From the classroom to the cow: What we have learnt about learning through school-farm cooperation in Norway

Abstract

How can we help create learning spaces for committed, caring, and continuous work with nature? About 20 years ago in Norway, the national project Living School addressed this challenge. Courses built on cooperation between farmers and teachers have resulted in projects where schoolchildren of all ages learn through practical work on nearby farms. Here the authors present one of the first projects, at Hegli Farm and Nannestad Junior High School, where all students have one to two weeks of work on the farm each year. The authors discuss their findings on experiential learning, developed in cooperation with the Department for Teacher Education (SLL) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).