Place-Based Education

in the Global Age

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 Place-Based Education
in the Global Age

Edited by
David A. Gruenewald
Gregory A. Smith

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First published 2008 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
This edition published 2014 by Psychology Press
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10017

and by Psychology Press

27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA

Psychology Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-8058-5864-8 (pbk) 978-0-8058-5863-1 (hbk)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
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only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Place-based education in the global age : local diversity / author/editor(s) David A.

Gruenewald and Gregory Alan Smith.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8058-5864-8 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8058-5864-4 (alk. paper)
1. Place-based education. 2. Community and school. I. Gruenewald, David A. II.
Smith, Gregory A., 1948-

LC239.P527 2007
370.11'5--dc22 2007014374
 CONTENTS

Preface vii
Contributor List xi
Introduction: Making Room for the Local xiii
David A. Gruenewald and Gregory A. Smith

I MODELS FOR PLACE-BASED LEARNING 1

CHAPTER 1 Place-Based Curricular and Pedagogical Models:

My Adventures in Teaching Through Community
Contexts 5
Clifford E. Knapp

CHAPTER 2 The Fringe of Nirvana: Aesthetic Places and the

Art Classroom 29
Mark Graham

CHAPTER 3 STAR: Service to All Relations 49

Mark Sorensen

CHAPTER 4 Youth as Resources in Revitalizing Communities 65

Julie Bartsch

CHAPTER 5 Environmental Justice in Egleston Square 85

Elaine Senechal

CHAPTER 6 Creating a Place for Indigenous Knowledge

in Education: The Alaska Native Knowledge
Network 113
Ray Barnhardt

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 II RECLAIMING BROADER MEANINGS
OF EDUCATION 135

CHAPTER 7 Place-Based Education: Grounding Culturally

Responsive Teaching in Geographical Diversity 137
David A. Gruenewald

CHAPTER 8 No Child Left Inside: Nature Study as a

Radical Act 155
Robert Michael Pyle

CHAPTER 9 Overlooked Opportunity: Students, Educators,

and Education Advocates Contributing to
Community and Economic Development 173
Rachel Tompkins

CHAPTER 10 Place: Where Diversity and Community Can

Converge 197
Paul Theobald and John Siskar

III GLOBAL VISIONS OF THE LOCAL

IN HIGHER EDUCATION 221

CHAPTER 11 Place in Leadership Formation: The Institute

for Educational and Community Leadership (IECL) 225
Michael Malahy Morris

CHAPTER 12 Multiculturalism, Conflict, and Struggle: Place as

Meeting Ground in Israeli Education 255
Freema Elbaz-Luwisch

CHAPTER 13 Learning Country: A Case Study of Australian

Place-Responsive Education 283
John I. Cameron

CHAPTER 14 Place-Based Teacher Education 309

Matt Dubel and David Sobel

AFTERWORD Creating a Movement to Ground Learning in Place 345

David A. Gruenewald and Gregory A. Smith

Author Index 359

Index 365

vi CONTENTS

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 PREFACE

The idea for this book emerged in an unusual place: the basement of
the public library in Hermiston, Oregon. Both of us drove 3 hours to
meet there one January morning, David from Pullman, Washington, and
Greg from Portland. David would have been deterred by snow and post-
poned this meeting if Greg had left a little later, but absent the chance of
getting through to him by phone, David crossed the wintry Palouse west
to Walla Walla, and then drove down into the Columbia Gorge. After
meeting the spring before in Chicago at the 2003 American Educational
Research Association Annual Meeting, we had decided that more con-
versations, if not some joint project, were in order.
In our work as teachers and researchers, we have long been con-
cerned about the division between environmental educators and those
who direct their attention to matters of social justice and equity. We are
convinced that human welfare will depend on the ability to reconcile
these two domains in the coming decades, yet the impacts of industrial
activities, human numbers, and consumption are rarely acknowledged
by educational researchers or faculty members in schools of education.
We hoped that a book that conjoined the human and the more-than-
human worlds might stimulate some needed dialogue.
Our previous work on place-based education (see Preface references)
and the larger tensions between environment, culture, and education
gave us a framework for this dialogue. For about 10 years, place-based
education has been developing as a significant educational movement,
and many of the major figures in this movement tell their stories in this
book. Along with others working the terrain between environment and
culture, we suggest that reversing a slide into social and environmental
degradation will require a heightened awareness of place. Sometimes

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 this awareness leads to a process of decolonization, that is, coming to
understand and resist the ideas and forces that allow for the privileg-
ing of some people and the oppression of others—human and other-
than-human. At other times, place-consciousness means learning how
to reinhabit our communities and regions in ways that allow for more
sustainable relationships now and in the long run.
This book is an effort to explore what an educational process that
supports decolonization and reinhabitation might look like. We con-
tacted colleagues from North America, Australia, and the Middle
East to describe work they are engaged in that addresses, in one way
or another, these issues. Not everyone shares our perspective about the
need to confront oppressive institutions, but all of the contributors in
this volume demonstrate a commitment to finding ways to more deeply
connect children and young people to the places where they live. From
that connection can emerge the caring, knowledge, responsibility, and
skill required to make those places healthy and humane.
At base, it is this vision of health, bio- and cultural diversity, human-
ity, and beauty that drives us forward, and this is what we feel is so
imperiled by the global economic forces currently overdetermining the
character of so many of the planet’s places. An educational process
grounded in place will admittedly be insufficient to counter the power of
transnational giants, but growing numbers of young people who grasp
the nature of their situation and possess the skills and understandings
required to live well in place, may possess the combination of determina-
tion and intelligence required to construct something different.
Many people helped to bring this book into being. We wish to express
our thanks to all of the contributors for the work that they describe
and for their willingness to participate in this project and to respond
to, sometimes, several requests for rethinking and revision. Their good
humor and cooperation made the process of pulling this volume together
more a pleasure than a chore.
We also wish to thank our editors at Erlbaum, Naomi Silverman and
Erika Kica, for their encouragement of this project and steady support
as they midwifed it through the stages of production.
Finally, we thank our wives, Jill and Becky, for the time and support
they have provided to us to write and edit what has become a substantial
volume. They share our hope in the possibilities of place, a hope that
keeps us going as we watch our children grow through childhood or into
adulthood. We dedicate this volume to them.

viii PREFACE

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 OVERVIEW OF THIS VOLUME
Place-Based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity is organized
into three sections; each section begins with a brief introduction by the
editors. The fi rst section, Models for Place-Based Learning, is a col-
lection of success stories from around the United States. Here, practi-
tioners in diverse rural, suburban, and urban environments tell how a
focus on place contributes to everyone’s learning while supporting the
larger goal of democratic participation for the public good. Reclaim-
ing Broader Meanings of Education, Section II, explores some of the
reasons for pursuing place-based education. The authors argue that if
educators are concerned about the well-being of diverse communities,
they need to begin paying more attention to the relationship between
community well-being and the process of schooling. The last section,
Global Visions of the Local in Higher Education, shows how educators
from such diverse places as New Mexico, Israel, Sydney, and New Eng-
land are using place as a focal point for developing community leaders,
understanding the tensions between Israel and Palestine, fostering con-
nection and consciousness-raising in the bush and in the city, and for
showing future teachers the power of place-based learning.

REFERENCES
Gruenewald, D. (2003a). The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of
place. Educational Researcher, 32(4), 3–12.
Gruenewald, D. (2003b). Foundations of place: A multidisciplinary frame-
work for place-conscious education. American Educational Research Journal,
40(3), 619–654.
Gruenewald, D. (2005). Accountability and collaboration: Institutional bar-
riers and strategic pathways for place-based education. Ethics, Place and Envi-
ronment: A Journal of Philosophy and Geography, 8(3), 261–283.
Smith, G. (1998). Rooting children in place. Encounter, 11(4), 13–24.
Smith, G. (2002). Going local. Educational Leadership, 60(1), 30–33.
Smith, G. (2002). Place-based education: Learning to be where we are. Phi
Delta Kappan, 83, 584–594.

PREFACE ix

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 CONTRIBUTOR LIST

Ray Barnhardt Mark Graham

Co-Director, Alaska Rural Visual Arts Department
Systemic Initiative Brigham Young University
University of Alaska Provo, UT
Fairbanks, AK
David A. Gruenewald
Julie Bartsch College of Education
The Rural School and Washington State University
Community Trust Pullman, WA
Bolton, MA
Clifford E. Knapp
John I. Cameron
College of Education, Emeritus
Place Research Centre
Northern Illinois University
University of Tasmania
DeKalb, IL
Tasmania, Australia

Matt Dubel Michael Malahy Morris

Greenfield Center School College of Education
Greenfield, MA University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM
Freema Elbaz-Luwisch
Department of Education Robert Michael Pyle
University of Haifa Independent scholar and writer
Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel Grays River, WA

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 Elaine Senechal Mark Sorensen
Science Department STAR School
Tewksbury Memorial High School Leupp, AZ
Tewksbury, MA
Paul Theobald
John Siskar Center for Excellence in Urban
School of Arts and Humanities Education
Buffalo State College Buffalo State College
Buffalo, NY Buffalo, NY

Gregory A. Smith Rachel Tompkins

Graduate School of Education The Rural School and
and Counseling Community Trust
Lewis & Clark College Arlington, VA
Portland, OR

David Sobel
Department of Education
Antioch New England Graduate
School
Keene, NH

xii CONTRIBUTOR LIST

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 INTRODUCTION
Making Room for the Local
David Gruenewald
Gregory Smith

