A delegation from the Netherlands was in Delta last week to tour a few schools and learn about the Ministry of Education's new curriculum. The new curriculum suggests that to prepare students for the future, "it must be learner-centered and flexible, and maintain a focus on literacy and numeracy, while supporting deeper learning through conceptbased and competency-driven approaches."
Sander Dekker, secretary of education, culture and science for the Netherlands, and about a dozen other educators and officials were hosted by Dianne Turner, chief educator for the Ministry of Education and former superintendent for the Delta School District.
One of the stops on the tour was the newly opened Farm Roots Mini School run out of the former Boundary Beach Elementary site. On the day of the visit, the 24 Grade 10 to 12 students that are participating in the first cohort of the program had just finished creating several raised garden beds that will augment their field work and provide opportunity to get some seed in ground for a late fall harvest and for overwintering crops.
The young farmers planned the style of their beds and built them using chop and table saws to cut their own lumber and screw everything together.
Superintendent Doug Sheppard, assistant superintendent Brad Bauman, board of education chair Laura Dixon, district principal of inquiry and innovation Brooke Moore, myself and several other district officials and educators were on hand at Farm Roots as well, and everyone had a brief opportunity to mingle with the kids.
The Dutch delegation has travelled the world over the years to study how other jurisdictions teach their children. They have been here before and came back for a closer look at how the new curriculum is being implemented. They are in the midst of changing the curriculum in their country and really like what we are doing here.
And why not? The Delta School District is embracing the new curriculum and is actively engaging its students. Project Pickle and the Farm Roots program are affording a new learning platform for our young students. In accordance with new ministry standards, programming in our community is offering "opportunity for deeper learning through doing rather through passive listening or reading," according to the ministry.
The delegation heard how we try to teach our kids about farming, nutrition and jobs in the broader food economy and how important the sector is to our overall economic health.
The three main principles of "Know, Do, Understand" are easily delivered on school farms across Delta and concept-based, competency-based curriculum is relevantly offered within the context of farming and food.
There is still lots to do in B.C. and right here in Delta but it is encouraging to see that important people from other countries are taking a very close look at the "Bold Vision" that is taught in the Delta School District.
We start them early here in elementary school and are attempting to provide a clear path for our kids to pursue an interest in food and farming in high school as well.
The recent partnership with Kwantlen Polytechnic University will hopefully encourage our kids to further their interest in horticulture and eventually gain meaningful employment in this $15 billion sector of our economy.
Mike Schneider is founder of Project Pickle and likes to write about growing, cooking and eating food. He is a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution ambassador.
