Cultivating a Jewish Eco- Education Framework: The Toronto Heschel School’s Teaching and Learning Garden

Nadine Ijaz; Paige Mawson

doi:10.25071/1916-0925.40171

Auteurs-es

Nadine Ijaz
Paige Mawson

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.25071/1916-0925.40171

Mots-clés :

Écologie juive, jardins scolaires, développement durable

Résumé

Au cours du dernier siècle, les systèmes alimentaires mondiaux ont eu tendance à évoluer dans la direction d’une approche scientifique fondée sur un paradigme industriel dont les impacts écologiques néfastes sont bien documentés. En réponse à ce problème, les mouvements agricoles mondiaux, dont le mouvement agroécologique, ont cherché à intégrer la science contemporaine et les connaissances agricoles autochtones. En particulier, certains spécialistes du domaine de l’écologie juive croient que la Bible hébraïque puisse fournir, à son tour, un cadre théorique et pratique permettant de favoriser la réflexion et l’action eu égard aux problèmes liés au développement agroécologique durable. En milieu scolaire, les éducateurs tendent à enseigner l’écologie de manière concrète et dans un cadre intime, et ce en recourant à des programmes centrés sur les jardins pédagogiques. Dans le présent article, nous examinerons le cas de l’école Heschel de Toronto, une école juive canadienne qui a recours à un jardin pédagogique dans le but d’amener les élèves à poursuivre un apprentissage axé sur l’écologie et l’identité juive. En se basant sur des entrevues qualitatives réalisées avec deux éducateurs et cinq anciens élèves de l’école Heschel, notre étude mettra en évidence les similitudes et les différences principales entre le programme de jardin de l’école Heschel et les programmes des écoles laïques. À l’instar des jardins pédagogiques laïques, le programme de l’école Heschel propose des activités éducatives qui encouragent une forme d’apprentissage de type expérientiel et interdisciplinaire fondée sur des savoirs écologiques scientifiques (SES). Toutefois, le programme de l’école Heschel se distingue des programmes laïques en complétant et en approfondissant cet apprentissage en recourant à des savoirs écologiques traditionnels (SET) ancrés dans la tradition juive. Or, il semblerait que les résultats scolaires qui en découlent soient, à la fois, universellement applicables et spécifiquement pertinents eu égard à l’identité juive des apprenants visés.

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