School gardens must overcome a range of challenges to be successful but are often lauded for fostering hands-on education and real-world learning. This thematic literature review synthesises 22 journal articles and two book chapters, extending on previous reviews by amassing their themes into one singular reference point for scholars, while…

The much-needed interest in promoting a healthy lifestyle among school-age students has found a context for development: school gardens. There are numerous studies where using gardens as a teaching-learning context also improves students' performance in the experimental sciences. In this study, we proposed another interest that sets it apart and…

Background: Childhood is a critical period for developing food-related skills and knowledge, known as food literacy (FL). Schools may be an important setting for interventions aiming to improve FL in children. This systematic scoping review aimed to characterize food literacy interventions in elementary schools. Methods: Databases (PubMed, Web of…

This article maps out existing research regarding the effectiveness of subject-integrated school garden teaching. The school subjects of interest are mathematics, languages and science, and subject integration is defined as a link between these subjects and school garden teaching. The article is based on an integrative review and is derived from…

A core aim of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is to link local action with global thinking. In this systematic literature review, we quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed a sample of 158 peer-reviewed articles on school gardening. Our particular interest was in Virtual School Garden Exchanges (VSGEs). In VSGEs, learners plant…

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has five competencies: relationship skills, responsible decision-making, self-awareness, social awareness, and self-management. A promising practice to promote positive SEL is school garden programming. There is a need to understand how school gardens impact SEL by consolidating existing research. In this…

Schools often credit instructional gardens with improving fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity in children. Many schools are able to obtain funding and supplies to establish a garden program, but there are challenges to program sustainability that often result in garden failure. This systematic review compares recommendations for…