Place-Based Education: Breaking through the Constraining Regularities of Public School – Article

Presentation

Key Concepts

Article summary:

 The article discusses 4 major behavioural and programmatic regularities seen within a school
(the social norms)
o How the teacher presents standardized knowledge within a subject’s curriculum
o Teachers must be the primary source of information, meaning no outside sources are to
be used
o How the teacher assesses students – marking and justification behind a mark
o The teacher must control the students and their learning at all times
 The article also discusses place-based learning along with the advantages and disadvantages of
place-based learning.
 The article also discusses place-based education opportunities that students in the U.S
experienced – what they accomplished within their communities and the skills they acquired
through this process are discussed.
o Environmental justice at the Greater Egleston Community High School
 Initially formed in the 1990s as a charter by a group of partners concerned
about the attractions of gangs for their primarily Black and Latino children
 Science teacher, Elaine Senechal partnered up with an organization called
Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE) to help her students
understand the topic of air pollution, which the students were all interested in
because it impacted their community
 The work that they did with ACE lead them to discover that there was little
accurate date about the quality of air they breathed on the ground since no one
was measuring pollution in the air the city’s residents actually breathed.
 The students were able to make a change by raising public awareness and
working to help pass a law in 2002 – this was all an outcome of place-based
education
 This experience helped students learn how to collect and analyze date, to
collaborate with one another and other community members, to organize
public events, and to write and deliver testimony at hearings (these are all skills
that are assumed to be taught in a classroom, yet the same result was reached
outside of a classroom)

Advantages of place-based learning:

 Smith refers to place-based education as “an approach to curriculum development and school-
community relations that draws upon local cultural, environmental, economic, and political
concerns.” This means students analyze issues within their community to build connections and
learn.
 Place-based education allows students to connect with their communities in ways that enhance
student engagement and performance
  Place-based education presents cultural and historical investigation opportunities for students
to direct their attention to local assets that may have been invisible to them before. Place-base
education makes those assets clear for students to value while deepening their connections and
commitment to a place. – meaning the more the students understand and connect to in their
communities, the more the students will feel passionate towards making a change for the
betterment of their community.
 It allows students to explore their community’s environment, which will enhance young people’s
familiarly with what is beautiful and worth preserving in a territory they call home – this cannot
be done within the walls of a classroom
 The educational experiences that occur with place-based education help create a sense of
affiliation with the places students live, and without this sense of affiliation then the care and
commitment to make changes within the community are absent
 Students at the Egleston community high school were able to perceive themselves as citizens
capable of participating in public conversations that could protect and improve their own lives
and the lives of those in their community after the place-based education experience
 Student involvement, interest, and performance are at an all-time high simply because they care
and have a unique drive to make a change with is derived from a sense of pride and
commitment to their community.
 Helps students become better citizens because they are taking steps in order to make changes
and improve their community
 enhances students’ capacity to analyze environmental issues, make presentations at public
meetings, participate in activities aimed at addressing community issues, increases the students’
desire to read more diverse and complex texts, write reports for public consumption, and speak
with clarity and confidence
 place-based education gives the student control of their learning – this control can challenge
students and they will become more willing to perform at a higher rate

Disadvantages of place-based learning:

 Speaking out about wolves at the Sunnyside environmental school

o A teacher decided to provide information to the students about a hot topic that was
circulating around town which was wolves moving close from Oregon to Idaho. There
were many different opinions, especially from farmers in Idaho.
o The teacher decided to provide the students with articles from different perspectives. A
student was so interested that she decided to go to a rally to protest. This was covered
by the news and the teacher faced a lot of backlash because people believed she
brainwashed the student and people believed that her curriculum should be reviewed
but the student simply just made an opinion for herself
o This highlights one of the reasons that many teachers and their administrators seek to
avoid the exploration of controversial topics
o Place-based education can be seen as threating and revolutionary
o Place-based education can easily be ridiculed and questioned by members of the
community.
  To engage with place-based education with students is to become super involved in the
community and dedicated to creating change within the community. Many teachers choose not
to engage with place-based education because they feel as though they have to be activists,
which is not in their job description
 Educators also do not want to decrease their limited control and authority to members of the
community whose expertise may be essential to the completion of projects grounded in local
problems and issues – the teacher wants to remain in power and remain the single source for
students to receive information
 Place-based education includes teachers collaborating with outside-of-school experts, which is
one of the most important aspects of effective place-based educational efforts. Yet, few
teachers want to work in this way or share the responsibility of planning with others.
 Concerns about liability, school schedules, access to parent volunteers, transportation costs, and
other costs are all facts that make place-based education unappealing for some teachers

Connections (connection to 315 class outlines and teaching practice)

 Place-based learning creates higher student interest and engagement because they are
becoming more connected with their community.
o Example: the pick a place assignment was a great opportunity for our class to explore
different places in our community that we wanted to hold class. Personally, I was super
involved in my research because I was genuinely interested in my place and wanted my
place to be picked so badly. We also got to learn about different places in our
community that we may not have known before. This assignment was perfect for us to
learn about our community and make those connections.
 Place-based education can direct a student’s attention to issues that used to be invisible to
them before, which can clarify what is valued or needs to be more valued in their community
o Example: EGADZ and the food bank are two places that have been pick – these are two
places that show social issues within our community
 place-based education gives the student control of their learning – this control can challenge
students and they will become more willing to perform at a higher rate
o Example: School based activity and teaching assignment gave us control over what type
of activity we wanted to teach to students. I picked slime because I wanted a challenge.
I was more interested in my project so I wanted to put a lot of effort into my entire
assignment