This volume has two major purposes. First, we wish to contribute to

the theory and practice of place-based or place-conscious education by
collecting instructive and inspiring stories that can serve as exemplars
for this exciting, burgeoning field. Second, we want to make the case
through these stories of collaboration that place-based education can be
viewed as the educational counterpart of a broader movement toward
reclaiming the significance of the local in the global age.
This broader social movement, sometimes called “the new localism,”
has emerged in part as a response to patterns of economic development
that disrupt, rather than cultivate, community life. Many communities
across the nation and across the globe recognize that economic globaliza-
tion, however inevitable and beneficial it may be to some, is far from the
unconditional good it is often claimed to be (Korten, 2001; Mander &
Goldsmith, 1996). As multinational corporations constantly relocate in
search of cheaper labor and production costs, communities in the United
States are left with high rates of under- and unemployment, a shrink-
ing tax base, and, often, environmental decay. Wal-Mart and other
superstores continue to displace local businesses and depress wages;
the pressure to keep prices down leads to a downward spiral of more
downsizing, outsourcing, and fewer economic opportunities for strug-
gling communities. In short, the new localism recognizes that economic
globalization under corporate capitalism is, potentially, economically
devastating, culturally homogenizing, and ecologically destructive to

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 local communities. Efforts to reclaim the local, however, are not based
on a blanket rejection of capitalism or of a market economy. Instead, the
new localism embraces a kind of place-conscious economic development
that will benefit the inhabitants of local communities today and for the
long term (Shuman, 1998).
Just as local communities often suffer the negative impacts of global-
ization, so do children and adults at all levels of schooling. The process
of formal education in schools and universities is often totally isolated
from the immediate context of community life. Interaction with the
wider community and all the learning opportunities these could afford
is overlooked in the push for each student to meet prescribed content
area standards through decontextualized classroom instruction. Fur-
thermore, education is explicitly linked in policy and practice to the
narrative of economic globalization. Today, the seldom-questioned,
underlying assumption about the purpose of schooling is to prepare the
next generation to compete and succeed in the global economy (For a
recent iteration of this position, see Friedman, 2005). In many respects,
public education has become the business of training children and youth
to enter the global marketplace as consumers and workers. This is not
a new story. Since the inception of mass schooling or “industrial educa-
tion,” the central purpose of education in the United States has been
to promote nationalism while providing big businesses with a compli-
ant and skilled labor force. However, what is new today is a growing
skepticism among diverse constituencies within civil society regarding
the intentions of powerful corporations and the impacts of their self-
serving actions. Around the country and around the world, citizens are
becoming aware of the need to take responsibility for mediating the
impacts of globalization on local cultures and ecosystems. Although
there is a growing political, economic, and cultural literature describing
how reclaiming the local might mitigate against the potentially harmful
effects of globalization, little writing exists on the role of education in
this process.
Part of the reason that the narrative of globalization remains largely
unquestioned in schooling (despite the fact that communities everywhere
are beginning to question it) is that the link between corporate capitalism
and schooling has never been stronger. Shrinking public expenditures are
coupled with a growing corporate presence on public school and univer-
sity campuses. Programs deemed superfluous to basic skills or job train-
ing are being cut, and entire schools are being eliminated as colleges and
universities experience the educational equivalent of downsizing. Since

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 the early 1980s and the publication of A Nation at Risk (National Com-
mision on Excellence in Education, 2003), trends toward standardization
and accountability have been linked to the perceived need to keep pace
with other nations in the global economic competition. More recently, the
discourse of standards, accountability, and excellence has been linked to
efforts to close the historic achievement gaps between different racial, cul-
tural, and economic groups. Thus, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
is invoked at once as legislation aimed at ending inequality of educational
opportunity and at strengthening the economic advantage of the entire
nation. When the narrative of globalization becomes effectively linked to
the narrative of social justice and equity, globalization becomes increas-
ingly difficult to challenge. Meanwhile, efforts to close the achievement
gap or the “digital divide” are often sponsored by corporations that bait
schools and universities with consumer technologies that only reinforce the
narrative of globalization by distracting educators and students from the
educational possibilities and needs of local communities (Bowers, 2000).
Contributing to the educational and economic narratives that keep
the attention of educators and learners focused away from their own
communities is the power of corporate-sponsored media. Few people
would argue that fi rst television and now the Internet and their associ-
ated technologies and products help to choreograph youth and consumer
cultures based on the commercial values that benefit corporate media
sponsors. The entertainment-style technology–industrial complex rein-
forces the narrative of economic globalization by constructing children
and youth around the world as hi-tech consumers rather than citizens.
A youth culture based on commodification of experience through prod-
uct identification intensifies alienation from community and from the
intergenerational relationships necessary to strengthening community
ties. Furthermore, a technologized consumer culture reinforces a brand
of competitive individualism familiar now to both school and work
environments. Corporate-sponsored media constantly teach that par-
ticipation in the global economy through the consumption of ever-new
products (made from cheap labor in deregulated environments around
the globe) is a right as well as a measure of success and self-worth. Thus,
in tandem with schooling and the narrative of globalization, corporate
media distort what it means to be a person, a learner, and a member of
a local community.
In fact, in many places, a case can be made that the process of school-
ing actually encourages many youth to reject their home communities
and to look elsewhere for the good life depicted by media advertisers

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 and the entertainment industry. For many people, the ability to earn a
decent living means having to move great distances from their families,
and to move again and again as directed by the job market. This pattern
of uprooting means that many people simply do not live long enough in
one place to develop intimate relationships to places. Instead of what
Orr (1992) calls “inhabiting” a place, many people only “reside” where
they live, and develop no particular connection to their human and non-
human environments. This phenomenon of “placelessness” is associated
with alienation from others and a lack of participation in the social and
political life of communities. However, many people, families, and com-
munities are resisting the experience and cultural trends of alienation
and rootlessness by consciously deciding to stay put, dig in, and become
long-term inhabitants of a place. The new localism is not only about cre-
ating the economic conditions that make staying put possible; it is also
about conserving and creating patterns of connectedness and mutuality
that are the foundation of community well-being.

PLACE-BASED PRACTICES IN DIVERSE CONTEXTS

Just as the new localism can be understood as diverse acts of resistance
against the ravages of globalization and rootlessness, place-based educa-
tion can be understood as a community-based effort to reconnect the
process of education, enculturation, and human development to the
well-being of community life. Place-based or place-conscious education
introduces children and youth to the skills and dispositions needed to
regenerate and sustain communities. It achieves this end by drawing on
local phenomena as the source of at least a share of children’s learning
experiences, helping them to understand the processes that underlie the
health of natural and social systems essential to human welfare. In con-
trast to conventional schooling with its focus on distant events and stan-
dardized knowledge, education conscious of place systematically inducts
students into the knowledge and patterns of behavior associated with
responsible community engagement. What does this look like?
High school students in the coastal community of Seaside, Oregon,
have played a central role in the collection and presentation of data asso-
ciated with the writing of an urban renewal grant sought by the city to
purchase and restore a former mill site only a few blocks from the city’s
central business district. The city hoped to turn this site into a park
and nature center at which local residents and tourists can enjoy both
recreational and educational experiences. At the outset, students in sci-
ence classes helped catalog natural features and gathered information

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 required by the grant application. After the grant was awarded, other
students went on to conduct more specific inventories of habitat used
by birds, mammals, and fish in an effort to determine where buildings,
paths, and other developments could be introduced with a minimum
effect on the site’s nonhuman inhabitants. In this process they learned
how to use global positioning technologies to develop fi nely detailed
maps that could then be used by the city’s planners. Throughout this
project, students served as intellectual resources for their community,
gathering and processing data that would have been prohibitively expen-
sive for public employees to collect. Their labor contributed significantly
to a successful outcome for the city and its residents. This experience
demonstrated to young people the way that collective action can lead to
desired results.
Students in another coastal community on the opposite side of the
continent encountered a similar lesson, in this case one about economic
development. Lubec, Maine, is located on Cobscook Bay just south of the
Canadian border (Hynes, 2003). Once home to a community of north
Atlantic fishermen and their families, it has experienced the severe eco-
nomic repercussions associated with the decline of this region’s ocean
fisheries. Parents are painfully aware that a way of life that had sup-
ported people for generations is now threatened. Like families in many
rural communities dependent on extractive industries, they had resigned
themselves to the exodus of their sons and daughters, forced to leave
in pursuit of viable economic opportunities elsewhere. A young science
teacher at the local high school decided to take on this issue and explore
the possibilities of aquaculture. If the resource could no longer be found
in the oceans, perhaps people could farm the sea in ways that would
provide living wages for those who wished to remain in Lubec. With help
from the community and a handful of external funders, this teacher and
her students began a pilot project raising mussels, trout, tilapia, and sea
urchins whose roe is considered a delicacy by the Japanese. Students have
contributed their physical labor to the construction of a dock and the ret-
rofitting of a water treatment facility for mussel and tilapia farming. They
have contributed their intellectual labor to an investigation of the kinds
of feed most likely to result in roe of the color most desired in Japan. Like
their counterparts in Seaside, students in Lubec have become intellectual
resources for their town, engaged in learning activities that promise to
benefit both themselves and their elders. Together, they are collectively
creating a future for themselves that otherwise would not exist.

