Singing in the garden : music and environmental education

Environmental education, which originated in the mid-1960s, seeks to develop understanding and appreciation for the natural environment to resolve and prevent the problems that have appeared as consequence of human activity around nature. Although environmental education is not new, scientific evidence about ecological problems has not substantially affected people’s attitudes toward our natural environment. To effectively reach the hearts and minds of people, environmental education must grow beyond its roots as science education. This dissertation explores arts-based environmental education as an approach to a more integrative, holistic, and participatory environmental education. My research explored what happens when listening and singing in the garden is a starting point for learning about and experiencing our environment and not merely an added aesthetic quality. Through story, this research documents the time I spent with a class of eight- and nine-year-old students at the UBC Farm. As students learned about how to grow food and take care of the garden, we also listened, explored mini-vocal improvisations or vocal doodling, and composed songs to sing in the garden. My observations, along with analysis of my field notes and students’ reflections, I show that music helped us form bonds with the Earth, with each other, and with our own selves. Just like a garden’s composting process, my observations from working with the students at the farm, my conversations with program volunteers, and my childhood memories eventually merged into the stories within this dissertation. The study concludes that singing can be a powerful bonding experience that helps to develop feelings of empathy and care toward our environment. The research process also revealed that before we can open our hearts to listen and sing to the Earth, we need to start by healing our relationships with ourselves and our own voices. These findings call for reconsideration of the role of music and singing in education and in our lives. They also highlight the necessity of encouraging students to listen to themselves and accept, embrace, and celebrate themselves to empower them to answer the urgent call to fall in love with the Earth and care for our environment.