The Importance of Summer Gardening Activity to Promote Culturally Responsive Teaching: An Intervention of Early Learning Gap for Preschool Children

Abstract

Early learning gaps in preschool children can become a silent crisis that rapidly affects their later school life if they do not receive appropriate early intervention. Early learning gaps by family income, race, and ethnicity have persisted for decades, and recognizing that millions of young children have a "silent crisis" empowers teachers to identify effective teaching strategies; the implementation of culturally responsive teaching is effective in bridging these learning gaps. This study aims to point out the importance of summer gardening activities in promoting culturally responsive teaching as an intervention to address early learning gaps for preschool children. The 12 preschool children were the study's respondents via purposeful random sampling. The research design used in the study was descriptive-inferential. The data analysis utilized the following statistical measures: mean and standard deviation. The mean was used to define the data set in terms of the pupils' pre-test and post-test results from the researcher-made test form, and the standard deviation was used to determine the difference in the observed pupils' test results between the pre-test and post-test results. A paired t-test is used to establish the p-value and assess whether there is a statistically significant difference between two dependent variables or hypothesis testing from pre-test to post-test results. The finding of a P-value of 0.001 indicates a significant difference between the promotion of culturally responsive teaching during the summer gardening project and intervening in the early learning gap for preschool children. Therefore, the results revealed a highly significant difference in the developed academic skills of preschool children, such as numeracy skills, science concepts, literacy skills, writing skills, fine motor skills, creativity, gross motor skills, and critical thinking. And the results of a P-value of 0.002, which means that there is a big difference between the promotion of culturally responsive teaching during the summer gardening project and intervening in the early learning gap for preschool children, indicate a mean difference of -15.006 and a standard deviation of 1.912. Therefore, the results revealed a highly significant difference in the developed prosocial traits, such as helpfulness and sympathy for others, appreciating and respecting everyone's work, and history appreciation skills. Lastly, the results show a P-value of 0.001, which means that there is a big difference between the promotion of culturally responsive teaching during the summer gardening project and intervening in the early learning gap for preschool children, and the study's results indicate a mean difference of -13.007 and a standard deviation of 1.913. Therefore, the results revealed a highly significant difference in the development of strong connections among teachers, children, parents, and the community. With these findings, this study recommends that teachers always acknowledge the importance of doing summer gardening activities because gardening is widely considered a highly effective form of culturally responsive teaching and truly bridges the early learning gaps of preschool children.