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 A few hundred miles south in Boston, students at the Greater Egleston
Community High School are helping to regenerate an urban environ-
ment. Their work is described at length by Elaine Senechal later in this
volume. As young people in Seaside are restoring a former mill site and
those in Lubec a decimated economy, adolescents in this Roxbury neigh-
borhood are attempting to restore the quality of the air. Roxbury is
crossed by a number of major thoroughfares and is the site of the bus lot
for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority; the result is high levels of
air pollution and rates of asthma among its primarily ethnically diverse,
poor, and working-class residents. In conjunction with Alternatives for
Community & Environment (ACE), a nonprofit organization commit-
ted to addressing instances of environmental injustice, students have
been instrumental in pressuring local public health agencies to monitor
air quality with a level of attentiveness that did not exist before they
became involved. They have also taken the lead in presenting this issue
to the public, developing a system utilizing different flags to alert their
neighbors about air quality, lobbying state officials to pass legislation
guaranteeing to people the same protections as endangered species, and
encouraging the enforcement of state anti-idling regulations. Through
their work to enhance the physical environment in which they and their
relatives and neighbors live, students at the Greater Egleston Commu-
nity High School are learning leadership and negotiation skills essential
to community organizing and development.
In each of these three communities—urban, rural, White, and non-
White—students are encountering learning experiences that arise from
local contexts. They are, furthermore, learning that they have the capac-
ity to use their minds and energy to make contributions to their com-
munities that are valued by others and that promise to improve people’s
lives. Formal education in these circumstances becomes meaningful and
a source of communal connection. Too often high school education, in
particular, can act as a source of alienation, especially for students who
may not be academically inclined. When course work is conjoined to the
life of the broader community in the way it has been in Seaside, Lubec,
and Egleston, students grasp the power that comes when knowledge and
collective endeavors are linked in this way. In such settings students do
not need to ask why they are learning; they know the answer to that
question as they work on tasks that benefit others.
In the face of the economic, social, and environmental dilemmas
associated with the globalization of industrial civilization, the lessons
these students encounter may well be essential. Much of the success of

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 the human species can be ascribed to our adaptability, a characteris-
tic predicated on people’s ability to respond collectively and over time
to the conditions encountered in specific places. Diverse cultures across
the planet have arisen because of this capacity. Human adaptability,
however, is being diminished, and traditions of successful adaptation
are being disrupted and destroyed, by the imposition of a single set of
understandings and a single way of life on all people everywhere. Pat-
terns of self- and community-reliance have been replaced by dependence
on increasingly centralized institutions that have diminished the impor-
tance of more localized responses as they impose the logic and efficien-
cies of a market economy. This process is unraveling both the natural
and social systems that underlie our species’ health and security. If not
altered, the severe environmental breakdown, political instability, and
human misery encountered in places like Haiti could become the norm
rather than an unfortunate exception.

CORE THEMES IN PLACE-BASED EDUCATION

In Becoming Native to a Place, Jackson (1994) argues that either all
places are holy, or none of them are. All places, in other words, are
deserving of our attention, respect, and care. The questions that lie at
the core of this volume are: What educational forms promote care for
places? What does it take to conserve, restore, and create ways of being
that serve people and places? What does it take to transform those ways
of being that harm people and places? Given the degree to which global
elites benefit from current institutional arrangements, it seems unlikely
that more than a few of the privileged members of industrial and postin-
dustrial societies will sponsor the needed initiatives. The international
impasse over carbon emissions is indicative of the dilemma faced by
those who hope to marshal change at this level. Globally, however, ini-
tiatives at the local level are now demonstrating the real possibility of
change. Suzuki and Dressel’s 2003 volume, Good News for a Change,
describes efforts set in motion by ordinary people across the planet.
Committed to particular places, individuals and groups of individuals
have embarked on projects that are protecting natural resources, creat-
ing sustainable economic opportunities, and preserving the integrity of
established human communities despite the stasis encountered in most
transnational organizations. As Esteva and Prakash (1998) assert in
Grassroots Postmodernism, it may be with these people on the mar-
gins of industrial society that the foundation for a hopeful and humane
future is being laid. The stories told in the following pages illustrate the

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 widespread growth of grassroots movements, and the vitality of those
who live and work in the margins.
We believe that an education that orients children and adults to the
values and opportunities that inhere in the places where they live could
provide the dispositions, understandings, and skills required to restore
and democratize humanity’s adaptive capabilities in ways undreamed of
by the insulated elites who populate emerging global cities like Chicago
or Mumbai or Tokyo. That education must fi rst lead children to recognize
the assets found in the human and natural environments closest to them,
including understandings drawn from traditional cultural practices that
emphasize restraint in the use of natural resources and support for social
practices informed by mutuality (Bowers, 2005). At its most fundamen-
tal level, place-based education must overcome the traditional isolation
of schooling from community life. The walls of the school must become
more permeable, and local collaboratives and support structures must
be built and maintained so that education truly becomes a larger com-
munity effort. This education in connection to place must also inspire
in learners an appreciation of beauty and wonder, for it is through the
experience of beauty and wonder that we risk opening ourselves to oth-
ers and the world. By connecting to and appreciating places, children
and youth begin to understand and question the forces that shape places;
they develop a readiness for social action, and, with the proper adult
guidance, the skills needed for effective democratic participation.
Democracy has always been a struggle for meaning and for change,
and place-based education must demonstrate to students the challenges
and potentialities of collective effort. For most people living today, the
promise of individual economic mobility is a cruel illusion; their wealth
and security must instead be found in the care and imagination of others
close to home. Only as members of mutually supportive social groups
have human beings, for all but the past half millennium, been able to
assure their own survival. Current population trends and declining natu-
ral resources including water, land, and fish as well as easily extractable
fossil fuel suggest that even with the benefits of science, future circum-
stances will not be that different from those faced by our ancestors in
earlier eras. The ability to work with others toward commonly defi ned
and enacted goals will be essential. Rather than relying on distant rul-
ers to make things right at the local level, people need to learn how to
make things right on their own. Individually, this will almost certainly
prove to be impossible. A review of the achievements of past and pres-
ent preindustrial societies, however, provides ample proof of what small

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 groups of people acting collectively can accomplish. This should not be
interpreted as a rejection of the benefits of science and technology but
rather a reassertion of our species’ remarkable capabilities even when
stripped of the powers afforded us by modernity.
An education in place must also acquaint students with the way that
their own health and security are codependent on the health and secu-
rity of everyone and everything around them. This knowledge of inter-
dependence must have emerged over time through painful experiences
for our predecessors and remains embedded in the language and culture
of Native peoples on all continents. Knowledge of interdependence, now
reemerging in societies across the globe, must come to inform all human
decisions if people currently alive hope to pass down to their offspring
places worthy of inhabitation. Interdependence is not an abstract idea,
but a lived experience of all people in all places, best understood though
the study of the commons that we share with human and nonhuman
others. Bowers (2005) describes the commons as those relationships and
systems that contribute to the well-being of a community and that have
not been commodified by the capitalist–industrial system. These include
natural systems such as air, water, and forests; cultural systems such as
public spaces and the legal protections that keep them public; and civic
associations found in mentoring and intergenerational relationships.
Through an education in place that connects teachers and learners to
the life of the wider community, these ecological and cultural commons
must be identified, conserved, and restored.
In addition, an education in place must not be tuned to nostalgic
or homogenous images of the local, but to local diversity, the diversity
within places and the diversity between places. Place-conscious education
challenges conventional notions of diversity in education, of multicultur-
alism or culturally responsive teaching, which too often take for granted
the legitimacy and value of an education that disregards places in all
their particularity and uniqueness. Critical issues of race, class, gender,
and other aspects of culture can become abstractions unless these issues
are grounded in concrete experience, experience that always takes place
somewhere. Place-consciousness toward diversity and multiculturalism
means reconnecting these themes with the rooted experience of people
in their total environments, including the ecological. This rooted experi-
ence has both a spatial and temporal dimension; place-consciousness,
therefore, must also include consciousness of the historical memory of
a place, and the traditions that emerged there, whether these have been
disrupted or conserved.

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 Finally, an education in place must be an education in ethics. People
need to be aware of that which fosters wholeness and life and that which
fosters division and harm. As the Amish make decisions about which tech-
nologies to accept or reject on the basis of their communal consequences,
so do all people need to begin accepting or rejecting the products of
human imagination and inventiveness according to their impact on the
welfare of other humans and other beings and the vast natural systems
that support life. Grounded in such understanding, children will be in a
better position to determine which of the aspects of the emerging global
civilization are worth preserving and which would be best to abandon.

AN EDUCATION FOR THE FUTURE OF PLACES

From its inception, one of the driving forces behind modernity has been
the desire on the part of human beings to gain and assert increasing
control over phenomena that affect their lives. To some extent, human-
ity’s growing understanding of the natural world has allowed people to
believe that such control is indeed achievable. One of the central flaws in
the drive to globalize the economy and culture, however, lies in the illu-
sion that the economic and political managers of the massive, central-
ized systems that now govern the lives of most people are in fact able to
predict and control events outside their immediate domain. The political
chaos in Iraq following U.S. military intervention and growing climate
instability linked to the burning of fossil fuels demonstrate the degree
to which both social and natural forces defy the will of even the most
powerful human beings.
The beginning years of the 21st century are serving as an object
lesson in humility and the dangers of hubris. The complexities of the
planet and humanity in all its diversity will elude our species’ capac-
ity to understand and manage; furthermore, any effort to assert human
will on this scale will almost certainly have results not dissimilar from
what is occurring in the Middle East and the skies above us. Margaret
Thatcher’s assertion that there is no alternative to globalization must be
replaced by a reinvestment of faith and energy in the capacity of people
in local and regional settings to make decisions and adapt to changing
conditions in ways that will benefit both them and their descendants
over the long term.
Place-conscious education provides one strategy for developing in
people the capacity to reclaim the inventiveness, imagination, and cour-
age that over millennia allowed our predecessors to make use of the pos-
sibilities provided by the planet wherever they found themselves. They

xxii INTRODUCTION

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 aligned themselves with no universal ideology or set of understandings.
They instead relied on their own intelligence and ability to collaborate
with others to create cultures and social conditions that allowed for their
survival and enough security to pass down their understandings and
traditions from one generation to the next. They were able to do this
not by controlling phenomena but by interacting with the world around
them in ways that truly fit the conditions they encountered. This is what
our ancestors throughout time have done to make this planet their home.
It is what we and our descendants must do, as well.

