Cultivating a Jewish Eco- Education Framework

The Toronto Heschel School’s Teaching and Learning Garden

Bibliographic Data

ID21665380
AuthorsNadine Ijaz (0000-0002-5826-5699), Nadine Ijaz Nadine Ijaz, Paige Mawson Paige Mawson, Paige Mawson
Year2021
Volume29
Pages112-139
Publication date2021-05-14
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1198-3493 • E-ISSN: 1916-0925
PublisherYork University Libraries (PUBLISHER • CA)
DOI10.25071/1916-0925.40171
OpenAlexW3045475406
LanguageEN
References cited34

Over the last century, global food systems have increasingly shifted towards a scientific, input-based industrial paradigm whose adverse ecological impacts are well documented. In response, global agricultural movements, such as the agroecology movement, have sought an integration of contemporary science and indigenous agricultural knowledges. Scholars in the field of Jewish ecology similarly propose that biblical Hebrew scripture may provide a framework for thinking about, and acting upon, issues of ecological sustainability in agriculture. In educational settings too, learning about ecology is increasingly approached in an intimate and tangible way in the form of school garden programs. In this work, we highlight the case of the Toronto Heschel School, a Canadian Jewish day school for children in which a Teaching and Learning Garden fosters student learning on ecology and their Jewish identity in tandem. Reporting the thematic results of qualitative interviews with two educators and five alumni from the Heschel School, this study highlights key similarities and differences between this school’s garden program and those taking place in secular school settings. Like secular school gardens, the Heschel program implements experiential, interdisciplinary learning activities within a scientific ecological knowledge (SEK) framework. That said, the Heschel program supplements and deepens these SEK activities with traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) rooted in Judaic traditional teachings. The resulting educational outcomes appear at once universally applicable while specifically relevant to the Jewish identities of learners

Experiential learning · Geography · Hebrew · Judaism · Pedagogy · Sociology · Sustainability · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Diverse Educational Innovations Studies · History · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability · Ecology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access