Living Pono: A Case of School Gardens on the Big Island of Hawai‘i

Sammanfattning: In this investigation, based on fieldwork during a five-month period, the impacts on school gardens on students’ relationships with food and the environment on the Big Island in Hawai‘i are explored. The focus is on the effects of garden based learning on student’s understanding and attitudes towards food and their local environments as well as how it encourages the Hawaiian concept of living pono or living righteously. It is argued that society, food, as well as the modern classroom are increasingly fragmented from the natural world and real-life contexts. Applying different theories of constructivist and experiential learning, human-nature relationships, sense of place and place meaning and attachment to the field material, it is further argued that garden based learning as an alternative pedagogy helps students deepen a sense of place, cultivate an ecological consciousness and ethos, while also connecting with communities, and fostering social well-being.