REFERENCES
Bowers, C. A. (2000). Let them eat data: How computers affect education,
cultural diversity, and the prospects of ecological sustainability. Athens: Uni-
versity of Georgia Press.
Bowers, C. A. (2005). Revitalizing the commons; Cultural and educational
sites of resistance and affi rmation. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Esteva, G., & Prakash, M. (1998). Grassroots postmodernism. London:
Zed Books.
Friedman, T. (2005). The world is fl at: A brief history of the twenty-fi rst
century. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.
Hynes, M. (2003). Revitalizing economics around Cobscook Bay. Washing-
ton, DC: Rural School and Community Trust.
Jackson, W. (1994). Becoming native to a place. Lexington: University of
Kentucky Press.
Korten, D. (2001). When corporations rule the world. San Francisco: Ber-
rett-Koehler Publishers; Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.
Mander, J., & Goldsmith, E. (Eds.). (1996). The case against the global
economy: And for a turn toward the local. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983). A nation at risk:
The imperative for educational reform. A report to the nation and the Secretary
of Education. United States Department of Education. Washington, DC: The
Commission.
Orr, D. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition to a post-
modern world. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Shuman, M. (1998). Going local: Creating self-reliant communities in a
global era. New York: Free Press.
Suzuki, D., & Dressel, H. (2002). Good news for a change. Toronto: Stoddart.

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 I

Models for Place-Based Learning

Place-based education is both an old and a new phenomenon. All edu-

cation prior to the invention of the common school was place-based. It
is education as practiced in modern societies that has cut its ties to the
local. Reformers such as John Dewey and William Heard Kilpatrick in
the early 20th century spoke to the importance of incorporating stu-
dents’ experience of particular communities and places into their formal
education, but the tendency toward centralization and standardization
in the broader society marginalized their perspective and the practices
they advocated. Although the press toward standardization remains as
strong or stronger than ever, educators in a variety of locales are devel-
oping approaches to teaching and learning that redirect students to the
value of the local. In doing so, they have inspired a rebirth of interest in
the potentialities of the unique knowledge and experience encountered
in the multiplicity of cultures and subcultures that make up our increas-
ingly global society. The chapters in this section describe possibilities
that have emerged when people in schools link learning with phenomena
immediately available to their senses and lives.
Clifford Knapp is one of the elders of the environmental education
movement. His efforts, however, have never been focused entirely on
natural phenomena. In Knapp’s chapter, he describes a range of differ-
ent contemporary models of education that have sought to bridge the
gap between students’ lives outside of school and what they encounter
in classrooms. From the cultural journalism characteristic of the Foxfi re
program to real-world problem solving, these innovative approaches have
offered practitioners a way to revitalize students’ interest in learning and
not infrequently reenergized teachers themselves. Knapp provides a useful

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 overview of possibilities that can arise as people in particular places direct
their intelligence and imagination to what is close at hand.
This is exactly what art educator Mark Graham did with his stu-
dents when he taught in a school located on Long Island, New York.
Demonstrating the way that place-based education is as relevant to
urban as well as rural students, Graham describes a course that intro-
duced young people to place through art and art making. In an attempt
to develop a way of looking at the world that was not dominated by the
mass media, he encouraged students to examine and portray aspects of
their own world left out of the images encountered on television and
contemporary films. Drawing on history and art produced in earlier
eras, the course sought to stimulate in students a way of seeing the world
that focused less on the conquest and consumption of places than on the
building of relationship and personal meaning. Graham’s work provides
an example of the way teachers can help cultivate in their students the
sense of connectedness that underlies the forms of caring and steward-
ship essential to the maintenance of sustainable relationships between
humans and the places where they live.
The next three chapters show how schools that attend to what is close
at hand can lead to a transformation of communities and places. Edu-
cational leader and teacher Mark Sorensen describes the STAR School
in northern Arizona and its work with students who are primarily of
Navajo origin. Located just off the reservation, this small charter school
aims to develop in its students a deep sense of kinship to other people
and all things. The acronym that composes the school’s name, Service
To All Relations, captures that purpose. Much of the school’s service to
others can be seen in the way that students participate in activities that
benefit their communities and the Earth. But another component can be
seen in the way that the school itself seeks to model patterns of behavior
aimed at showing local residents how they might shape new institutions,
adopt innovative strategies for generating power or growing plants, or
embrace less confl ictual and more empowering patterns of communica-
tion and human interaction. At the intersection of many cultures, the
STAR School seeks to affi rm the local at the same time that it spurs its
low-income and often disenfranchised supporters to imagine and make
real more fulfilling lives for themselves and their children.
Julie Bartsch, a writer and activist employed by the Rural School and
Community Trust, has been intimately involved with some of the edu-
cational and community development efforts described in Chapter 9 by
Rachel Tompkins. Like the Navajo Reservation, rural communities in

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 the Northeast corner of the United States are the victims of poverty and
abandonment. Left on the margins of industrial society, small communi-
ties whose members once supported themselves by fishing and logging
are faced with the out-migration of young people confounded by limited
employment opportunities. The long-term health of these communities
rests on their ability to revitalize their economies and cultures so that
they can both support and attract the young. Place-based educational
efforts, in part underwritten by the Rural Trust, exemplify what the
convergence of schools and community development can accomplish.
Elaine Senechal recounts her experience as a science teacher in an
inner-city Boston community that has been similarly abandoned by
an economy and political trends that disregard the poor and people of
color. As mentioned earlier, Senechal and her students at the Greater
Egleston Community High School were faced with a rising incidence of
asthma associated with traffic-caused air pollution. Basing their advo-
cacy efforts on a state anti-idling law, students’ political efforts over a
number of years led to a legal judgment against Boston’s transit authority
that will result in the replacement of most its fleet of diesel busses with
cleaner natural gas busses. As with the place-based educational efforts
described in Sorensen’s and Bartsch’s chapters, a focus on local issues is
linking students with their communities in ways that are improving the
lives of their families and neighbors.
The fi nal chapter in this section is written by Ray Barnhardt, a long-
time advocate for Alaska Natives and other indigenous peoples. Barn-
hardt describes a statewide effort to integrate non-Western knowledge
systems and cultural practices into Alaska’s public educational system.
With sizeable grants from the National Science Foundation and the
Annenberg Rural Challenge, the Alaska Native Knowledge Network
(ANKN) started by Barnhardt and others has for over a decade been
developing an approach to culturally responsive education that is now
being adopted and modified by indigenous groups around the world.
The ANKN demonstrates a systematic process for ensuring that local
cultural knowledge systems are given a place in the education of children
who are members of non-Western cultures. This approach validates cul-
tural diversity by affi rming not only the history and festivals of specific
ethnic groups, but also the way in which these groups have constructed
their understanding of the world and peoples’ relationship to it. These
understandings are often disregarded or viewed as inferior to the Euro-
American perspectives that dominate most school curricula. Barnhardt’s
efforts demonstrate how parity between perspectives and practices can

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 support the perpetuation of cultural traditions that have proven their
appropriateness for the regions in which they have emerged. The Alaska
Native Knowledge Network exemplifies a way to protect local cultures
from the homogenizing effect of globalization, reminding us of the close
link between diversity and locality.
By its very nature, place-based education is not something that can
be packaged and then disseminated. It depends on the creative interac-
tion between learners and the possibilities and requirements of specific
places. What the models presented in this section provide is a sense of
what can be accomplished when educators direct their attention to local
phenomena. They should be seen, however, more as sources of inspira-
tion than as recipes to be followed. Furthermore, these examples show
that even within the context of highly bureaucratized and standardized
educational systems, innovative teachers and activists are fi nding spaces
within which to create learning opportunities that strengthen and extend
students’ relationship to particular communities and places. In this pro-
cess, many of these approaches to teaching and learning are contribut-
ing not only to the education of children but to the enhancement of the
social and natural environments in which they live.

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 CHAPTER 1
Place-Based Curricular and Pedagogical Models
My Adventures in Teaching Through Community Contexts

Clifford E. Knapp

A place is a piece of the whole environment which has been claimed

by feelings.

—Alan Gussow, Artist-in-Residence for Mother Nature (1974)

INTRODUCTION
I fi rst started to think about the power of a place-based pedagogy in
the early 1970s when I heard artist Alan Gussow speak about “a sense
of place” at an outdoor education conference in New York. When he
referred to “place” as a piece of the environment claimed by feelings, I
understood why this idea captured my attention. Having grown up in a
New Jersey suburb across the river from New York City in the 1940s and
1950s, I recalled the pleasant memories of exploring the vacant wood-
lots and blackberry fields near home and fishing in the nearby waters
(Knapp, 1999). A summer camp counselor job while in college was my
introduction to teaching others about nature and human nature in places
I then considered to be wilderness. I later pursued a career in outdoor
and environmental education and taught at the elementary, junior and
senior high, and university levels for over 40 years. My positive feelings
about outdoor places were claimed early in life by my surroundings,
including the people in them, and eventually I earned a living by “taking
people for walks in the woods and fields.”

