexity of problems confrontingus in the twentY-first centurY and

Peace & Policy, Val. 19

needed steps for transforming cultures.Culrural transformation empowers thepeople who are locally impacted and

culturally grounded (Freire 1972).Problem solving is the integration ofa " the o ry-pr ari s - app I ic at ion- eth i c af'dialogical decision making processbased on universal values of "respectfor 1ife, liberty, justice, solidarity,tolerance, human rights and equalitybelween men and women" (CCP, 2).In examining INGO's experiences inpost-war countries, simply rebuildinglocal cultures is not affective becausethe same oppressive structures continueunexamined, hence allowing for thecycle of conflicts to reoccur. Transform-ing cultures requires an education forcritical reflection and open-mindednessto changing cuhural, lifestyle habits,beliefs, and perspectives that overcomethe unhealthy, repressive, discrimina-tory unfair, unequal human conditionsthat are commonly engendered in tradi-tional authoritarian forms of schooling.Transformat ive le arn in g and pedagog-ical perspectives and practices (O'Sul-livan, Morrell, and O'Connor 2002)seek to transform schools by engagingconstructive critiques that examinecurent and historicai cultural, social,political, and economic practices andthe accompanying evolution of beliefsand assumptions about conceptions ofhuman nature and human possibilities.PGSCP is unconr-eniionai rn iis inie-gration of universal peace values i-a the

education and practices of gardeninqacross the curriculum because it sets

the creation of educational conditionsfor real peace as the means and aim-in-view (Dewey 1910). In particular.it culturally grounds the gardeningcurriculum through historical ienses

that unveil the hidden assumptionsunderlying the more recent twentiethcentury dominant ethic of materialism,consumption, and profit-mindednessthat sees humans as a superior species

needing to control, dominate, and use

the earth's nafural resources. Instead

the project aims to supplant these with

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PEACE GARDENS

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universal values of equality, social jus-tice, and environmental sustainabilitythat benefit all and notjust a privilegedfew. However, PGSCPalso draws uponall of human history and how gardenshave sustained human life and civiliza-tions,

Historical Background

The activity of gardening, the forms theyhave taken, the functions they have served,and the human creative energy put into themillustrate the fulf,llment of human needs forsurvival and the flourishing of civilizations.it is believed that the cradle of civilizationbegan with the existence of gardens inthe Fertile Crescent2 (today areas of Iraq,Kuwait, Eastern Syria, South East Turkey,and South West Iran bordered by the Tigrisand Euphrates fuvers) and on the fringes ofthe desert. The earliest account appears inthe oldest known suwiving literary work,the Epic of Gilgomes&. Considered one ofthe great epic poems written during earlyMesopotamia, it was discovered as a set often tablets written in the Sumerian cunei-form script dating from c.700 BCE (Tumer2011). Another source documenting the firstappearance ofgardens are found in Egyptiantombs of pharaohs where paintings on thewalls depict the life of the Pharaohs and theafterlife conditions recreated in their tombsthat included furniture, clothes, and gardens.

Gardens are broadly classified into twocategories, utilitarian and pleasure gardens(Stuart 2010) designating the functionalseparation of basic needs and the culturalaesthetic reasons why people of all culturescreate gardens. In the following, I want touse Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needsas a schema for illustrating the role gardens

have and continue to play in the fulfillment ofhuman needs and development. I take the po-sition along with other critics that these needsdo not necessarily occur in the hierarchicaland structured manner that the pyramid

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presupposes, and the human experience ingardens and in gardening integrally serves

the full range of human needs for individ-ual and collective survival and well-being.Nevertheless, such an account is useful forrecaphrring some sense of collective memoryand myths surrounding gardens for whichwe have lost sight in modern and contem-porary postmodern times, but can serve as

testimonials in our reconceptualization ofthe possibilities that peace gardens hold forthe future in this transformative process ofrevisioning our educational values.

Maslow (1970) is well known for his hu-manistic approach to a theory of motivation(countering behavioristic and psychoanalyticperspectives) that builds upon a hierarchyof needs that have causal efficacy in deter-mining human behavior toward becoming

fully human The original set of five needs(Maslow 1943) were later expanded. The fustfourhave consistently remainedthe same andare classified as Deficiency Needs or basicneeds that are physiological and social psy-chological needs fundamental to individualand social human survival. Deficiency Needs

are: Physiological, Safety and Security, Af-filiation, Self-worth and Self-esteem. Thenext set of higher order needs are classffiedas Growth (Berng) Needs, which are thoseneeds that enable humans to reach their fullpotential development. Growth Needs are:Cognitive, Self-actualization, Aesthetic, and

Transcendent.

Deficiency Needs (Lower Order)

Physiological Needs (food, water, air,sleep, nourishment, sex, factors enablingbodily functioning, homeostasis): Gardensmanifestly serve a corporeal biotic purposeas a source of food for human suwival. It isthought that the date palm was the tree mostoften referenced in the earliest accountsof gardens because of its known origins inMesopotamia. Orchards of fruit trees were

Peace & Policy, Vol. 19

Peace Gardens

part ofthe natural landscape and distributedthrough trade with other countries or as giftsamongst rulers. Garden orchards were set intwo locations in cities or tells (hills) built upwith mudbrick dwellings surrounded by citywalls. Small "yards" outside of mud dwell-ings were not used for gardens but rather forcooking. At the top of the tell, palms and fruittrees were planted in deeply dug trenchesaround the ruler's palace or sacred temple. Atthe base of each tell, orchards were plantedwithin the city walls. Rice and barley, vege-tables, herbs, and otherplants lay outside thecity walls where livestock was also raised. Atthe bottom of the tell, water was collected orchanneled by inigation canals that ran fromnatural water sources (Tumer 2011,37).

