School gardens as spaces for the cultivation of relationships

This paper analyzes the school garden as a space that helps promote relationships among students. We analyze the good relationship and synergistic practices reported by teachers that participated in the creation of the space in Chiapas, based on the training they received from LabVida, as well as the challenges and limitations they faced. In school gardens certain topics are approached, such as diet and nutrition, sciences, ecology, caring for the environment and agroecology, which is why the gardens are important in educational spaces. Furthermore, we analyze teachers' strategies to create mechanisms for reaching out to families, other teachers and administrators, as well as figures outside the school, in order to establish and maintain the gardens. The paper concludes that, despite the difficulties implied in their operation and maintenance, school gardens represent a field of opportunity for constructing spaces for meeting and collaboration among teachers and students, as well as other internal and external figures; however, we also recognize that much of their potential is hindered by various structural and work-related factors of teaching. These factors act as boundaries to the growth of the gardens, converting them into marginal activities of teachers that, for different reasons, maintain their commitment to promoting them in schools.