ANBG Education Services Policy Document
ANBG Education Services aims to:
- provide programs and resources for educational institutions, their staff,
students and the general public and
- assist people to learn about Australian plants and the environment and develop
public knowledge and skills in horticulture.
Our programs reach broadly across the Australian school curricula and provide
for special needs, senior citizens, tertiary educators and students.
We achieve our aims through the following key activities.
- design and develop education resources to promote Australian native plant
and ANBG values
- manage a range of guided and self guided activities to compliment gardens
walks and educational resources
- promote the ANBG to teachers, students and the wider community.
Education Services approach to activities in the Gardens.
Our programs are flexible, educationally sound, hands-on, challenging, and
often can't be done at school.
Our approach has the following features:
- Inclusive of age, gender, ability, race
- Discovery learning, in keeping with popular Multiple Intelligences pedagogy.
- Child-centred learning
- Providing activities that focus students' observation, pose a question and
provide some hints.
- The responses are not as important as the processes that lead to the responses.
There is not necessarily one correct answer.
- The activities are fun and challenging:
- in the format; graphics, layout
- hints are provided, but no answers are given.
- visitors need to consciously participate and think in order to achieve.
- They require minimal reading and writing, so that most of the time is taken
in observing and pondering, and taking in the ambience of the venue.
- The questions are intended to be open-ended/ extended response questions,
where the students answer to the depth accorded by their current levels of
understandings and skills.
- Some is overt learning but much is subliminal science.
Our programs come with:
- Cross-curriculum links, often with a science base and a curriculum map
- Across-curriculum perspectives, particularly Environmental Education, Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Education.
- Student Learning Outcomes in many cases
- Resources for teachers - rationales, what to do on the day.
- Teacher/carer resources are in an A4 format in which the A5 student booklets
are embedded - to provide some background information, pre- and post-visit
activity ideas, curriculum context and further research options.
- Teacher Professional Development & Personal Professional learning
- School Planning Days (esp January)
- New teachers (eg Keys to Canberra in February)
- Gardens Classroom accredited training (regularly, throughout the year)
We also seek partnerships and links with others agencies.
- Birrigai Outdoor Education Centre - Teddy Bear Picnics in the Gardens
- CSIRO Discovery/Green Machine - Sc Festival and excursion links, Murder
under the Microscope*
- SEA*ACT (Science Education Association ACT) - Science Festival
- SHINE (Sustainable Schools)
- Education Office's Cockatoo Island - providing the environmental investigation
context, and location for the sitting of Parliament (years 2-4)
- Waterwatch (ACTEW and Gininderra Catchment Group) -Life in Fresh water program
- Minerals Council - Science Festival and Life in Freshwater program
- Hands on for Habitat -a DEH/ Cadbury-Schweppes program for schools under
the Yowie banner.
Gardens Classroom Accredited Teacher Workshops
We encourage teachers to participate in a Gardens Classroom familiarisation
workshop before making an excursion booking.
- We do not have sufficient staff to provide a fully facilitated program for
the day. Although we provide the resources so prior preparation is not essential,
teachers and/or support persons will have to lead one of the 3 activities
on offer.
- We have a wide range of resources that you can use. Our approach is to develop
and establish a lot of our activities to provide YOU, the teacher, with the
flexibility to modify a program to reflect the goals you want, in terms of
student learning outcomes.
We feel it is important that teachers become familiar with the Gardens Classroom
facilities, the resources we have that you can use, and the duty of care/OH&S
issues you need to be aware of. Our education staff can work with you to develop
a great program for the day.
Free teacher workshops are held regularly (on demand), either after school
or during school holidays.
Updated
15 October, 2004
, webmaster, ANBG (anbg-info@anbg.gov.au)