"Place: it's where we're from; it's where we're going. … It asks for our attention and care. If we pay attention, place has much to teach us."
An Introduction to Place-Based Education
Community as Classroom
Preface: The Future of Place in LearningWell, in the ancient world, the word genius was not so much used about individual people, it was used about places, and almost always with the word loci. Genius loci meant "the spirit of a place." And we all know what that intuitively means. We all have favorite places in the world, and it may be a seashore where you've got this ancient conversation between the ocean and the land and a particular geography of the way the cliffs or the beaches are formed. But it could've been the same in the ancient world. A little bridge crossing a stream with a pool at the back of it and a willow hanging over the pool; that place would be said to have a genius loci. But a more sophisticated understanding would [be that] it's this weather front of all of these qualities that meet in that place. So I think it's a very merciful thing to think of human beings in the same way—that is, your genius is just the way everything has met in you. —David Whyte, The Conversational Nature of Reality We have all experienced the power of place: those moments when we are fully alive; when the sights, sounds, and smells of an experience stopped us in our tracks; when learning was organic and visceral. It may be a strange new place where the culture and colors are unfamiliar and simultaneously delightful and disconcerting. Or it may be the mundane—an alley, a field, or a creek—seen with new eyes. Place: it's where we're from; it's where we're going. Place comes in layers; it is old and new at the same time. Place is central to human development; it is how we comprehend the world; it asks for our attention and care. If we pay attention, place has much to teach us. We have largely stopped making use of place in formal education. All the reasons were well-intentioned but industrial: abstracted frameworks, standardized measures, and efficient facilities. The addition of mobile technology, which has the power to unlock anytime, anywhere learning, is primarily used to provide useful differentiation, but the addition of screen time has (in most places) reduced, not increased, connection to place. Formal learning experiences that leverage the power of place are now the exception and not the rule. We hope to change that. With this book and our related work, we seek to help educators, advocates, and parents connect children with places near and far. We hope for more engagement and authenticity in education. We seek expanded access to community-connected challenges. We aim to leverage local assets including parks, public spaces, museums, and businesses for learning. Why Place Matters to the AuthorsThe power of place has been realized time and again by educators we work with. Place-based education also has been integral to our own learning journeys, careers, and lives. Emily: In my first couple of years as an elementary school teacher, I didn't pay much attention to where students were from or their connection to their communities (although I should have). Once I realized the value and strengths of these connections, I had an entirely new perspective on teaching and learning. I began to realize the incredible amount of untapped potential and creativity in the students that I was trying to contain in my traditional, four-walled classroom. My own most powerful learning experiences have been deeply rooted in place and connected to my community—so why wouldn't this also be true for my students? There is nothing more incredible than witnessing one of nature's finest phenomena, more invigorating than being uncomfortable and curious in a new culture or context, and more humbling than helping tackle an issue in your own community. • • • • • Nate: Something unexpected happens when you explore a community for the first time. Your worldview shifts with each question, each interaction, and each inquiry. You understand the place more deeply, and yet the deeper you go, the more you realize you have to learn. This is the power of place—it's an infinite mystery that continually leads to awe and wonder. Pragmatically, my most important learning has come from place—in the outdoors, jobs, conversations, and explorations—all teaching skills and knowledge that were just as important as what I learned in school. I see that I can make an impact. I see that I can always learn. And I see that my actions create ripple effects across ecosystems and nations. This is what our young people need to learn—that they matter and that it starts with understanding and appreciating their local place. • • • • • Tom: I remember the sound of running water, the smell of damp logs, and the thrill of finding a tadpole in Sligo Creek. I was 11 and had time to dawdle. Years of battlefield and museum tours in and around Washington, D.C., introduced me to design and the way it can shape our lives. I knew I'd be an architect or engineer. Awestruck a year later, I stood on a glacier at 14,000 feet, bracing against a 50-mile-per-hour wind and feeling very small against the vast expanse of the Colorado Rockies. Glaciology studies—that was the field for me (at least until frostbite and a girlfriend changed my mind). My interest in engineering and rocks sent me to the Colorado School of Mines and got me a good first job. I'm the sum of the places I've been and the experiences I've accumulated. It wasn't my parents preaching contribution that convinced me of the merits of service; it was the urban ministries they brought me to for a decade. It wasn't a picture of the Rockies that won my heart; it was the paradox of fear and wonder that came with being in a spectacular remote setting. It wasn't any of the classes I took in college that I remember; it was work in strange and wonderful places that shaped my path. Place is powerful, personal, and persuasive. • • • • • We invite you to explore—or continue—your own place-based journey with us as you read this book and to reexamine existing beliefs about what is possible. Printed by for personal use only |
Well, in the ancient world, the word genius was not so much used about individual people, it was used about places, and almost always with the word loci. Genius loci meant "the spirit of a place." And we all know what that intuitively means. We all have favorite places in the world, and it may be a seashore where you've got this ancient conversation between the ocean and the land and a particular geography of the way the cliffs or the beaches are formed. But it could've been the same in the ancient world. A little bridge crossing a stream with a pool at the back of it and a willow hanging over the pool; that place would be said to have a genius loci. But a more sophisticated understanding would [be that] it's this weather front of all of these qualities that meet in that place. So I think it's a very merciful thing to think of human beings in the same way—that is, your genius is just the way everything has met in you.
