The Research Journey
The Research Purpose and Question
This qualitative study aims to document the potential benefits to students’ curricular achievement and skills development when agriculture and experiential learning are the means of delivering Alberta curriculum.
For the purpose of this study, we have limited our exploration to two subject areas:
Physical Education and Wellness & Social Studies.
The research question driving this study is: How does experiential learning through agriculture foster curricular connections and life skills in K-6 students?
NHCS is the only school in Alberta that uses agriculture in an elementary school setting to enhance students’ learning. This is what makes it a particularly unique research site.
Sometimes the stars align. One day in early January 2022 a colleague in the education faculty at U of A wrote me a brief email which started with “I have a quick wonder for you.”
New Humble Community School near Calmar, Alberta, Canada had just formed as a public charter school, and then Acting Superintendent Dr. Guy Tetrault, was inquiring about educational researchers who might be interested in conducting research with the school. Coincidentally, I had just obtained an internal research grant from the Faculty of Education to begin research that would elevate and celebrate rural school innovation. The email piqued my interest!
I didn’t know much about public charter schools. Ironically, about a year earlier when the school was applying to Alberta Education for charter status, a parent on the charter committee contacted me with the same question about research. I had declined because they said agriculture was their focus. But a year later, I could see the connection between their unique philosophy, and my goal to shift an entrenched deficit discourse about rural schools, and to study their innovation. Our stars aligned.