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 Today the field of place-based education has established a paper trail
of thousands of pages in its young life as an educational movement. This
doesn’t mean that place-based education has never before been tried in
schools and other educational institutions. In fact the idea of learning
from the local surroundings predates the formation of formal schooling;
it was simply labeled differently or not labeled at all and implemented
in a variety of ways. Several authors (Gruenewald, 2003; Powers, 2004;
Smith, 2002; Sobel, 2004; Woodhouse & Knapp, 2000) acknowledge a
variety of other descriptive names to indicate the linking of local places
to the formal educational process. For example, the following terms have
been used to describe forms of place-based education: community-based
learning, service-learning, environment as an integrating concept, envi-
ronment-based education, outdoor education, bioregional education,
ecological education, sustainable-development education, cultural jour-
nalism, nature studies, real-world problem solving, and many others. A
few researchers (e.g., Hug, 1998), believe that place-based education is
a unique descriptor emerging as a result of an evolution of historical ter-
minology and practice. From the late 1800s to the present time, several
movements in schools have promoted the educational use of local areas
as integral parts of the curriculum: nature study, conservation educa-
tion, outdoor education, environmental education, and more recently,
place-based education. Both viewpoints about terminology illustrate
how educational movements take on various labels depending on who
conceives of and writes about them.
An article by Newmann and Oliver appearing in the Harvard Edu-
cational Review in 1967 describes their idea of place-based education
as “ a proposal for education in community” (pp. 95–101). They recom-
mended that learning should be pursued in three different contexts: the
school, the laboratory-studio-work, and the community seminar. In the
school context, they recognize the need for systematic, preplanned, and
formalized instruction in basic literacy skills, health and hygiene, and
the like. In this context the teacher has clear objectives with terminal
student behaviors in mind. They recommend that school learning should
be problem-centered and exciting and should constantly consider reor-
ganizing basic content leading to insights and understandings. They see
this kind of learning as only one of three types that should occur during
the educational process. In the second context, labeled “laboratory-stu-
dio-work,” the completion of tasks is the major objective. Laboratories
could be factories, art studios, hospitals, libraries, or political headquar-
ters. Student activity would be governed by the developing nature of the

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 selected problem or task. In these types of laboratories, learning should
occur as a by-product of genuine participation in the activities. In the
third context, community seminar, the purpose would be to reflectively
explore community issues and meanings. Leaders of these seminars could
be teachers hired by the school or any other qualified community expert.
The major purpose of the seminars would be reflection and deliberation
on the actions stimulated by the laboratory context. Again, learning in
the seminars should not be preplanned, nor would there be specific tasks
or problems to solve. Newman and Oliver thoroughly outlined an edu-
cational plan that linked formal schooling with the community context
without inventing a specific label for it.
For purposes of this chapter, Sobel’s (2004, p. 7) broad defi nition of
place-based education was chosen:
The process of using the local community and environment as a
starting point to teach concepts in language arts, mathematics,
social studies, science, and other subjects across the curriculum.
Emphasizing hands-on, real-world learning experiences, this
approach to education increases academic achievement, helps stu-
dents develop stronger ties to their community, enhances students’
appreciation for the natural world, and creates a heightened com-
mitment to serving as active, contributing citizens. Community
vitality and environmental quality are improved through the active
engagement of local citizens, community organizations, and envi-
ronmental resources in the life of the school.
For those seeking other defi nitions of the term, the references at the end
of the chapter provide other variations on this major theme. Kehrberg
(n.d., pp. 1–2) at the University of Montana, writes: “Place-based educa-
tion is a broad term that not only refers to a method of teaching, but a
growing movement to redefi ne schooling, and a theory about how we
should ultimately view education. Therefore, developing one simple defi-
nition for this term proves difficult.”
This chapter deals mainly with what I learned from teaching 12
semesters of a graduate course in place-based education at Northern
Illinois University. It describes the curricular and pedagogical models I
used in designing this course titled, “Integrating Community Resources
Into Curriculum and Instruction.” I taught the fi rst of these 12 courses
in 1991 and the last in 2004. In 1992 I published an article (Knapp)
describing my responses to teaching the course for the first time. Then I
had many more questions than answers about how this learner-centered

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 style of teaching was supposed to work. Obviously I had enough con-
fidence in the approach and in myself to continue teaching in that way
for another 11 courses. The more I taught the course, the more I was
convinced that I was doing something important and that my students
were learning about place-based education and other needed skills and
concepts. This chapter also provides an outline of my educational phi-
losophy and how it was applied to the implementation of the course.

SHARING EXCERPTS FROM MY EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

I believe fi rmly in sharing my educational philosophy with my students
during the fi rst few meetings of the class. This is important because
everything that we will do together is derived directly from this world-
view of teaching and learning. Each time I redesigned and taught the
course, I attempted to make my course syllabus align more consistently
with my developing educational philosophy. Just as the design of the
course changed slightly each time after teaching it, my educational phi-
losophy also changed in some ways.
The acts of teaching and learning have dominated my adult life. I
learned so that I could teach and I taught so that I could learn. Teaching
and learning are inextricably connected and both have been important
to me. Now, I don’t do one without being aware of the other.
Teaching is a process of creating climates and conditions that engage
students in learning with others. My primary role as designated leader is
to structure course experiences rich in potential learning opportunities
for as many students as possible. This structure must provide students
with choices of their pathways to knowledge based on their needs, inter-
ests, and preferred learning styles. I can only invite learners to participate
in the learning process. Education is largely a do-it-yourself enterprise
after the teacher’s job is fi nished.
I view teaching as an ongoing experiment. The question, “If I as
teacher create a certain environment, what, if anything, will my students
learn?” has guided my practice. I use a Socratic questioning approach
in much of my teaching, under the assumption that collectively my stu-
dents already know many of the answers. I sometimes ask questions
when I don’t know their answers. I will not restrict my students’ learn-
ing because of the limits of my knowledge. I often learn something
from teaching that changes my way of thinking about my next course.
Because teaching involves such a complex array of human interactions
with people and places, I have never felt that I had mastered the art and
science of teaching.

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 Teaching depends on establishing a person-to-person relationship
with my students. I show my human side to my students and try to find
out about their human sides outside of class. Then we can all connect as
human beings on the same learning quest. I attempt to create norms that
assure everyone that we will support each other’s attempts to navigate
the sometimes frightening and often exciting waters of learning. I build
as many bridges as possible between my students and me, and we cross
them together as we learn about each other and the course content.
Teaching involves a mandate to challenge students to think reflec-
tively. Thinking deeply about how learning is taking place and how
knowledge will be applied to life is an important path to knowledge.
My role is to design situations in which students experience dilemmas
in the realm of knowing and feeling. When I help create meaningful and
engaging problems in their lives and assist them in resolving some of this
turmoil, I feel that I am truly teaching.
Teaching means extending the classroom beyond the four walls of the
classroom and the two covers of books. It means immersing students in
direct experiences with people and places in order to learn in the context
of realistic community situations. My classrooms become the natural and
built environments surrounding the indoor classroom of the university.
Contextual learning becomes the vehicle for creating meaningful cur-
riculum and instruction. I constantly ask myself, “Where is the best labo-
ratory for learning and what experiences will help my students find the
knowledge they want and need?” We enter the experiential learning cycle
together at the point of action and then proceed through the stages of
reflection, conceptualization, skill development, value formation, applica-
tion, and then return to further action informed by acquired knowledge.
Teaching is guiding students on adventures into partially unknown
territory. Although the purpose and objectives for my courses were
always clear, some of the curriculum content springing from the needs
and interests of my students was not. Because of my background as a
questioner and explorer of places, I am able to create and interpret the
course maps that we create together. By using my knowledge compass,
I can help students navigate over much of the terrain outlined in the
syllabus. I never will have complete and accurate maps nor will know
all of the course territory. Sometimes my students show me new places
that don’t appear on the course map. When this happens, we explore
together. With each trek into the subject matter, I feel more confident on
the journey. At the same time, I realize that knowledge is always grow-
ing and changing, and I can never rest on the past for very long. When

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 my students gain enough knowledge and confidence to lead, I step aside
and become a learner with them.
Teaching can lead to lifelong friendships and professional contacts.
I am still in touch with some students from past courses. Even when
we are not connected in reality, we are linked through memories. As I
reflect on my own education, I remember the junior high physical edu-
cation teacher who told me the best way to dry myself after showering;
the teacher who asked me to carefully consider what’s worth teaching;
the teacher who modeled a warm personality and, at the same time,
demanded academic excellence; the teacher who respected my work
ethic and hired me to help him after school; and the teacher who paid
me a compliment by selecting a line from an Oliver Goldsmith poem for
my autograph book: “And still they gazed and still their wonder grew,
that one small head could carry all he knew.” Those teachers and others
noticed and accepted me as a person, despite my limited knowledge of
their disciplines. They gave me gifts of caring and concern, and I attempt
to return these gifts to my students when we share time in class.
I teach to create a friendlier and more peaceful world community.
My goal is to achieve more harmony both among the earth’s human
inhabitants and among other beings and ecosystems. I believe that our
survival and quality of life depend on developing an environmental ethic
that honors and cares for the planet. Being earth friendly is not only
my goal as a teacher; it is a value applied to my personal life. I strive to
reconnect others and myself to life-sustaining nature. In nature lies the
“greenprint” for a higher quality life.
Learning rarely involves only a single destination. It is also a con-
tinuing process with many variations. Learning should lead to further
questioning and eventually to more learning and other questions. My
aim is to help students investigate problems on their own and with the
help of others. Learning shouldn’t be a lonely endeavor. Teaching means
that I should model being an active, engaged learner. I am still excited
about learning and my students need to see that. Through freely sharing
my ongoing adventures in seeking knowledge, I can inspire my students.
I must clearly demonstrate what I expect from my students and share
verbally how this happens in me.
To summarize my philosophy of education, I believe that teaching and
learning are fi rmly linked. Teaching involves creating environments that
are emotionally and physically safe while retaining elements of risk and
adventure; are structured and organized while remaining flexible and
full of choices; are stable and predictable, yet experimental; are friendly

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 and caring, yet formal and disciplined; and are intellectually challeng-
ing without being stressful and tedious. Whenever possible, I provide
direct experiences in realistic contexts in order to stimulate learning. I
serve as a guide on explorations of the unknown and gradually transfer
leadership to my students as they gain confidence and skills. I seek life-
long friendships and professional contacts from my students and teach
to make the world a better place. I am a student-centered teacher fol-
lowing a self-imposed mandate to view teaching and learning as a joyful
adventure. I cannot separate the connections between them.