S"f"ty and Security Needs (health, en-vironment, home, work, shelter, stability,structure, predictabilify, reducing uncertain-ty, etc.): Tree orchards that were located atthe base of the city wall and at the top besidecity temples in deeply dug pits functioned as

a natural protective barrier from winds andurwelcomed intruders (animal and human).Water pits were used for washing clothesand bathing in the lowlands outside of thecity wall. Palm tree fronds provided shadefrom the desert heat and were used, alongwith vines, for rooftops. Clothing was wovenfrom palm fronds and made from tree barkalong with many other items such as bedcoverings, writing tools, baskets, utensils,and other useful household items securingthe stability of settlements.

Garden plants and herbs were also dis-covered to have medicinal value. Ayurvedicherbal medicine is the oldest, natural heal-ing system originating in India. In the earlythirteenth century Ibn al-Baitar of Malga hadthe most complete study of herbal remediestlathe Pharmacopoeia then available in Eu-rope (Stuart 2010,37).In Europe medicinalgardens were discovered within cioisterstended by Christian monks during the MiddleAges. Medicinal gardens enabled health and

Peace & Policy, Vol. 19

rvell being in curing ailments, curbing thespread of disease, and extending the humanlife span.

Afi I i ation (love, belongingness, affection,friendship, intimacy, family, group identifi ca-

tion, social interaction, and communicationwith others): Pleasure gardens are designedwith all the emotions and senses in mind tocapture the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, andtextures of variety of both human and plantlife. Across the globe, gardens were and area formal and informal place for social privateand public gatherings, entertainment, familycelebrations, artistic performances, intimateencounters, national festivals, private wor-ship, quiet meditation, and retreat.

The first Chinese Emperor's gardenswere expanded hunting parks that coveredthe entirety of the vast lands comprisinetheir dynasty, just as the rulers of Mesopo-tamia. Howevel they developed reputationsthrough the display oftheirpower and wealthby fllling their hunting parks rvith domesticand exotic animals from all parts of Chinaand foreign countries. Chinese Emperorstook great pride in showing off their finetreasures and went to great lengths in design-ing areas oftheir garden to fit their personal,social, and diplomatic agendas. Parks werelarge enough to keep military encampmentsin order to maintain their guards'loyalty andallegiance. Some benevolent rulers, for ex-ample, Wen of the Zhou dynasty (1027-256BC), allowed public religious ceremonialrituals to be held in the park. Yet other rulerswere known to have squandered their mon-ey and pride lavishly, destroying peoples'homes to dig artificial lakes and ponds, andengaging in obscene activities, making thepark a o'scene of orgies, its lakes filled withwine while pieces of meat dangled from thetrees" (Stuart 2010, 70).

Gardens are often depicted as out-of-the-way places in romantic novels where loversmeet il secret affairs and too, where revo-lutionaries confer in planning their revolts.

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PEACE GARDENS

Robert Harrison (2008) identifies "a genetic,almost organic connection between gardensand forms of conviviality. In ancient, medi-eval, and modem texts, gardens frequentlyappear as sites of conversation, dialogue,friendship, storytelling,-in short, commu-nalization" (Harrison 2008, 45).

Self-worth and Self-Esteem (eamed re-spect, confidence, achievements, recognition,reputation, attention, independence, freedom,appreciation, and self-regard): Gardens aresites used to exhibit wealth, social status,power, artistry or cultural knowledge oftheir owners. There is such a contrast amongworld gardens in their design and exhibitionsof cultural identities, Italian gardens arerooted in Roman conventions but during theRenaissance a resurgence of classical Romanculture reemerged influencing the whole ofEuropean standards for gardens. Gardensites during early antiquity come from theexcavated ruins of Pompeii and letters fromPliny the Younger, a successful lawyer at thattime. Gardens graced courtyard entrancesand often smaller gardens were privatelylocated at the back of residences or offbed-room quarters. Roman hydraulic inventionsallowed for elaborate architectural marvelsof rvater cascades, fountains, and poolscombined with commemorative statuary ofRoman gods, such as Aphrodite, Dionysus,and Venus. ln the sixteenth century gardensand countryside villas exhibited these andother essential elements of Italian gardentraditions-terraced hillsides, balustrades,pergolas, trellises, and arbors covered withinterwoven vines, expansive lawns in geo-metrical patterns or linear arangements,some lined with tree orchards, others contain-ing neatly trimmed box hedges, even some

with topiaries depicting figures of animals.During the late Medieval period, gardenswere owned by the papacy, religious order,wealthy aristocrats, and govemment officialsbut created by artists, garden craftsmen, andpeasarhy. They incorporated Italian paint-

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ings, themes of Roman antiquity in sculp-tures and architectural standards, mythicaland religious flgures, palatial buildings andgrounds where the human intellect reveredand at the same time came to dominate na-ture. The ilfluence of structural elements ofthe Italian tradition pervades Europe. We findhowever, that with its transmission to the neu'land, America, there was a transformation ofcultural values and national identity.

In her book The Founding Gardeners(2011), Andrea Wulf describes how theAmerican founding fathers were adamantgardeners, frequently spending much of theirtime during their political careers tending tospecific mafters about their home gardens.Revealed through their letters to their fam-ilies were minute details about such thingsas inskuctions about the selection ofseeds,their placement on the land, the timelines forplantings, the decisions about which manures

to use, the design of their kitchen gardens

as well as serpentine entries to their homeestates. Such things preoccupied them on adaily basis. For example, George Washing-ton insisted on native American plants at hishome in Mt. Vemon. As he grew in his alle-giance and came to value the independenceofAmerica from British rule, he changed theentry of his home to face west in view of theAppalachian mountains, instead of east to theocean, thus tuming his back on Britain andthe old world (280). Thomas Jefferson loggedmeticulous accounts on the cultivation ofplant seedlings and trees that he gatheredin his exchanges with other notables amonghis gentry class around the world. He ex-perimented with growing various plants andtesting soils athis home inMonticello, moti-vated by his fervent belief that farming was

the key to the sustainability and wealth ofthe new nation. Benjamin Franklin's popularpolitical speech "Positions to be ExaminedConcerning National Weolth" projected thefuture development of the heartland-home-land culture when he identified three ways

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Peace Gardens

in which the young nation might acquireindependent wealth: "The first is by $/ar . . .

