With the intention of improving my own practice, the study investigated how school grounds could be used for environmental learning in the Foundation Phase Life Skill Learning Programme within the Revised National Curriculum Statement. The research was conducted in the Grade One class of Ntaba Maria Primary School situated in Grahamstown East. The study was an action research case study based on interpretive approach to research. It had two cycles comprised of two lesson plans. The first Lesson Plan focused on an audit of the school grounds to identify environmental issues. The second Lesson Plan was informed by the audit, and addressed one of the identified environmental issues. Data was gathered through analysis of curriculum documents, video recordings and photographs of learning interactions, journal entries and learners’ work. The study highlighted that school grounds provided a context for environmental learning within Life Orientation Learning Area especially when integrated with other learning areas. There were cases however, where assessment standards were only partly addressed. The study also revealed that the Life Orientation Learning Area was also limiting for school grounds learning opportunities in some cases. In other cases the study highlighted the open-ended nature of some of its assessment standards. The study also revealed how school grounds related activities offered opportunities and challenges for constructivist, situated and active learning. Opportunities and challenges regarding group work, language use, active engagement with information learning in authentic settings, and action and action competence; emerged as issues from the analysis. Finally, the study shed light on how reflection on learners’ work and assessment of these could help teachers modify activities and do them differently so as to enhance the achievement of skills, knowledge, attitudes and values. The achievement of investigative and problem-solving skills through the two lesson plans was critically evaluated as the processes of values education employed in the lesson implementation.

I stadens förändringsprocess, ständigt präglad av nya ideal, ska många intressen förenas och beaktas vid utformningen av skolgårdar. Med utgångspunkt i naturens betydelse för barns hälsa och utveckling undersöker denna studie två skolgårdar i Malmö utifrån tre perspektiv: skolgårdarnas utformning, högstadieelevers användning av och preferenser på skolgården samt planerarens prioriteringar och tillvägagångssätt vid utformningen av skolgårdsmiljöer. Syftet är, genom förståelse för hur dessa tre perspektiv kan förenas, öka kunskapen kring hur skolgårdarna kan planeras mer socialt och ekologiskt hållbart i den föränderliga staden. Detta undersöks med en mixad metod genom platsobservationer, enkätundersökningar och intervjuer. Empirin påvisar en relativt passiv inställning till skolgården bland eleverna, oberoende av skolgårdens storlek och mängd grönska samt att de överlag prioriterar social interaktion och mobilanvändande på rasterna. Tolkningen av det empiriska materialet utifrån teorin tyder på att det är grönskans kvalitet som påverkar elevernas intresse för att ta del av miljön. Genom intervjuerna framkom det att utformningen av ett grönt ramverk som erbjuder olika rumsligheter kan bidra till en mer jämlik, inkluderande och hållbar skolgårdsmiljö. Den ideala skolgårdsmiljön, som kan anses vara en där naturen företräds, speglar dock inte nödvändigtvis elevernas uppfattning av den ideala skolgården. Elevernas preferenser kan däremot få ta plats inom det hållbara ramverket, genom aktiv gestaltning. / Within the city's transformative process, constantly tinged by new ideals, different interests must be united and considered in the planning and design of school grounds. Based on the importance of nature for children's health and development, this study examines two school grounds in Malmö from three perspectives: the school grounds design and shape, the use and preferences of the students on the school grounds, and the planner´s priorities and proceedings in planning school ground environments. The purpose is, through an understanding of how these three perspectives can unite, to increase knowledge on how school grounds can be planned more socially and ecologically sustainable in the transformative city. This is investigated with a mixed method through site observations, surveys and interviews. The empirical evidence shows a relatively passive relation to the school ground among the students, regardless of the school grounds size and amount of greenery, and generally they prioritize social interaction and mobile phone use during breaks. The interpretation of the empirical material, based on the theory, indicates that it is the quality of the greenery that affects the student’s interest in using the environment. Through the interviews, it emerged that the design of a green framework that offers different spatialities can contribute to a more equal, inclusive and sustainable school ground. The ideal environment of the school ground, which can be considered one that is characterized by natural environments, does not necessarily reflect the student's ideal of it. The students' preferences can however be accommodated within the sustainable framework through continuous design.