DESIGNING THE COURSE

Before I could teach the course, “Integrating Community Resources
in Curriculum and Instruction,” I had to wait until two senior faculty
members retired. Finally, when they did, I was offered the opportunity.
I was quick to accept because I had always eyed the course with great
interest. The former professors had established the format of students
investigating a place or person, gathering information by interviewing
others, and writing chapters in a published manuscript. I liked this fi nal
book product as a way of motivating the students to explore their inter-
ests as well as aspects of the local area. Every student’s writing skills
were not strong, but the exercise of writing promoted thinking and most
students experienced success by improving their skills.
I designed the course with five major student goals in mind:
• To explore and apply the theories and practices of experiential
education and place-based education.
• To increase skills and attitudes in group dynamics, human rela-
tions, and community building.
• To investigate local instructional resources (people and places)
using experiential learning methods.
• To design and implement a cooperative book-writing project
using techniques of cultural journalism.
• To expand knowledge about available community study instruc-
tional resources (e.g., books, periodicals, Web sites).
In addition to these broad goals, about a dozen more specific student
outcomes were listed. These included: writing entries in a learning log
(journal); constructing interview questions, interviewing a person, tran-
scribing the text, and incorporating the information into a 1,500–2,000
word article for publication; analyzing the dynamics of the ongoing group
process; viewing the local area through the lens of a teacher planning a

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 field trip; teaching a needed skill or topic to others in the class (e.g., fol-
lowing the required writing style format or sharing a valuable written
resource); applying teaching approaches from various place-based edu-
cational models; preparing an assessment portfolio consisting of selected
examples of their written work; assuming a leadership role in the school
to help other teachers use community resources; and participating fully
in a learner-centered, democratic classroom.
Despite a number of structured assignments, students always had a
great deal of autonomy in making many choices. For example, these
choices included selecting the content for their articles, designing the
book and other instructional aides, deciding on a book title and theme,
selecting some of the class content and time allocations based on proj-
ect needs, and deciding on the format for their learning logs. Based on
constructivist learning theory, my strategy was to structure most of the
class activities in the beginning of the semester and gradually assume
less control as the students’ skills and understandings of the tasks ahead
became clearer. This approach could be described as sharing leadership
responsibility. I led the activities until my students were able to assume
leadership on their own. Constructivists sometimes refer to this method
of guiding student learning as scaffolding:
As a classroom practice, scaffolding involves having the teacher
provide a great deal of structure when children are fi rst introduced
to new material and then gradually turn more and more of the
responsibility for learning over to the students as they become
more competent and confident in the process. (Danker, 2005, pp.
22–23)
When I began to teach this course, I selected Wigginton’s book,
Sometimes a Shining Moment: The Foxfi re Experience (1985), as the
major text. In the mid-1990s I used Osborn’s book, Using Community
Resources (1994) as a supplementary text to the many handouts gath-
ered from a variety of sources. As I discovered new articles and wrote
more of my own, I moved toward a text consisting of collected readings
that were targeted more closely on the course design.

EXPLORING THEORY AND PRACTICE FROM

EXPERIENTIAL AND PLACE-BASED EDUCATION
There has never been a shortage of terminology used to describe various
approaches to exploring the environment from an educational perspec-
tive. To illustrate this, I distribute a collection of 78 different terms to

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 “. . . describe the fields of education in, about, and for the environment”
(Knapp, n.d.). In this course we focused mainly on two of the labels:
experiential education and place-based education.
In November 1994 the Board of Directors of the Association for
Experiential Education approved a defi nition and principles of experi-
ential education for the fi rst time. This brief defi nition and 12 principles
of practice were useful to explain the theory underlying how the course
was designed: “Experiential education is a process through which a
learner constructs knowledge, skill, and value from direct experiences”
(Proudman, 1995, pp. 1–2). The principles outline the importance of
being aware of a learning cycle composed of reflection, critical analy-
sis, and synthesis. Learners are characterized by taking initiative, mak-
ing decisions, being held accountable for the results, posing questions,
experimenting, solving problems, and constructing meaning from expe-
rience. They are engaged intellectually, emotionally, socially, soulfully,
and/or physically in authentic learning tasks as human relationships are
nurtured. Risk-taking and uncertainty are a part of sometimes-unpre-
dictable experiences. The educator’s primary roles include structuring
suitable experiences, posing problems, setting boundaries, ensuring
safety, and facilitating learning. Unplanned, spontaneous opportuni-
ties for learning are encouraged whenever appropriate. Experiential
education capitalizes on the natural consequences resulting from both
unplanned and planned activities. These characteristics of experiential
education are exemplified in the course syllabus and serve to explain to
my students “why I do what I do.”
Place-based education shares most of these characteristics and also
provides more specificity and guidance for my students. Knapp and
Woodhouse (2003, p. 242) list 10 characteristics of this educational
approach including: The surrounding phenomena provide the foun-
dation for interdisciplinary curriculum development and contain eco-
logical, multigenerational, and multicultural dimensions. Students and
teachers are encouraged to cross the boundaries between the school
and the community and become involved in a variety of constructive
ways. Learners are expected to become creators of knowledge as well as
consumers of knowledge, and their questions and concerns play central
roles in this process. They are assessed on the basis of how this knowl-
edge contributes to the community’s well-being and sustainability, not
just on how well they are prepared to earn a living. These principles of
experiential education and characteristics of place-based education are

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 often demonstrated throughout the semester and noted by reflecting on
the various experiences we share.

UNDERSTANDING GROUP DYNAMICS,

HUMAN RELATIONS, AND COMMUNITY BUILDING
After meeting a group of new students and explaining the goals, out-
comes, assignments, texts, and other details of the course syllabus, I
began the process of building the learning community. This took parts
of several class meetings and only succeeded when the students under-
stood the purpose of the community-building exercises and accepted the
idea. These exercises consisted of various structured activities, includ-
ing what are commonly called initiative challenges; for example, rap-
idly passing a hula hoop around a circle of people standing with their
hands clasped. In addition to these physically oriented activities, I used
interpersonal exercises designed to encourage the sharing of information
about each student. The underlying assumption in doing this was that
the more we know about each other, the more likely we will discover
commonalities and develop a caring and concerned relationship. For
example, I invited students to bring in one special object from home to
share with the class. I also distributed 5" × 8" file cards to the students
in order to create name placards for their desks. I tried to learn their
names as soon as possible because that communicates that I value them
as persons. These name cards also became a weekly bridge between my
students and me when they wrote about a joy or concern and handed the
card to me at the end of class. I read each one and responded as a way
of showing them that I cared about them and their lives outside of class.
Another one of my favorite human relations activities, drawn from the
Foxfi re approach (Wigginton, 1985), consisted of the students sharing
the most memorable experiences from their early schooling. In addi-
tion to giving them opportunities to speak to the rest of the group and
reveal something about themselves, this activity illustrated the power
of certain experiences that became etched in memory. Many of these
memorable experiences did not relate directly to the formal “academic”
curriculum but were steeped in emotionally impactful occurrences such
as seeing a teacher cry, taking an outdoor field trip, or making jelly.
Analysis of these memorable experiences revealed that many of them
contain emotional impacts related to feeling success, pride, shock, or
surprise. This activity illustrated the importance of experiential learn-
ing (an emphasis in the course) at the same time it helped to bond the
members of the class.

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 Some of the early group initiatives (challenges) were contrived (i.e.,
passing a hula hoop around a circle), but many later activities were
grounded in the necessary tasks needed to cooperatively complete our
projects (i.e., brainstorming the title and format of the book or doing
peer editing of the manuscripts). These community-building activities
contributed directly to cooperative decision making and group tasks
later in our course. Critics who say that these activities are a waste of
valuable class time are more likely to view the teaching role as mainly
conveying content (known as professing at the university level) and may
not share many of the beliefs expressed in my educational philosophy.
The reading collection contained several articles and checklists to help
the students understand group dynamics and some of the techniques
used for building student-centered learning climates. For example, the
students read “Guidelines for Creating Student-Centered Learning Com-
munities” (Knapp, 1996, pp. 95–98). This document suggests student
and teacher roles, curriculum and instruction theory, classroom culture,
the role of the surrounding community, and suggestions for reflection,
assessment, and evaluation. The more the students understand the back-
ground for the community-building activities, the more likely they will
accept them as meaningful and participate actively in them.

INVESTIGATING LOCAL INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES

One important goal of the course was to help educators become aware of
the learning potentials of local areas for their students. In other words,
I wanted them to become enthusiastic about taking their students to
surrounding places and meeting resource people as a part of the regular
curriculum and to view the community through the lens of place-based
education. Early in the course we took a field trip to reveal the learning
potential of the site and personnel at that place. For example, I planned
a visit to a local bookstore. Through the use of a guide sheet consisting
of 19 questions, the students investigated the teaching/learning potential
of that location. They were allotted one hour to fi nd as many answers to
the questions as possible, although I stressed that they could spend all
the time on only one question if it captivated their interest. The students
worked in groups of three to practice cooperating to complete a task.
There would be many other group projects to follow that required levels
of trust, leadership, follower-ship, and cooperation. This activity also
modeled how they could learn from a community resource that later
served to guide the writing of a chapter in our book.