This is Robbery. The second by Commerce. . . This is Cheating. The third by Agriculturethe only honest way" (1i8). John Adam'sexpressions oflove and longing to return tohis small farm, Peacefield in Quincy nearBoston during his presidency, rvas a shared

sentiment among the founding fathers ex'emplifuing the invisible link between theirpersonal emotional struggle for freedomwith their public pride and growing sense ofbelonging and national identity in America.

The obsession the early founders had totheir gardens and the effect it had on theirpersonal lives and public aspirations has

been underestimated until now. In contrast tothe elaborate European pleasure gardens, wefind the pragmatic utilitarian garden rulingthe Americas.

Growth (Being) Needs(Higher Order)

Cognitive (knowing, understanding the

surrounding world, exploring, discovering,learning, searching for kuth, seeking intel-lectual challenges, being curious, problemsolving, etc.): A general term referencing the

pedagogy adopted in school gardens todayis garden-based learning (GBL). There is

no single discipline or practice in definingGBL just as there is no single disciplineor practice that defines peace education.Rather GBL is an amalgam of philosophies,disciplinary perspectives, social movements,and practices that continue to build a nest ineducation under the theme of sustainabilityand environmental education. Philosophersof the past are often cited as stakeholdersin the current GBL movement albeit inovergeneralized ways. For example, JohnAmos Comenius (1592-1671), a MoravianProtestant, is often credited as the "firsi"philosopher initiating the idea of gardens inschools for their educational value.

Peace & Policy, Yol. 19

He states in his book, The Great Didactic,

To be a rational creature is to name allthings, and to speculate and reason abouteverything that the world contains, (. . .) toknow how the world was made and the oper-ation of the elements; the beginning, ending,and midst of the times; the alterations of the

tuming of the sun, and the change of sea-

sons; the circuits ofyears and the positionsof stars; the natures of living things and thefuries of wild beasts; the violence of windsand the reasonings of men; the diversitiesof plants and the virtues of roots; in a word,everything that is secret and that is manifest(172-:73).

The school itselfshould be a pleasant place. . . Without, there should be a place to u alkand to play in (. . .) and there should be a

garden attached, into u'hich the scholarsshould be allowed to go from time to timeand where they may feast their eyes on trees.flowers, and plants (. . .) where they ahvayshope to hear and see something new (283).

Comenius created a curriculum in sixyear blocks and insisted that his curriculumwas for both boys and girls, and that it also

included the poor. He believed his curriculumwas universally applicable and useable by allcultures and languages.

But Comenius was not an "environmen-talist" as some would like to claim. Rather,his religious beliefs that nature was createdby the Divine hand of God and in the innategoodness and endowed capacity of reason

in human beings to know all natural things

fuelled his focus in Nature as man's best

teacher. Gardens were a place where edu-

eation of the young could begin by bringingchildren into an intimate knowledge of and

relationship with their natural being, in as-

sociation with all forms of life.Other educational philosophers of the

mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries such

as Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Dewey,and Montessori have all been considered

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as nature-based advocates using gardensas metaphors to describe their pedagogicalapproaches that emphasize or imply the ed-ucational value ofschool gardens related tocognitive, social, psychological, and moraldevelopment. Going into depth in analyzinghow the garden metaphor fit into each oftheir educational perspectives, would re-quire going beyond the space allowed in thisarticle; nonetheless, it is important to pointout how important the activity of gardeningwas considered in the historical evolutionof education. An example illustrating this isin the establishment of the "kindergarten,"a term that was famously coined by Germanpedagogue, Friedrich Froebel, a student ofPestalozzi.

He states in his book, The Education ofMan (1887):

Education should lead and guide man tocleamess concerning hirnself and in himself,to peace with nature, and to unity with God(Jarrett 1969,293).

We grant space and time to young plantsand animals because we know that, in ac-cordance with the larvs that live in them,they will develop properly and grow well;young animals and plants are given rest, andarbitrarily interference with their growthis avoided because it is known that theopposite practice rvould disturb their pureunfolding and sound development. . .(. . .)Oh man, who roamest through garden andfleld, through meadow and grove, why dostthou close thy mind to the silent teaching ofnature (Jarrett 1969, 293).

(. . .) the grape-vine must, indeed betrimmed; but this trimming as such doesnot insure wine. On the other hand, thetrimming, although done with the best in-tention, may wholly destroy the vine, or atleast impair its fertility and productiveness,if the gardener fail in his work passively andattentively to follow the nature of the plant(Jarrett 1969,294).

