Recommended practices for public gardens wishing to serve the teenage audience
Date
2006
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Little research is available discussing why teenagers participate in public garden-based learning programs and what they hope to gain from their program experiences. To shed light on this topic, the researcher conducted 15 focus group interviews with teenage participants and 10 personal interviews with administrators of learning programs at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden, Delaware Nature Society, and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. The researcher recorded, transcribed, analyzed, and then consolidated focus group data into two frequency groups. The “majority perspectives” were expressed and/or agreed upon by more than half of the teenagers at three or four of the case study sites while the “outlying perspectives” were expressed and/or agreed upon by fewer than half of the teenagers at two or more of the sites. ☐ The majority perspectives suggest that teenagers wish to be given choices; to be empowered to move toward self-sufficiency; to be provided with opportunities to meet new people; to have fun and/or new learning experiences; and to belong. The outlying perspectives suggest that teenagers want opportunities to interact with technology; to relax in a peaceful environment; to learn about growing plants as food; to compete for recognition; and to be led by the appropriate individuals. By synthesizing research findings with existing youth development and public garden literature, the researcher developed the following four recommended practices for public gardens wishing to serve the teenage audience. • Practice #1: Empower teenagers to make meaningful decisions. • Practice #2: Promote life skills development, college preparedness, and self-sufficiency. • Practice #3: Facilitate the development of new relationships among peers and adults. • Practice #4: Provide fun, new learning opportunities.