Let them have a rose garden: a lesson from Mr Keating’s class

In McGrath v. Cohen [1978] 1 NSWLR 621 an Australian court decided that a trust for the establishment of a rose garden in a university was a charitable gift for ‘the advancement of education’. How perspicacious Justice Needham was in the late ‘70s about something we need to focus on now in these uncertain times more than ever: the broader learning needs and mental well-being of students!

Some legal scholars (O’Halloran, 2016) have suggested that the link between a rose garden and the advancement of education is ‘tenuous’, but ‘abstract’ is probably a better word to describe such a link. In this brief piece it will be put forward that tranquil areas like rose gardens are what students need more than ever.

Even if the focus in school life is often on getting good grades, going to class, soaking up bundles of knowledge and eventually procuring the best internship, a student’s life is also much more than that! It’s about being happy (or trying to be), discovering yourself, making friends and enjoying the surroundings.

Enjoying the environs
One needn’t be an expert of the mind to observe that pleasant surroundings will help a student’s experience: ancient trees, sports fields, nice and aged libraries stuffed with books, cosy cafes, ample-preferably green-spaces to amble around and collect one’s thoughts, are all classic examples.

The student experience should be enjoyable, liberating and not an endless excursion in exams, essays and deadlines or traipsing from one classroom to another. Areas like a rose garden can only help, students and staff alike, and provide a respite from the pressures elsewhere. A brief escape from the telephone, social media and e-mails: a way to observe the seasons and briefly let go from reality and the humdrum.

Going back to Roman times the university was seen as a shared space where all members could enjoy the surrounds. The idea was referred to as res universitatis. It is also why we often have university walls: it is a community, where peace and tranquillity may be found, and where its members may work and think in (relative) peace, away from the maddening crowd.

After nearly two years of lockdowns, restrictions on social life, far-from-ideal lessons on Zoom, and young lives being upturned, it is timely to discuss how to improve the student experience and help a generation who have felt the brunt of the pandemic.

Thus, whilst a rose garden may at first seem a frivolous and fanciful idea, it is among the many things that can help some students to get through tough times. It also brings them closer to nature, a broader theme places of learning can look at in shaping the student experience.

Other modest proposals in this vein might include:

• Green campuses, located in the countryside for students who may prefer the Quiet Life to the Big City.
• Internships and scholarships in areas like gardening, farming and beekeeping.
• Pilgrimages and retreats away to remote places as a way to embrace nature like they do in Scandinavia (an idea referred to as friluftsliv).
• Wildflower gardens, vegetable plots, orchards (for cheap and cheerful, student-brewed summer cider), beer-making facilities and student markets.

Mr Keating’s words of advice (‘gather ye rosebuds while ye may’) in Dead Poets’ Society may at first appear unorthodox and lofty, but are in fact just basic tenets on seeking to live a happy and fulfilling life, of seizing the moment, of not looking too far ahead. Amidst the current unease we should step back and strive to better provide for the mental health needs of students. Evaluating our relationship with nature and embracing ‘silly’ notions of rose gardens and vegetable plots will be a bright start!

Ciarán Crowley is a Law and language lecturer (professeur certifié affecté dans l'enseignement supérieur) at Lille University, France. BCL (Oxford).

Photo by Irina Iriser from Pexels