t28

Aesthetic (Beauty, order, symmetry,integrity, coherence): Perhaps the idea ofthepleasure garden best fulfills the aesthetic sen-

sibilities ofhigher order needs for beauty, forcreating and experiencing thatwhich brings a

sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, coherence,and wholeness in life. The beauty of a fullyripened fruit ora matue blossom (no matterhow short the time), the seasonal richnessin varieties of hues, shapes, and colors ofornamentals, the orchestration of gardenelements-whether they be the magnificentwaterfall marble staircases; the statues andbusts representing mythical Greek gods andgoddesses in Italian gardens; the shapes ofdomestic and exotic animals lining the road-

ways to Chinese Emperors burial tombs; theimaginary monsters and grotesque sculpturesat Bomarzo (Italy sixteenth century), by Vici-no Orsini; rocks in a Chinese garden, chosenfor their strangeness, yet auspicious mean-ings; or rocks symbolizing mountains amidst

raked ocean waves in the ordered simplicityof Zen gardens in Japan-such experiencesofobjects adorn and enhance garden spaces

desigrred to provoke human thought, surprisethe imagination, reenergize, and redirect theflow ofcreative energy to nourish persons'

raison d'6tre and meaning for living.Different cultures around the world have

gardens that display their cultural and aes-

thetic sensibility in the layout of the design,

the architectural features of buildings, and

the overall ambiance of the atmosphere that

captivate their visitors. For example, Chinesegardens often have outdoor covered walk-ways leading to small temples (rlrig) builtfor resting and viewing (through craftedwindows or open air) carefully landscaped

scenes that replicate various natural wonders

located throughout other parts of China.There are nearly invisible borders to Japanese

parks that integrate the natural landscape intoremote areas for meditation and quiet con-templation away from the hustle and bustle

Peace & Policy, lrol. 19

Peace Gardens

ofcity life. Traditional French gardens are universal consciousness, unity of being):highly structured, grandiose, embellished The value of religious and spiritual associ-with topiaries, statues of famous national ations in references to gardens should notheroes,manicuredbushes,andgeometrically be underestimated. While the process ofarranged plantings. Typical English gardens self-transcendence in modern terms putsare known for their lush arrangements of the responsibility and capacity for self-im-vegetation and multilayers of colorful flowers provement solely in the hands of individuals,that are timed to bloom throughout the season this highest value of transcendence is linkedfrom small residential front yard city plots to to universal beliefs about the metaphysicallarge estate homes in the countryside. Middle nature of being human, the need to haveEastern gardens often laid out in quartered meaning about human life on earth and thesquared ponds or canal-lined walkways in answer to questions about human finality,the front enhances to palatial homes, tem- Gardens are central to creation mytholo-ples, and buildings. Each culture's garden gies because they provide sustenance foraesthetics express features and characteristics the survival of all living things-humans,of cultural beliefs, values, Iifestyles, and plants, and animals. They also traverse thepeople'spersonalorientationsthathavebeen divided line between material and spinrualhanded down and retained through centuries worlds in philosophical and religiots beliefof tradition. When you pass through these systems.Inpolytheisticbeliefsystems.rulersgardens, you experience a sense of cultural ofpeoples, tribes, kingdoms, or nations \r'ereidentity and belongingness to a particular often viewed as descendants from heaven.people, community, ethnic culture, ornation. inheriting the gifts, hence privileges, worthy

Self-actualizarion (self-fulfil1ment, reali- of gods. Temples were built at the highestzation of one's potential, meaning, happiness, relief in cities as places of worship, as wereharmony, wisdom, authenticiry democratic platforms in hunting parks where Emperorsvalues, autonomy, self-improvement, using could view their lands and people &om thecapacities that create a greater sense of highest point closest to the heavens. Resi-wholeness, self-satisfaction, and well-being; dential palaces also replicated envisionedbeing at peace with who you are, being the dwellings of the afterlife with surroundingbest person you can be, living up to your gardens fulI of fruit trees that were repre-potential; moral creative spontaneity and sented in origin mythology.self-acceptance; finding your purpose in Thetranscendentqualityofgardens sym-what motivates you, manifesting a mean- bolizes life after death in the heavens and lifeingful life): The autonomous gardener, just on earth as if dwelling in paradises-placesas the Persian King, the Egyptian Pharaoh, where one can attain the highest state ofthe Chinese Emperor, or the American perfect happiness, bliss, nirvana, and com-Founding Father develops and enlarges his pleteness in being. The PGSCP envisions thiscapacity for living as the creator of a garden possibility for schools.within the limitations and possibilities of- Educationalphilosophyandtheoriesaboutfered by environmental conditions. Gardens human nature are contesting centuries-oldsymbolically and in reality represented the dichotomies between reason and emotions,identities of cultural iconoclasts as much as the mind and body, the spiritual and material,they enable these shared experiences forthe religion and science, nature versus nurture,urbandwellertoday. to such a degree that today a substantial

Transcendence (Sympathy, empathy, critical shift in educational paradigrns iscompassion, selflessness, enlightenment, possible. Psychological research on the brain,

Peace & Policy, Vol. 19 129

PEACE GARDENS

emerging theories of emotional inteiiigenceand multiple iateiligences. social culturalmovements in culturai pluralism and diver-siry, politicai movements lbr democracy andsocial justice, environmental movementsfor ecological awareness and planetary con-sciousness, globai grass roots movements forhuman rights, peace and non-violence, theuniversalization of values of mutual respect,compassion, empathy, equality, cooperation,sustainability, justice, happiness, GNH,3forgiveness, and gratitude are coalescing toredefine our current times now ripe for trans-forming the foundations of our educationalsystem, its policies, and its practices. Ournotions of the "ideal educated human being"to guide us through the twenty-first centuryare in the making.

PGSCP takes a historical approach not toglorify the past but to find an understandingabout how human individual and collectiveconsciousness has evolved and how the pastcan help reshape the present aad future. Wefind all over the world, this special relation-ship that humans have in creating, needing,and desiring the benefits of participating inthe life ofgardens in one lvay or another. Ihave barely touched the surface but my mainpurpose is to shine a light on this uniquephenomenon thathas been lost in the modemera. Reclaiming this aspect ofbeing human isnecessary to develop a peace consciousnessiu the garden project.