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 Following the bookstore trip, I designed a reflection sheet consisting
of 11 deep understandings (big ideas) and 10 core concepts that I hoped
that they learned from the experience. I’m sure that the students learned
more than these 21 ideas, but hopefully I was adding to what they learned
by listing them. Reflection during or after an experience is a common
practice in experiential education, and I believe that usually a reflection
session expands the learning for the whole class. This extended learning
occurred because the reflection was done publicly in a group, and when
an individual expressed an insight, others could learn from that com-
ment. I recognized that what the students learned from the bookstore
experience was based, in part, on the prior information they had about
how bookstores functioned. By listing some of the deep understandings
(e.g., “The field trip should provide a model or template to help teachers
plan similar field trips for their students.”) and some of the core concepts
(e.g., “The Foxfi re Fund, Inc., has produced a variety of books written
by high schoolers.”), I attempted to communicate more of my rationale
for taking the trip. I figured that if my students (who were educators)
came away from this experience with an attitude of excitement about
the learning potentials of a bookstore for themselves, they would more
likely plan a similar trip into the community for their students. The
bookstore field trip prompted my students to view an ordinary commu-
nity place as an extraordinary learning site and a source of interesting
people who could teach them important things. For example, over the
years, my students chose a variety of places to write about including:
a recycling center, water-treatment plant, butterfly garden, courthouse,
fen, cave, skating rink, bird-banding station, beauty salon, flower shop,
sculpture, factory, hospital, investment company, auto-body shop, cor-
rectional center, and morgue.
During the reflection session, I asked a series of questions about the
experience and waited for their responses. For example, I asked: Was this
an engaging and memorable experience? If so, why? What question on
the guide sheet was the most interesting? Why? Did you devise a good
plan for your small group to maximize the use of the hour investigation?
How could you improve your plan the next time you go? Can you name
the members of your trio? If not, why not? Did you experience any con-
flict? If so, how did you resolve it? How was this field trip the same and
different from those you plan as a teacher? Did you find any surprises at
the bookstore? How would you improve this lesson for your students?
These kinds of questions following any experience, both indoor or out-
door, can be helpful in meeting the course goals and outcomes. During

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 the course, I planned other out-of-classroom excursions to the campus
grounds and the computer laboratory. I also brought in a resource person
and structured an activity designed to help them discover more about the
surrounding university property. For anyone who has limited experiences
with leaving the security and comfort of the four walls of the classroom,
it is important to model several ways to integrate community resources
into curriculum and instruction.

DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING A

COOPERATIVE BOOK WRITING PROJECT
Clear writing is an indicator of clear thinking and a vehicle for clear
communication. Some people write well and easily, and others write
poorly and with painful plodding. Teachers are no exception to these
generalizations. Writing was encouraged through various assignments,
the main one being a university-published book consisting of several
drafts of a place-based education article from each person in the class,
including me. Other ways to encourage the expression of ideas through
writing included a weekly communication card, a learning log or jour-
nal, course notes, and a portfolio containing any additional writings
completed as part of the class.
Whenever possible, I attempted to model how to write by sharing my
published and unpublished articles with the students. I also demonstrated
how I edit a piece of writing by showing a selection on a screen using
the overhead projector or preparing a handout that provided them with
a lesson on how to edit. I also shared some protocols that I used when
reviewing articles for publication in professional journals. These activi-
ties helped to prepare them for the job of peer editing their classmates’
writings. This was done in small groups of four or five after establishing
some ground rules for how to edit in a caring way. Based on comments I
have heard or read from my students, these peer editing sessions proved
to be very helpful and less stressful than handing their papers to me.
Despite the increased stress levels produced by my editing their papers,
I asked for at least three drafts of their article throughout the semester.
Not all of the students complied, but most did.
I encouraged the students to read the collection of articles about writ-
ing I compiled into a textbook. For many of the students, this was the
fi rst time they had been asked to write more than a short note since they
graduated from college with their bachelor’s degrees.
The writing process involved more than just following the procedures
outlined in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) publication

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 manual (2001). The students selected their place to write about and the
resource person to interview for information about that place or topic. At
first some of the students threw up their hands in frustration and asked in
a panic-stricken voice, “What should I write about?” Of course, I never
told them. That was not my role in this instance. Part of the challenge
of the assignment was for them to make this and many other decisions
on their own or in cooperation with the whole class. At this point in the
course, I took more of an advisor role, rather than to provide information.
I gradually released my leadership role to the students as they became
more prepared to handle that responsibility. For example, when I discov-
ered that one of the students was familiar with the APA publication man-
ual, I asked him if he would prepare a handout and teach a lesson on that
topic. He did so, and became the class expert to the point of proofreading
all of the manuscripts before publication. When it came time to lay out
and produce the book, other students stepped up and either taught les-
sons or headed committees responsible for those tasks. Committees had
to compile biographical sketches, write a list of field trip tips, compile a
table of contents, collect additional appendices, select visual images, edit
final copy, design the cover, and conduct the computer technology func-
tions necessary to produce the book. The last time I taught this course, a
committee chose to place the entire text of the book with added resource
information about the sites on CD-ROM. This decision was their choice
because one of the students who had the skills volunteered to head that
committee. I had no expertise to lead this project. I was usually asked
each semester if I would write the foreword or afterword for the book,
and I always shared my written drafts with the class so they could edit
them. The day we transferred the finished articles to a disk for delivery to
the university printing services, the students knew their roles and worked
feverishly to meet the established deadline. Although the work was hard
and the stress level considerable, we were elated when the boxes of books
were unpacked and distributed to everyone on the last day of class. Each
student received at least five copies of our book. As they browsed through
the pages, I’m sure that most of them turned to their article fi rst and
feasted on the sight of their accomplishment.

EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT COMMUNITY

STUDY INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
I wanted my students to leave this class with an array of ideas about how
to use community resources in their teaching as well as know where
to locate other instructional materials for further reference. Their col-

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 lected readings provided more “food for thought” than we had time to
discuss in class. I designed the course using five place-based educational
approaches: Foxfi re, Expeditionary Learning, Environment as an Inte-
grating Context For Learning, Problem-Based Learning, and Contextual
Teaching and Learning. Each of these programs or approaches has pro-
duced a body of literature that is readily available for study. These five
models share some common characteristics. They can be applied in set-
tings that include K–12 grade levels as well as undergraduate and gradu-
ate education. They are interdisciplinary, learner-centered, hands-on,
project- or problem-centered, and cooperative learning oriented. They
also advocate authentic assessment experiences in the local community
and encourage higher-level thinking skills. Despite these common char-
acteristics, they also have distinct implementation histories and take on
separate identities.
I could have chosen other programs to guide the curriculum and ped-
agogy used in this course. Other fi ne programs exist and are currently in
use in various places. In the August/November 2001 issue of the journal
Thresholds in Education, I compiled a list of 17 selected place-based
curricular programs along with information about how to access their
Web sites (Knapp, 2001, p. 56). Powers (2004), cofounder of Program
Evaluation and Educational Research Associates, evaluated and reported
two aspects of four place-based education programs. She examined the
strengths and challenges (weaknesses) of the programs and trends in
teacher practice change across those programs. Fortunately, there are
many models for educators to examine if they would like to learn more
about this growing field.
In order to understand more fully how I used the five models in design-
ing the course in community investigations, next I briefly summarize their
purposes and some of their useful curricular and pedagogical ideas.

Foxfire
The most succinct description of Foxfi re appeared in a recent book by
Hatton (2005):
Foxfi re is a not-for-profit, educational, and literary organiza-
tion based in Rabun County, Georgia. Foxfi re’s learner-centered,
community-based educational approach is advocated through
both a regional demonstration site grounded in Southern Appala-
chian culture that gave rise to Foxfi re, and a national program of
teacher training and support that promotes a sense of place and

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 appreciation of local people, community, and culture as essential
educational tools. (p. vi)
One of the most useful Foxfi re contributions has been the develop-
ment of a list of 11 core practices or tenets of effective instruction to
describe this approach to teaching and learning. These practices have
been tested by thousands of teachers for over 40 years since the founder
of Foxfi re, Eliot Wigginton, began to write a set of guiding “truths” for
teachers in 1966. Hatton (2005) suggests that the core practices should
be applied as a way of thinking rather than a way of doing—in other
words, as a philosophy of education that informs practice. Practically all
of the 11 core practices are reflected in my previously stated philosophy
of education. Some of Foxfi re’s strengths include: capitalizing on student
concerns, increasing student choices, encouraging reflection on experi-
ences, linking required content to life situations and other disciplines,
promoting student action and involvement, emphasizing teamwork in
small and large groups, and connecting the school and community in
meaningful ways.
Foxfi re stresses the importance of capturing the wisdom of local peo-
ple through interviews. If some of the students in Rabun County, Geor-
gia, had not talked to many of the Appalachian elders and transcribed
this information into newsletter and book form, much of it would be
now lost. The Foxfi re approach honors student intelligence and experi-
ence by involving them in the process of choosing some curricular con-
tent and method within the limitations of the prescribed school and state
standards. Eleanor Duckworth describes this respect for student input
as “. . . trying to engage learners with their own ideas” (quoted in Hat-
ton, 2005, p. 7).

Expeditionary Learning (EL)

Expeditionary Learning (EL) is a nonprofit school improvement and
teacher development organization with a growing national network
of 136 schools reaching almost 50,000 students in 27 states, the Dis-
trict of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. EL has a research-based design
built around learning expeditions, other active forms of teaching
and learning, and a challenging and supportive school culture. The
design emphasizes high achievement, character growth, and high
expectations. (More information about Expeditionary Learning can
be found at the organization’s website: http://www.elob.org/design/
who.html.)

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 The program is based on the educational philosophies of Kurt Hahn,
Outward Bound’s founder, and other educational leaders, including John
Dewey, Paul Ylvisaker, Harold Howe, Ted Sizer, Eleanor Duckworth,
Howard Gardner, Debbie Meier, and Tom James. In 1992 Outward
Bound, originally a wilderness-based experiential program, received a
grant from the New American Schools Development Corporation for a
5-year experiment applied to urban schools in five cities. Since the funds
have ceased, EL has become self-supporting and continues to operate
nationally. The list of 10 design principles they developed includes the fol-
lowing important guidelines: basing a curriculum on the students’ curi-
osities, promoting self-directed learners, capitalizing on student successes
and failures by learning from them, learning in diverse groups, contacting
the natural world, using reflection, and participating in service projects to
help others (Campbell, Liebowitz, Mednick, & Rugen, 1998).
EL stresses in-depth investigations of topics through curricular
designs labeled “learning expeditions.” These expeditions are meta-
phors for the ways in which wilderness trips may unfold. All of the dif-
ficulties and unpredictable events cannot be anticipated as students and
teachers explore unknown territory and seek knowledge. One valuable
aspect to EL lessons is the guiding questions that serve to spark student
interest and curiosity. These guiding questions often “invite” students to
do fieldwork outside the school to get their answers. Another feature of
EL is the emphasis on an ethic and practice of service to and compassion
for others. Many of the EL expeditions have built-in relationships to
character development and community service. To help the EL practitio-
ner, a newsletter, Fieldwork, describes ongoing best practices based on
classroom experiences.

