Place

If education in general, and writing education in particular, is to become more relevant, to become a real force for improving the societies in which we live, then it must become more closely linked to the local, to the spheres of action and influence which most of us experience.  -Robert E. Brooke


Sense of place. This is a topic I held very dear to me while I was in graduate school. I channeled so much of my learning about what I believe to be quality and relevant education, through the lens of place-based and experiential education. When I joined the National Writing Project, another layer developed. I have both written and spoken about this time in my life often, and how so many pieces seemed to come together at a perfect place and time for deeper understanding. From time to time, okay often, I miss being in school. I profess regularly my desire to remain in school forever,  joking if I could make a living going to school then I would remain a student indefinitely. But what I have done is subconsciously talked myself into believing I need to be in school to be a student. G-d knows, I have referred to myself enough times as a lifelong learner. I know I am, and I need to start living like one.

I was approached professionally about the topic of place-based education recently. I was tickled, because as whole-heartedly as I believe in this approach to teaching and learning, I had set the big idea up on a cognitive shelf. It seemed in the current educational climate (at least where I live), there wasn't a comfortable place for it. I always hoped I would be able to pull it down off the shelf again and bring it to life.

We get so caught up these days about how our kids measure up globally and what they are going to do to change the world. People fail to realize "it is at the local level where we are most able to act, and at the local level where we are most able to affect and improve community." (Brooke, 4) Perhaps kids in local schools could be looking at the business and politics around standardized assessments. Maybe they could look at statistics about poverty related to literacy and achievement. What about violence and crime? These are the important issues in their own communities. Or how about preserving the local history and building commerce to support the local economy. Doesn't it make sense for local kids to learn about the local watershed and water supply, the native plant and wildlife?

This is not by any means a new idea. It just needs new energy. We need to stop measuring our children on an international scale of nothingness. It seems widely agreed upon by most everyone I know, that the rigid walls of the classroom need to break down. Kids need to be outdoors more and experience things in nature. How in the world can we expect the next generation to preserve what they have if they don't appreciate or even know what they have?

Place-based education is not just about environmental education, though. It asks us to examine our sense of place. As Sobel (2005) explains, a rooted learner stands within the world, acting on it, rather than standing outside looking in as an observer. "Learning and writing and citizenship are richer when they are tied to and flow from local culture." (Brooke, 4). Instead of or in addition to learning about far away places and times long ago, we could focus on here and now and what we can learn by being a part of the present- here, where we live.

I am starting a refocusing effort on my sense of place. You can already see it in my poetry, photography, and other musings. But I'm getting back to a pedagogy of place. I know good things are in store. The time feels right.