Modern Context-The SchoolGardening Movement

Kolhstedt traces the origins of the currentschoal gardening movement in the UnitedStates to a period between 1890 and 1920in association with the Nature Study move-ment and progressive educators, such as

John Dewey, Francis W. Parker, and DavidStarr Jordon. With the popularization of thekindergarten in Europe,aAmericans followedsuit when in 1879, Mary Tyler Peabody

130

Mann (Horace Mann's wife) translated the

German manual The School Garden, Beinga Practical Contibution to Education intoEnglish. The national gardening and agricul-tural associations in the early 1 900s endorsedschool gardens. The United States SchoolGarden Army was created as a patrioticgesture during World War I when over onemillion students contributed to the war effort.Another surge of interest appeared duringWorld War II with the promotion of VictoryGardens. Educational materials, videos, andfederal workers were dispensed by the de-partment ofAgriculture to assist the public ingrowing victory gardens on their ownprivatehome plots and public community lands.sDuring World War I over 5 million gardenswere planted and World War II an estimated20 million. After 1944 gardens were grad-ually replaced with playgrounds, athleticf,elds, and a shifting interest in technology.It should then come as no surprise, that inexamining the history of the existence ofpeace gardeus in modern memory, that theyhave, for the most part, been established inrelation to war; that is, in the celebration ofthe cessation ofwar, in protests against entryinto war, and as memorial events commem-orating the struggles, victims, and heroes ofwar. More popular memories referencingpeace gardens in current times conjure up theVictory gardens during both World Wars thatspread throughout the United States, Canada,England, and Germany to supplement theshortage in food supplies.

The school garden movement rvaxedand waned as a companion to other cyclesof educational reform-the Nature Studymovementbetween 1890 and 1920;the Pro-gressive education and Country Life move-ments during the 1900s to 1930s (Danbom1979); the countercultural and environmentalmovements, the War on Poverfy in the 1960sto 1970s; and the rebirth of progressiveeducation, environmental education, andnational concems about school-age children's

Peace & Policy, lrol. 19

Peace Gardens

nutrition and health since 1990s. During thedepression of 1893, cities quickly grew dueto increasing immigrant populations andfamilies leaving rural farms. In New YorkCity, garden programs encouraged "indus-triousness, taught orderliness, cleanliness,and punctuality; excited esthetic sensibility;and prevented moral degeneration" in slumneighborhoods (Kolhstedt 2000, 75). Therewas academic support for the moral, disci-plinary attitudinal, aesthetic, scientific, andbeautification benefits ofgardens in schools,seeing that "garden work, properly directed,promotes industry, attention, judgment,skills and self-reliance" (Kolhstedt 2000,71). With the industrialization of Americaand the cultural assimilation of minoritiesduringthe twentieth century, there shouldbequestions raised about the targeting of ethnicpopulations by agricultural and vocationalprograms for garden-based learning and theimpact of these programs that contributedto social, economic class categorizations ineducation. Similar pattems appeared acrossMexican-American (New Mexico), NativeAmerican (Virginia), and African Americanschools that transformed the aims of schoolgardens to manual training in crop farmingfor boys, and domestic home gardening foro'Negro children" in the South (Kolhstedt2000,71-72). The vocational and practi-cal focus in garden-based leaming (GBL)on basic skills in horticulture, agriculture,and environmental sciences has remainedconsistent over the years in both formal andnon-formal educational settings. Some ex-amples of these extramural programs in theUnited States are 4-H clubs, Future Farmersof America (FFA), and Adopt a Garden inEthiopia.

Today, however, the interest in schoolgardens within the academy is found in across section of agricultural reformists, en-vironmentalist, and educators. Some stateshave embraced the concept with a focuson healthy foods, environmentalism, and

Peace & Policy, Vol. l9

sustainability practices in schools. Thoughnot fully implemented, in 1995, Califomia'sState School Superintendent, Delaine Eastinmandated "a garden in every school." TheFirst Lady Michelle Obama's initiatives tofight child obesity and improve nutritionin schools with Let's Move, as well as theWhite House Kitchen Garden, the Healthy,Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the mostrecent November 20, 2012, signmg of theChildhood Nutrition Bill have not only im-pacted schools but also businesses and theirmenu offerings for children. School garden

initiatives today cross all boundaries ofrace,culture, social, economic, public and privateschools.

The Peace Gardens in the Schoolsand Community Project

How do peace gardens fit u'ithin these

multilayered dimensions? More particu-larly, how does the Peace Garden Hawai'iproject find its own identity and conceptual

framework in current times, yet accountfor garden history? Peace Gardens Hawai'iwas initially conceived in 2008 as a peace

education topic that would accommodate the

surging interest by the academic communityin sustainability inresponse to the impending

reality of global climate change. There was a

match between the emerging focus on peace

education and the opportunity to see the

merging ofpeace and environmental ecologyas a needed course offering in education. Agraduate course was offered in the spring of2009 and 2010 experimenting with an inte-grated curriculum. In September 2012 theinauguration of an educational program forschools and the community was celebrated as

a theme for Peace Day Hawai'i in the spirit ofthe tIN International Day of Peace andNonviolence shared around the world and

the Culture of Peace Programme. The Peace

Garden Hawai'i project, though it has been

nurlured for the past four years, continues

t31

PEACE GARDENS

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to develop in infancy amidst various influ-ences and challenges in its promotion andaccessibilify as a psace education course forK-12 schools and forpost-secondary teachertraining.

