Benefit: Mental health - CWWhitney/nifam_codas_school_garden GitHub Wiki

Mental health benefits of a school garden are plentiful for each group of stakeholders.

The literature identifies that improved mental health influences education effectiveness. Though this is not identified as a causal relationship in our current model, we will aim to collect more information to substantiate if it is also true for our model.

Some papers identify the mental health benefits positively impacting education effectiveness because it offers an alternative education setting. Children who learn differently are given an opportunity to thrive and demonstrate their academic performance, thus improving their confidence. It also eliminates the competition of traditional academic settings and allows children to work in groups to solve problems (4). More self-aware, confident students are seen to try harder and persist in the face of challenges (28). Additionally, better relationships among peers, students and teachers and feelings of connection and bonding with the school are all associated with higher academic achievement (3,28).

Mental health benefits also contributes to long-term benefits of a school garden through the relationships and feelings of responsibility it fosters. Increased engagement and participation from families promotes intergenerational learning, which informs the behaviors and self-efficacy feeling of children (11). Gardens also provide an opportunity to entrust children with greater responsibility while fostering friendships and emotional ties among volunteers, students, school staff and families and serving as "a place of joy, connection, healing, inclusion and equality" (15, 23).