transcript code

           

     

                 

                                                                     

                                                             

                               

       

                                         

                                       

                                   

                                                                     

                                   

     

                                           

                                                   

                                           

 

Scholar of Change – Christine Topper

Scholar of Change – Christine Topper Program Transcript

CHRISTINE  TOPPER: My  name is  Christine Topper  and I am  doctorate student in educational psychology  at Walden University. Today  I want to show you how I grow as  a scholar  practitioner  and use what I learned in my  courses  to impact social change in my  local community.

I am  international school teacher  in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is  a compact and vertical city. As  such our  student body  does  not have much exposure outside of home and has  developed a disconnection from  the natural world. High rise buildings  are taking over  the natural green spaces  where children usually  play   and media technology  is  keeping people indoors  and changing the lifestyle of society  from  active to sedentary.

Richard Louv  coined a term, nature deficit disorder, to explain this  phenomena in his  book  Last Child in the Woods. Nature deficit disorder  is  a real social problem   in a big city  like Hong Kong. I decided to conduct an independent research study   looking to ways  to address  nature deficit disorder.

Building on the rooftop greening project an early  childhood teacher  and myself started a sustainable micro-­garden for  the kindergarten students  in the outdoor   play  space. The students  were in charge of taking care of the garden, from   planting, weeding, to harvesting and selling the produce at to the school community, and response to [INAUDIBLE] garden. We started with a herb patch and within a year  it is  grown into a vegetable and flower  garden. With help from   our  secondary  school the kindergarten students  recently  started a vertical plastic   bottle garden.

We witnessed the benefits  of the garden immediately. The pocket garden initiative will continue in my  school this  year. And we are collaborating with local organizations  to create more green spaces  in schools  around Hong Hong. Contact and exposure to nature no longer  happens  intuitively, so adults  need to create authentic  opportunities  for  children to reengage with nature every  day. We all can be an agent of change. Changing a child's life can be as  simple as   starting a garden at home or  in the classroom.

©2016 Laureate  Education, Inc. 1