The peace garden project embraces thepositive aspects of these approaches-apedagogy that believes in a human spirit,that eaigmatic core of being hurnan (Mon-tessori 1969) that brings forth creativity inleaming; an ability to envision a world basedonuniversal values oflove, faimess, respect,equality, and nonviolence; a critical reflectivedisposition in questioning and understandingunderlying assumptions grounding culturalmodes of behavior and thought that maskbehaviors undermining these values (Harris1988); and a planetary ecological awarenessof the interconnectedness that all individualsshare with all forms of life on earth that pro-motes a global citizenship that cares (Rear-

don 1988), takes responsibility, and holdsoneselfand others accountable for creatinga better and more peaceful world.

Creating Peace Gardens in SchoolsDedicated to Creating Culturesof Peace

The Peace Gardens in the Schools andCommunity Project supports an eclectic ped-agogical approachthatpromotes the use of avariety ofinstructional strategies that are de-termined by local cultural and environmentalcontext that is appropriated by reworkingcore curriculum into integrated curriculumthat incorporates environmental knowledge,peace education valueVaims, teacher-lerlrnerinterests, and service leaming partnershipsthat connect lessons to outdoor experientiallearning, develop meaningful relationshipsbetween readings and reality, and realizesocially responsible g I o b al citizenship.

All schools are unique in their confrgura-tion-grade levels served, physical location,architectural structure, available resources,

t -)/

climatic and geographical conditions, andso on when undertaking to conceptualizeand construct peace gardens. Ideally, thepeace garden encompasses the entire schooigrounds in long-term planning; in the shortterm, various segments may be developedin stages. It's a process in the making. It is aplace where the conceptualization, planning,construction, and use of the facilities is ashared endeavor by all members ofthe school(administrators, teachers, students, staff) andan engaged community (parents, public andprivate business and organizations). Peacegardens include gardening for human needsand development-food, shelter, clothing,social relations, cultural enrichment, spiri-fual growth, aesthetics sensibilities, personalinterests, and societal sustainability-relatedto curriculum, school organization and edu-cational practices.

Aspects of the Project

The Peace Gardens Project in Hawai'i, inthe spirit ofthe Intemational Culture ofPeaceProgram, shifts its attention away &om themodem archeology of war by incorporatingcultures ofpeace based definitions for rais-ing the consciousness ofstudents, teachers,

and sommunity members in the four aimsidentified at the beginning of this article-peace within, in relation to others, with the

environment, and with the global community.It draws from a historization of the conceptof peace gardens prior to and in transforma-tion of the modern period's technologicaland economic hegemonic ideologies thathave destroyed the cultivating practices ofgardening both materially and spiritually as

an experiential activity-based pedagogy formeaning making and humau development.While it does not overlook the significanceofthe advances in positive peace that havecontributed to the culture of peace vision,instead, it takes a leap fartherback into ex-amining the origins and history ofthe cultural

Peace & Policy, Vol. l9

Peace Gardens

meanings held about gardening in order toadvance a new vision forward. It engagesthe transformative leaming and educationmodel that involves education for all, edu-cation everywhere, social justice, planekrysustainability, mutual respect, equality forall, acceptance of others, cultural plural-ism, compassion, voluntary stewardship insolidarity, and conscious intentional actiontoward historical global transformation.

Preparatory Steps

Creating faculty partnerships betweenuniversity departments and colleges is im-portant in today's world when today budgetsare stretched and material resources are ata premium. However, more important isrealizing that knowledge rs an integratedleaming experience and seeking parhrershipsbased on shared knowledge and expertise iscrucial for addressing the complexity andinterrelatedness of problem based learningin the twenty-first century. The Universityof Hawai'i Urban Garden Center Mas-tergardener Program has volunteers andpartnering faculty with the University ofHawai'i peace education faculty and othernon-profit community farm-to-school orga-nizations. Together they are able to provideeducational information through workshops,practice with on-site visits, and school-siteadvising all of which are tailored to theparticular needs and circumstances of part-nering schools. Interested school teachersand administrators may contact the PeaceGarden Coordinator or alternatively contactother heads of garden-based-leaming com-munity organizations to discuss possibilitiesand an individual plan for the school. In thelatter case, the peace garden ideals may beinfused into garden-based-leaming programswhich are narrowly limited to introducinggardening into schools. These are more oftenprograms focused on science curriculum orelementary grades. Ideally, the loue-term

Peace & Policy, Yol. 19

PGSCP plan is for the entire school to be-come apeace garden with short-term site de-velopment. Otherwise, sections ofthe schoolgrounds can be developed accordingly. Aninstructional leader(s) (principal, teachers,

and students together) conducts an overallexamination of the school building facilitiesand gtounds to determine the condition of thesoils and the amount of available land usedfor different functions related to the schoolcurriculum. Soil testing can be submiued tothe university for analysis.

Place-Based Design and Curriculum

The peace garden is place-based and uti-lizes the resources of the local envirorunentbest fitting to the local climatic conditions.The curriculum for the peace garden can be

adapted to any subject, for example. science.math, English, arts, special needs, vocationaleducation, arts, and so forth. However, ilmost effective developed as an integratedcurriculum across subject matters (Fogerty1993) that allows for interdisciplinary andtransdisciplinary (off site) leaming approach-es to various subjects. The choice oflocationof different sites can be coordinated withclassroom or activity-based locations. Forexample, one area could be used for grow-ing edible vegetables located close to thecafeteria where the food would be collected,cooked, and served. Food could be harvestedfor use in the cafeteria by members of theschool, distributed to students to take hometo their families, given to charitable organi-zations in the community, prepared throughleaming manufacturing processes, and sent

to countries with needy populations overseas.

