Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Idén till det här examensarbetet uppkom i Skottland under ett volontärprojekt. Eleverna på Canal View Primary School anlade tillsammans med volontärer en trädgård på sin skolgård. Volontärerna ledde även lektioner där skolgården var utgångspunkten. Projektet inspirerade och blev en del av det här examensarbetet som utgår ifrån frågeställningarna:
1. Hur kan man åstadkomma en skolgårdsutveckling med hjälp av lärare, elever, föräldrar och volontärer?
2. Vad kan en landskapsarkitekt bidra med i denna typ av skolgårdsutveckling?
För att svara på frågorna gjordes en enklare litteraturstudie åtföljd av samtal med personer som på olika sätt arbetar med skolgårdar. Samtal fördes med bland annat en skolgårdsdesigner, en rektor och en vaktmästare. Mer volontärarbete följde, dels på organisationen Grounds for Learning som arbetar med skolgårdsutveckling och utomhuspedagogik men också fortsatt arbete med Pollinate Edinburgh, volontärerna som driver projektet på Canal View Primary School. Tillsammans med volontärer på organisationen New Caledonian Woodlands, en välgörenhetsorganisation inriktad på miljöprojekt, rustades eftersatta strukturer på Parson Green Primary Schools skolgård. Under arbetets gång besöktes totalt nio skotska skolgårdar. Flera av skolgårdarna hade just gjorts om men vissa av besöken skedde innan och under det att utvecklingen ägde rum. Dessa erfarenheter ledde fram till ett program som använts i en fallstudie, Beattock Primary Schools skolgård. Beattock Primary School ligger i södra Skottland i den lilla byn Beattock. På skolgården fanns flera träd och en gräsmatta men eftersom den var fuktig fick barnen sällan leka där. Ett koncept utarbetades och omarbetades efter samråd med elever, föräldrar och lärare till ett förslag (som skolgården anlades utifrån). Den nya gestaltningen innefattade förutom bättre dränering, kullar, sandytor, fler träd, stenblock och trästrukturer. I diskussionen tas de ursprungliga frågeställningarna upp och ett resonemang förs utifrån erfarenheterna av hela projektet.

The idea for this dissertation originated in Scotland during a volunteer project. Students and volunteers at Canal View Primary School worked together to develop their school garden. The volunteers also used the school grounds to teach classes in outdoor learning. This project inspired and later became a part of this dissertation. The objective of this work is to examine whether a Scottish school ground can be developed with limited resources and with the help of students teachers, parents and volunteers. My main focus was on answering the following questions:
1. How can school ground development by teachers, students, parents, volunteers and other local resources be achieved?
2. What can a landscape architect contribute in this kind of school ground development?
To learn more about the work associated with school grounds, I had conversations with several people who are involved with this area in one way or another. I had the opportunity to meet both school staff and some of the volunteers and employees at organisations that I worked with. More volunteer work followed both at Grounds for Learning, an organisation working with school ground development and outdoor education, and also with Pollinate Edinburgh, the volunteers running the project at Canal View Primary School. Together with volunteers at the organisation New Caledonian Woodlands, a charity that runs various environmental projects, when they were restoring the school grounds of Parson Green Primary School, grounds that had suffered from neglected maintenance. A total of nine Scottish school grounds where visited. Several of them had just been transformed but some of them where in the stages before and during the development. These experiences led to a program that was the basis for a case study, Beattock Primary School's school ground. Beattock Primary School is located in southern Scotland in the small village of Beattock. The grounds had several trees and a lawn, but because it was damp the children was rarely allowed to play there. A concept was developed and after it had been revised by pupils, parents and teachers it was made into a proposal (which the new school ground was based on). The adapted design contained, among other things, better drainage, hills, sand, more trees, boulders and wooden structures. The discussion refers to the main objectives and questions and also on the complete experience of the project.