Environment as an Integrating Context For Learning (EIC)

Environment as an Integrating Context for learning (EIC) desig-
nates pedagogy that employs natural and sociocultural environ-
ments as the context for learning while taking into account the “best
practices” of successful educators. It combines these approaches
in a way that: breaks down traditional boundaries between dis-
ciplines; provides hands-on learning experiences, often through
problem-solving and project-based activities; relies on team-teach-
ing; adapts to individual students and their unique skills and abili-
ties; and develops knowledge, understanding, and appreciation for
the environment—community and natural surroundings. (Lieber-
man & Hoody, 1998)

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 Lieberman and Hoody (1998) conducted a 3-year qualitative study
funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Representatives
from 12 states convened to design and implement the examination of
K–12 schools that met their requirements for innovations using the
environment as an integrating context for learning. One valuable con-
tribution is the research-based approach focused on examining evidence
gathered from the 40 study schools. This effort investigated the results
of applying a set of best practices, including striving for higher-order
thinking skills, promoting self-motivated learners, appreciating the local
environment, and adapting to individual learning abilities.
One feature of EIC schools was the emphasis on collaborative teaching
teams composed of other school subject-matter teachers and specialists,
as well as experts from the community. Researchers found that many
EIC teachers felt revitalized as a result of using the school’s surround-
ings and the larger community as a way to organize instruction. The
study pointed to several benefits of organizing learning around natural
and sociocultural environments including: better performance on stan-
dardized achievement tests in reading, writing, math, science, and social
studies; reduced classroom management problems; increased student
engagement and enthusiasm for learning; and greater student pride and
ownership in accomplishments (Lieberman & Hoody, 1998, p. 22).

Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

Problem-based learning is focused, experiential learning (minds-
on, hands-on) organized around the investigation and resolution of
messy, real-world problems. It is both a curriculum organizer and
instructional strategy, two complementary processes. PBL includes
three main characteristics: engages students as stakeholders in a
problem situation; organizes curriculum around this holistic prob-
lem, enabling student learning in relevant and connected ways; and
creates a learning environment in which teachers coach student
thinking and guide student inquiry, facilitating deeper levels of
understanding. (Torp & Sage, 1998, p. 14)
The characteristics of starting with a well-selected and ill-structured
problem, focusing on in-depth learning of a particular topic, encourag-
ing students to “invest” in the problem solution, drawing on several cur-
riculum areas, and teaching specific concepts and skills at critical points
when the need arises, all contribute to the program’s success. The fact
that PBL often promotes a high degree of ownership of the problem and

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 creates a personal investment in the solution contributes to the relevancy
of the knowledge gained. If students can become actively engaged in the
process of discovery and they see what they learn as meaningful and
related to real-world issues, they will enjoy learning and continue to seek
more knowledge in the future. This idea is the basis for the constructivist
educational theory that is valued by many educators today.

Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL)

The general principles and primary characteristics of contextual
teaching and learning . . . include: developing self-regulated learn-
ers, anchoring teaching and learning in students’ life contexts,
teaching and learning in multiple contexts, using problem-based
learning, using interdependent learning groups, and assessing stu-
dents’ progress through authentic assessments. (Sears, 2002, p. 5)
I most value relating subjects to real-world situations, connecting knowl-
edge to its applications in society, using multiple instructional contexts,
and using interdependent learning groups to solve problems. In many
ways, contextual teaching and learning summarize and encapsulate most
of the educational principles and characteristics described in the other
model programs. “Contextual teaching and learning (CTL) is a concept
that helps teachers relate subject matter to real-world situations” (Sears,
2002, p. 5). It stresses the importance of how and where a person learns
and the fundamental connection of both to what a person learns.
The examination of these examples of place-based educational pro-
grams and approaches provided my students with a variety of refer-
ences written by diverse authors. Perhaps this variety presented a more
convincing case for incorporating some of the characteristics of these
programs into their own personal educational philosophies. If leading
educators thought that community study was important, maybe my stu-
dents would pay more attention to the idea. Another reason to offer a
variety of models for place-based education was the hope that at least
one type of program would spark an interest and would encourage teach-
ers to implement this way of teaching.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED FROM TEACHING THIS COURSE?

The lessons I’ve learned have been many and powerful over the 12
semesters I taught the community studies course. Most of the memo-
rable ones have been described in this chapter. In the course, I helped to
create a place of safety and adventure that claimed many of my students’

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 feelings. I am convinced of the soundness of my educational philosophy
through years of field-testing and adapting my approach. Although I
would never say that I have mastered the art and science of teaching, I
have come a long way since I fi rst started. I have fewer questions about
what will happen when I apply the pedagogies described in this chapter.
I trust the cooperative and democratic group processes more than ever
and believe that most of my students will succeed using these methods.
I also realize that my teaching methods are not for everyone and that in
some students, I stimulate levels of anxiety by using these practices. Some
learners expect their teachers to defi ne every parameter of the course in
specific fashion. I never did in this course. Some teaching styles do not
match perfectly with some preferred learning styles. I also cautioned
my students that they didn’t need to incorporate the full place-based
model presented in class when they taught. They could take small steps
by using selected activities before learning to run at full speed with this
approach to teaching and learning. By teaching in this way, I could never
accurately predict how my students would respond to the responsibili-
ties of being self-directed and cooperative learners. I realize I can never
know all of the course content before I launch my teaching/learning
journey. By using this instructional approach, I am constantly reminded
of the explicit interrelatedness of teaching and learning. I am convinced
that today’s teachers need to learn more about their communities and
incorporate the instructional resources of people and places into their
teaching. Place-based education is growing in importance as well as pop-
ularity. As more of the positive impacts of place-based education become
known, I believe that educators will see improvement in their students’
learning abilities and joy of learning.

WHAT A FEW PAST STUDENTS REMEMBER FROM THE COURSE

I was curious about the long-term impact of this course in integrating
communities into curriculum and instruction, so I contacted a handful
of past students. This effort was not a scientific poll because I just called
several people who I knew were employed nearby. I asked them to tell
me what they remembered from taking the course and how they might
be using some of those ideas in their work as educators.
Aaron was most impressed with the “marrying” of the process and
product in the course. He viewed the methodology we used as a meta-
phor for the course content. He wrote, “The content of what we usually
teach and the methods we use to teach that content are often separated
by a huge gulf.” In this case, the course combined the process of working

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 as a team with the knowledge of community resources in a way that led
him to design a high school course about Native Americans by creating
a tribe in order to study tribes. Aaron learned that the process involved
in learning a body of content could be blended with what he wanted his
students to know and do.
Rhodora remembered the community-building process that preceded
the book writing. She mentioned the importance of listening to others
and expressing her own needs to the class. She recalled how creating a
safe learning environment enabled “even the shyest class members to
speak without fear of their ideas not being taken seriously.” She thought
the structured team-building process helped to create a sense of group
unity and history by allowing the students to get to know each other.
Debra grasped the importance of helping students develop a sense
of place in their communities. She thought that her students’ intimate
associations with the land were continually being assaulted by mod-
ern-day progress and the consumer-driven demands of our society. She
asked, “If we cannot relate to the land, how can we save it?” Her work
as an arboretum education specialist provided ample opportunities to
give others the direct, sensory contacts with the earth necessary to build
their sense of place.
Deb J. and Dana emphasized the importance of journaling and reflect-
ing on the course experiences after we did them. They valued the collab-
orative learning that occurred and believed that seeking, knowing, and
utilizing community resources should be a fundamental component of a
good education. They believed that this type of learning would lead to a
more responsible citizenry.
Ann was convinced that students should explore and fi nd meaningful
experiences within the community. As a biology teacher, she mentioned
taking field trips to the zoo, cooperating with a local anatomy labora-
tory to study a human cadaver, and inviting guest speakers from the
community to address their careers and special projects. Her service-
learning group organized a walk-a-thon to raise money to support an
African culture they had studied.
Maureen used what she learned about investigating a community in
a personal way when she moved out-of-state to teach. As a teacher, one
of her fi rst projects with her students was to have them write a book and
make a video based on a class field trip to study a bison hunt. Then her
students presented what they learned to other classes at the school. She
said, “The learning just multiplies when they do something and explain

PLACE-BASED CURRICULAR AND PEDAGOGICAL MODELS 25

ER9313.indb 25 5/31/07 8:18:47 AM

 it to others. My students like to do these projects rather than only read
about them.”
Bob recalled that the course sharpened his awareness of opportuni-
ties to teach about the resources of the community and noted how the
members of our class felt a sense of empowerment and camaraderie as
they worked as a team to plan, write, and produce a document that cel-
ebrated the value of place-based education.
Did this small sample of past students grasp some of the objectives I
established in the course? Without a doubt, they did. Others who I didn’t
contact also may have gained some of these same benefits. Although
they mentioned a variety of highlights, they all achieved some of what
I’d hoped for. Some remembered the process of building a unified and
caring team to make better group decisions tied into the creation of a
fi nal written project. Others remembered the importance of instilling a
community sense of place in their students. A few put the process and
product together and used the community as a learning laboratory to
inform themselves and their students. In the communities course, the
process of learning about how a community works and producing con-
crete evidence of this knowledge became the course content.
My hope is that this chapter has provided you with enough ideas to
promote, plan, and teach a similar course in place-based education. I
also hope this chapter has opened some new doors for you. If it has done
this, perhaps you can exit those doors and go out with your students to
explore the places around you to enrich their lives so that they can claim
feelings of joy, success, and accomplishment, too.

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