All students could leam progressively grade-

by-grade level how to grow plants, harvest,store, presen'e, cook, package, and distribute.edible vegetables, herbs. fruits. nuts. and

gains. to sen.e the school populati*n. be

shared ldonated or soidi *ith rhe lccal c*m-muniry. or gifted to ancrther trBu,&tr). Fr'llII

t 33

PEACE GARDENS

trees could be planted where they provideshade where needed in areas for social gath-

erings, to cool the buildings, to shelter &agileplants, or outdoor workspaces. In additionall members of the school share in givenassignments for care and maintenance of thegarden areas on a routine, round-the-clockschedule. Educational topics can includelessons on basic gardening, economic, landand natural resource management, systemsof electric and water consumption, businesspractices, healthy cooking and nutritionalvalues in food consumption, and a "nothinggoes to waste, reduce, recycle, reuse, renew"sustainable approach to leaming and livingabout providing the very basic needs forhuman survival.

Performance Areas

Maximization of indoor and outdoor space

that are sections of the whole school peacegarden allows for utilization and beautifica-tion of the school environment in creativeways. One outdoor area in the garden schoolgrounds could be created for the arts andpublic performances with a small amphithe-ater or stage area surounded by omamentalplants and trees. Outdoor exercises, poetryreadings, plays, theatre, games, speech class,orchestra rehearsals, solo and group practicefor music lessons, and dance lessons couldalso be held here. Daily use of this outdooror indoor area could be a gathering place forstudent clubs and social networking, curric-ulum planning, and organizational businessmeetings for faculty. This would be an idealspot for scheduling entertainment of all kindsopen to parents, the community, and generalpublic. Picnic tables, benches, swings, chairs,and stools could be placed in various areasthroughout the garden landscapes for anyoneto sit individually or socially with others,eating lunch, doing homework, reading, re-flecting, even "garden-gating" before a biggame or performance.

t34

Public Private SPaces

Spaces designed for quiet sitting, reading,studying, meditation, and reflection mightbe sheltered with vine-covered trellises,plants that have fragrant flowers thathave a

calming effect on the senses. The principaland teachers could use these areas to consultwith troubled students instead of the class-room or offlce where the structure of poweris imposed. These areas mighthave dedicatedplants, trees, or gleenery that is symbolic ofthe interests and loves ofmajorpeacemakersor represent the national flowers ofcountriesaround the globe or ofdiversity ofstudents'nationalities who attend the school. Statuarymay represent local communiry national, orglobal figures that have specifically made adifference in the lives ofpeople at this schoolin demonstrating the value and meaning ofpeace education as a way of life. Here stu-dents could leam the skills of conflict resolu-tion, mediation, and negotiation as everydaypractices in peacemaking among themselvesor with their teachers, principals, and parents.

Outdoor Classrooms

Learning combining indoor classroomsto outdoor experiences in application orcommunity participation can include classprojects and experiments, where studentssee the relationship oftheory to the practicalin everyday living. Some examples wouldbe an astronomy class that holds classes at

night for planetary observations; a wood shop

class that designs and builds houses withsustainable materials or repairs run-down ordamaged facilities at the school; new discov-eries about the communication pattems andliving habitats of animals-where studentslearned how to raise animals, foster or rescue

animals for adoption, keep chickens for theireggproduction and tum theirwaste into plantfertilizer, or help restore marine life or freshwater ecosystems. Peace gardens are part

Peace & Policy, Vol. 19

of the curriculum and encompass the tirllrange ofnatural resources, the earth. ald thecosmos to be referenced by shorving horrhumans are intimately connected with theselife systems in fundamental and meaningfullife-sustaining ways.

Cultural Spaces

The architecture layout for creating gar-dens and the curriculum are dependent on theunique and diverse conditions of the schoolsgeographical landscape, building design,location, and diversity in student populationand community needs. For example, specialneeds populations might use container gar-dening for those who use wheelchairs or haveother physical handicaps; roof top gardens

can be built for urban schools located in the

city that are surrorxrded by concrete and havelittle to no land; aquaponics systems may beinstalled for schools without land or to ac-commodate the seasons with harsh climates.Buildings and spaces could adopt desigusfrom other cultures and civilizations-aChinese pavilion (rirzg), an Italian courtyard,a Persian portico (ayvan or hvan), a Japanese

teahouse, an English conservatory. These are

options that, when placed in an appropriate\sru(ss',s\u(etr\ss,sru\(txlerretrre\trirrgand Ieaming in an integrated gfo6afcultur-al setting that would expand their sense ofglobal belonging.

Community and Bus ines s P artnerships

Partnerships can be developed with busi-nesses in the community, organizations thatwork toward peace, and those who wish toparticipate in the teaching and learning of theschool and community. Rotary Club, HomeDepot, and Tzrget (in the United States)are just a few examples of fhose businessesthat carry scholarships and funding for thedevelopment of gardens. Eliciting their helpand parent-affiliated businesses to work with

Peace & Policy, VoL 19

Peace Gardens

students at the school and volunteer theirtime or donate materials involves them con-stmctively as part of the learning community.Also, parents and adults who can contributeprofessional knowledge and education to stu-dents that teachers may be less familiar rvithcan be sought. Parents are not called upon as

"babysitters" or "disciplinary monitors" butrespected for their professional expertise andknowledge as valuable contributors to theschool curriculum, for example, restaul?ntchefs can introduce recipes for healthy meals,

techniques inpreserving food; plumbers can

advise in the layout of the water system forthe garden; homemakers can share knowl-edge about caring for the home; tax consul-tants can talk about requirements for settingup businesses that sell produce at school.

The main idea is that individuals from the

community should be brought in for theirexpertise to share rvith students and teachers

about the current state of their professionor experiences in their rvork. They are notthere as disciplinarians or chaperons in the

traditional way schools utilize their time.

