The purpose of the school garden is more than just growing plants

Strgar, Jelka (author), Torkar, Gregor (author), Strgulc Krajšek, Simona (author)

The use of a school garden at a particular school depends on the teachers at that school. For this reason, teachers were the target of this study. The objective was to determine the interest of Slovenian lower and upper secondary school teachers in plants, and their attitudes towards the ecosystem services provided by school gardens. The results show that the teachers were highly interested in plants. They had positive attitudes towards the ecosystem services of school gardens (education, habitat and regulatory services, relaxation and enjoyment, and plant cultivation). The teachers’ interest in plants positively correlated with their attitudes towards the ecosystem services provided by school gardens. The results indicate that Slovenian teachers are aware of the importance of school gardens in education. This study confirms the importance of teachers’ attitudes towards the school garden and their knowledge of garden-based learning to achieve a more sustainable future.

• Language: English
• Keywords: ecosystem services, in-service teacher, interest in plants, school garden, survey
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education; BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 371-383
• Numbering: Vol. 60, no. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-183067
• UDC: 373.32.016:50
• ISSN on article: 2157-6009
• DOI: 10.1080/00219266.2025.2489512
• COBISS.SI-ID: 234928131
• Publication date in RUL: 03.06.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of biological education
• Shortened title: J. biol. educ.
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 2157-6009
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2821199

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: ekosistem, šolski vrtovi, rastline, vzgoja in izobraževanje, naravoslovje