Introducing school gardens to the Omani context: A preliminary study with grade 7 classes

The Sultanate of Oman is beginning to experience a rapid increase in 'lifestyle' diseases, most notably diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. These may be linked to increasing poor dietary habits, and a more sedentary lifestyle, amongst the younger generation. In a number of Western contexts, school gardens have been shown to improve not only student attitudes to diet but also improved learning and affective outcomes. A pilot school gardening project involving a mixed method quasi-experimental design was undertaken in Oman with a number of Grade 7 classes. While the outcomes of this study should be treated tentatively, the quantitative findings indicate that employing school gardens as an educational resource might improve learning outcomes in the area of science skill development. The qualitative findings suggested that the project had a positive impact on the affective domain of students and in some cases encouraged them to pursue healthier eating habits.