Local to Global Connections

Representation of global connections isuc\iered b.g itrr\u(irrg lessors about glant

{iG,, t6e cu(o,r afsr gmfr 6anc e o{gar &ns, (deiuses, other cultures'living habits, perspec-tives and educational practices in order toenhance the knowledge and practices of one'sown culture. What foodcrops are grown else-where andnot locally? What are the climatic,soil, and natural resources available? Whattype of plants and their associated culturalmeanings thrive in other countries? Howdoes this knowledge increase understanding,compassion, and respect for others in relationto oneselfl What foods are popular and whyare some spices more prevalently used eise-where? What are the health effects ofthe useofdifferent herbs? How can students sharetheir local knowledge or be linked through

t3s

PEACE GARDENS

technology with others worldwide in findingnew approaches to improving their quality oflife? How can students find out where otherswho are in need exist, those without food,water, shelter, clothing, adequate health care,around the world, and how can students bepart of their solution, yet, equally aware ofthe ways in which they may be part of the

cause of their problems.

Conclusion

These are just a few ways in which school-ing is envisioned in the Peace Garden forSchools and Communities Project. Schoolsare already initiating some of these changes.

But are they continuing the same segregationof knowledge with real world problems and

individual needs and aspirations? Do these

changes interconnect a broader planetaryor cosmological awareness in student con-sciousness? Are schools places where people

find their identity and sense of belongingintertwined with others and the natural en-

vironment as a foundation for learning to be

happy, joyful, compassionate, and creative?In reflecting on the historical collective

practices and collective consciousnessassociated with gardens and gardening indifferent parts of the world, what aspects

do we need to transform? What must be leftbehind in our past that we can leam fromand transform for the future and well-be-ing of all people living peaceable lives?Salient practices that undermine the peace

consciousness aims of the PGCSP are first,the social class distinctions and inequalityoften accompanying ideas, attitudes, anddispositions about gardening. Those wholabor and those who had the privilege ofspending leisure time in the gardens were

separatedby clear social and economic class

distinctions between the poor or labor class

and the wealthy rulers in earlier civilizations.This distinction was culturally supportedby polytheistic and monotheistic religious

136

dogma in those cultures where the rulerswere seen as specially chosen or inherentlyrelated to supernatural gods or a single god.

We see these ideals carried over into moderntimes whereby rural farmers and agriculturalpractices became displaced by the growth ofindustrialization and technology; the respect

at one time granted to farmers and the valueattributed to the new lands by the foundingfathers ofAmerica have been lost. We also

see in American schooling and the garden

based movement how the political implica-tions ofgardening for patriotic reasons andthe gradual segregation ofdisabled and eth-nic groups into vocational education tracksfurther supported these class distinctionsin the culture of schooling. Transforminga modern collective consciousness and themindsets ofpostmodern adults and offspringwhose experiences with nature may be lim-ited to what they see on TV the movies, ortheir iPads is no easy task. It is notjust getting

over the idea about "getting your hands dirty"but a whole subconscious tainted with ethnic,social, and economic discriminatory attitudesthat have been historically embedded intoindustrialized cultures of schooling that pre-

vents equal treament and free association ofideas and social experiences and the teachingof the values of peace toward developing a

peace environmental sustainable conscious-NESS.

A second trend in the garden-based-learn-

ing movement is that gardening is seen as

an isolated subject that is mainly relevantfor science teachers in schools. The histor-ical, humanitarian, and cultural values ofgardens central to the evolution of civiliza-tions as reviewed in this article, instead, has

been segregated to few specialized areas

of academic study and research and com-pletely neglected in the kindergarten to highschool curriculum. Yet, at the same time,research rvorldwide has shown the positiveresults of using the environment where stu-

dents demonstrated better performance on

Peace & Policy, VoL 19

ii

Peace Gardens

standardized achievement tests in core sub-jects (reading, writing, math, social sfudies,and science); reduced disciplinary problems,increased attention spans, and joy for leam-ing; and demonstrated pride and ownershipof accomplishments (Lieberman and Hoody1998). Intemationalprograms such as Leam-ing Through Landscapes (LTL) in the UnitedKingdom bring urban and rural school com-munities together. Schools in Sierra Leonehave incorporated 80 percent oftheir schoolswith hands-on gardening classes developingprestige for farmers in children's minds.Bolivia's schoolyard and ecology progmmsare committed to ecological conservationwith hands-on laboratories and uses of theschoolyard as an extension oftheir standardcurriculum (Desmond et aL.2004).

The evolution of the PGSCP has hadan impact in the creation of gardens at theUniversity Lab School and the creation ofthe Peace Gardens at the University of Ha-wai'i Urban Garden Centerwith communitypeace organizations. However, limited atthe current time, it continues as a "work inprogress" that faces many challenges for fullscale development in schools.

In this article, I have put forth a visionand practices in educating for cultures ofpeace where schools can be transformedinto peace gardens. Ultimately, it is a visionfor human creating, learning, and living atwenty-fust-century paradise on earth. Thereis much work to be done!

Notes

L Sentences are said to be "intensional" ratherthan "intentional" when they fail the test ofsubstitutability. Here I use this term to identifuEliade's point about the eternal return in therecovery of myth and its generalizability incollective consciousness.

2. Coined by James Henry Breasted (1865-1935)that covered the land from the Gulf to the Med-iterranean.

3. In Bhutan GNH or gross national happiness isused as a standard ofnarional rvealth as opposed

Peace & Policy, Vol. 19

to the common Westem standard for marketvalue GNP-gross national product.

4. Sweden began school gardens in 1871;Auskianlarv required a garden in all rural schools byI 890 with I 8,000 school gardens in Austria andHungary alone. By 1905 there were 1,000,000school gardens in Europe, French and Germanschools also had school gardens fornahle study.

5. http;//archive.org/details/victory_garden.

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