In this professional learning program highlight, we focus on Life Lab, based at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Since 1979, Life Lab has been a national leader in garden-based education, curriculum, and professional learning, training tens of thousands of educators across the country. The program offers a variety of resources for schools and districts that want to provide high-quality garden-based learning experiences for their students. These can be found at www.lifelab.org. Their expertise has been developed over 40 years of work with schools, classroom teachers, and garden educators.

Hands-on Workshops

In a typical year, Life Lab offers multiple days of in-person workshops at its Garden Classroom on the campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz. These hands-on workshops offer an opportunity for educators from around the country to convene and learn best practices in garden education while also connecting with others in the field. Participants in these workshops experience tried-and-true lessons firsthand as participants in an actual garden setting, discuss adaptations that may work in each individual’s context, and share ideas with other participants. Life Lab workshops range from early childhood education strategies to standards-aligned lessons in the garden and sustaining your school garden program. Each workshop lasts one to two days and also includes recommendations for local garden-based events and experiences. In addition to its onsite workshops, Life Lab also sends trainers to locations around the country to deliver customized workshops for organizations and schools.

Virtual Certification

Building on 40 years of experience in the school garden movement, Life Lab has created a series of four virtual courses that guide and support educators in learning best practices in garden education. Each course is approximately eight weeks long and is a mixture of at-home asynchronous work, live synchronous meetings, and individual coaching sessions. Participants learn how to set up their garden classroom as a safe and welcoming space that honors diversity and inclusion while supporting each child’s social and emotional well-being. Educators also learn gardening tips and tricks with children and how using senses to explore the natural world connects us with our local environment. Standards-based lessons based on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core English Language Arts and Math are demonstrated as well as lessons and recipes for grades K–8 that explore effective ways to teach nutrition and encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. Key elements of building a strong school garden culture, sustainable program models, planning tools, methods for assessing garden programs, and strategies for increasing funding are also covered. Upon completion of the four courses, participants receive a certificate and the distinction of being a Life Lab-Certified Garden Educator.

Life Lab’s Approach to Garden-based Professional Learning

Why, Try, Apply

Why. When planning educator workshops, Life Lab trainers structure many learning sessions using a tool they have coined “Why, Try, Apply.” They begin each session with the why, which includes a brief discussion in which they establish a big-picture purpose for the lesson that they are about to demonstrate. They often accomplish this by saying something thought-provoking or inspiring, such as “At Life Lab, we are always looking for opportunities for students not just to learn science, but to be scientists.” Another way Life Lab trainers help workshop participants think about the why of a learning session is by asking the audience about the purpose of the upcoming session; for example, “What are some of the benefits you all have seen from cooking with kids?”

Try. When educators actively participate in effective lessons in a garden setting, they are more likely to model their teaching on the effective lesson, thus improving as an educator as well as improving student learning (Heller, 2012). Based on this finding, once the purpose of the upcoming learning session is established, the trainer dives into the try portion of the learning session, in which the trainer demonstrates an exemplar garden lesson, teaching it just as it would be taught to kids in the garden setting. During this portion of the learning session, workshop participants are actively engaging in the lesson as students themselves in the garden. This is a very hands-on, immersive experience for participants. Life Lab trainers use this opportunity to demonstrate high-leverage teacher moves that they want participants to experience and that may be unique to an outdoor learning environment, such as how to establish group agreements together before using garden tools or how to call students back together in a fun way after they do a garden exploration activity. Educators who attend Life Lab workshops often share that learning lessons by actively participating in them is a highlight of their experience.

Apply. Finally, Life Lab trainers wrap up each learning session with time for participants to apply what they have learned. During this time, participants often gather in pairs or small groups to discuss how the demonstrated lesson might work for their unique audience and environment. When relevant, participants are also guided to practice particular outdoor teaching techniques, such as “Practice with a partner how you would call your students back when they are scattered throughout your garden.”

Taking Good Care of People 

Teaching and learning in an outdoor garden classroom can be outside of many educators’ comfort zones, so Life Lab takes particular care to make the experience as positive and enjoyable for participants as possible. Toward this end, Life Lab often provides comfortable garden seating, shade, warm coats for folks who need them, sunscreen, and — of course — delicious, farm-fresh meals. These elements go a long way in honoring the hard work of teachers and helping them feel open to new ideas and approaches.

Facilitating Peer-to-Peer Learning 

Participants often learn as much or more from the people sitting next to them at workshops as they do from the presenters themselves. Therefore, Life Lab trainers build in a lot of intentional time for workshop participants to discuss ideas with one another. For example, rather than guiding a tour of the Garden Classroom, trainers give participants very detailed maps and send them out in small groups to explore the space and discuss elements that might be relevant in their own contexts before gathering together to discuss questions about educational garden design. Workshop participants often highlight peer-to-peer learning as another highlight of their experience at a Life Lab workshop.

On-going Coaching

Educators participating in the Life Lab Certified Educator courses also receive individual customized coaching sessions to support their growth as an educator. When educators are provided with individualized coaching support from an experienced educator, they are more likely to enact desired teaching practices and apply them more appropriately in their practice (Neufeld, 2003 & Knight, 2004). Currently, Life Lab structures its coaching sessions virtually. Educators send in a videotape of a recent lesson with a specific instructional focus, such as incorporating activities that promote a connection to nature or implementing clear “what to do'' directions. Educators may also choose to prepare a short lesson to practice-teach to the coach over live video. Then, through a structured debrief conversation with the coach, positive replicable actions by the educator are highlighted and one high-leverage instructional move is further discussed. The coach recommends an action step for the educator to focus on, such as “prompt the response” before asking a question to a group of students. The educator then practices that teaching move again for the coach, who provides any additional feedback. Lastly, the educator is asked to reflect on the whole process and state what they will focus on moving forward. Follow-up coaching sessions can continue to focus on the same instructional priority or shift, depending on the needs of the educator.

Additional Professional Learning Resources from Life Lab

Webinars presented by Life Lab and archived at EdWeb.net:

• Next Generation Science in the Garden 

• Common Core in the Garden 

• School Garden Design

• Outdoor Classroom Management 

• More at lifelab.org/webinars

Webinars co-presented by Life Lab and archived by the School Garden Support Organization Network:

• Designing Garden Education to Support Emergent, Multilingual Learners

• Soil Story: Unearthing Connections Between Climate Change, the Food We Eat, and Human Health — A Middle School Curriculum

• Finding and Sequencing High Quality Garden Lessons

• In-Person Instruction in Gardens During COVID

• More at sgsonetwork.org/webinars