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Agriculture as a Tool for Empowerment
Essential Question: How can involving students in agricultural practices combat student's feelings of hopelessness?
Farm crew members at York Community Farm (top), Freya the farm dog at York Community Farm (bottom).
Capstone Project Summary
Capstone Project Summary
As a part of the Western Washington University (WWU) Master's in Teaching program, candidates are expected to complete a capstone project. This project must examine an important issue in education and seek to answer an essential question. Through the project, candidates must conduct extensive research on their topic, connecting both theory and practice, while including a systemic element to their research and conclusions.
In my own capstone research, I decided to investigate how involving students in farming and gardening can influence hope and empowerment for them, especially when considering student mental health. This topic led me to research on mental health, hopelessness, youth civic engagement, as well as existing agricultural education programming, the impacts of farming/gardening on mental health as a whole, and connecting with Whatcom County based organizations who promote agriculture in schools.
All written works are by Hanna McEachern. Unless otherwise noted, all photos were taken in Bellingham, WA.
Site Overview
This website serves as the culmination of my capstone research, including all of the elements of the project. The navigation panel at the top has links to find all of the elements of the project, such as the problem statement, research findings, conclusions, and resources for educators. The main artifact created from this research was the recommendations and resources for educators, which offer readings and lesson plan ideas to be applied across a range of subject areas.
Abstract
Cultivating Hope covers research into student mental health and how farming and gardening can help to ease poor mental health and hopelessness. Research was conducted through interviews and general research of previously published articles on mental health and agricultural education. In doing this research, I have seen how gardening can aid mental health, especially concerning feelings of hopelessness. As a part of the project, I have also developed lessons to be used as a bridge between agriculture and the classroom.
Carrot harvesting at City Sprouts Farm.
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