—David Whyte, The Conversational Nature of Reality
We have all experienced the power of place: those moments when we are fully alive; when the sights, sounds, and smells of an experience stopped us in our tracks; when learning was organic and visceral. It may be a strange new place where the culture and colors are unfamiliar and simultaneously delightful and disconcerting. Or it may be the mundane—an alley, a field, or a creek—seen with new eyes.
Place: it's where we're from; it's where we're going. Place comes in layers; it is old and new at the same time. Place is central to human development; it is how we comprehend the world; it asks for our attention and care. If we pay attention, place has much to teach us.
We have largely stopped making use of place in formal education. All the reasons were well-intentioned but industrial: abstracted frameworks, standardized measures, and efficient facilities. The addition of mobile technology, which has the power to unlock anytime, anywhere learning, is primarily used to provide useful differentiation, but the addition of screen time has (in most places) reduced, not increased, connection to place. Formal learning experiences that leverage the power of place are now the exception and not the rule. We hope to change that.
With this book and our related work, we seek to help educators, advocates, and parents connect children with places near and far. We hope for more engagement and authenticity in education. We seek expanded access to community-connected challenges. We aim to leverage local assets including parks, public spaces, museums, and businesses for learning.
The power of place has been realized time and again by educators we work with. Place-based education also has been integral to our own learning journeys, careers, and lives.
Emily: In my first couple of years as an elementary school teacher, I didn't pay much attention to where students were from or their connection to their communities (although I should have). Once I realized the value and strengths of these connections, I had an entirely new perspective on teaching and learning. I began to realize the incredible amount of untapped potential and creativity in the students that I was trying to contain in my traditional, four-walled classroom. My own most powerful learning experiences have been deeply rooted in place and connected to my community—so why wouldn't this also be true for my students?
There is nothing more incredible than witnessing one of nature's finest phenomena, more invigorating than being uncomfortable and curious in a new culture or context, and more humbling than helping tackle an issue in your own community.
• • • • •
Nate: Something unexpected happens when you explore a community for the first time. Your worldview shifts with each question, each interaction, and each inquiry. You understand the place more deeply, and yet the deeper you go, the more you realize you have to learn. This is the power of place—it's an infinite mystery that continually leads to awe and wonder.
Pragmatically, my most important learning has come from place—in the outdoors, jobs, conversations, and explorations—all teaching skills and knowledge that were just as important as what I learned in school. I see that I can make an impact. I see that I can always learn. And I see that my actions create ripple effects across ecosystems and nations. This is what our young people need to learn—that they matter and that it starts with understanding and appreciating their local place.
• • • • •
Tom: I remember the sound of running water, the smell of damp logs, and the thrill of finding a tadpole in Sligo Creek. I was 11 and had time to dawdle. Years of battlefield and museum tours in and around Washington, D.C., introduced me to design and the way it can shape our lives. I knew I'd be an architect or engineer.
Awestruck a year later, I stood on a glacier at 14,000 feet, bracing against a 50-mile-per-hour wind and feeling very small against the vast expanse of the Colorado Rockies. Glaciology studies—that was the field for me (at least until frostbite and a girlfriend changed my mind). My interest in engineering and rocks sent me to the Colorado School of Mines and got me a good first job.
I'm the sum of the places I've been and the experiences I've accumulated. It wasn't my parents preaching contribution that convinced me of the merits of service; it was the urban ministries they brought me to for a decade. It wasn't a picture of the Rockies that won my heart; it was the paradox of fear and wonder that came with being in a spectacular remote setting. It wasn't any of the classes I took in college that I remember; it was work in strange and wonderful places that shaped my path. Place is powerful, personal, and persuasive.
• • • • •
We invite you to explore—or continue—your own place-based journey with us as you read this book and to reexamine existing beliefs about what is possible.
