More Q's than A's: Place-based Learning Page for EdCampYYC



Place-based learning is a holistic approach to education, conservation and community development that uses the local community as an integrating context for learning at all ages.
A main goal is to foster vibrant relationships between schools and communities to boost student achievement and to improve communtity health and vitality.

 Three parts for educators reference:

 1-Guiding questions
2-A few examples
3-Ammunition...

 Guiding Questions

 What needs to be created in this place?

 What needs to be restored in this place?

 What needs to be transformed in this place?

 What needs to be conserved in this place?

 Jim Mathews' Q's to begin your community research A's:

 What should the content focus on? Values about what
What should the actions and interactions look like? Values about how
Why is place important? What are the goals? Values about why
Why "care about" and "care for" the local?
Who gets to answer these questions? Values about power

Examples

 Needs to involve joy outdoors, although a fieldwork component is key, engagement must be a priority.

 Fieldwork includes:
* inquiry
* data collection
* design
* community action

 Unit ideas (encompassing above needs)

 Primary: What does it mean to be a citizen in your own neighborhood?

 Middle: Teaching through a sustainability lens

 Secondary: Place-based learning turns towns into classroom work

 Slideshare on place-based learning and mobile devices: What's Your ECOpedagogy?

 The more I teach through this lens, I think the role should be 'teacher of local culture'

 Ammunition:

 Why?
Students play an active role in shaping the projects (produce NOT consume knowledge)

 Authentic instruction and learning goals (outside the classroom-either metaphorically or physically)
CTF (Career & Technology Foundations) approach: emerging skills, concepts and interactions
For any age: examples, data, studies, accreditation, advice and research:

 Institute for Outdoor Learning

 Council for Learning Outside the Classroom

 Enhancing Fieldwork Learning

 Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario

 Publications of note

 Place-based Learning in the Global Age

 Principles of Sustainable Living

 Outdoor learning is in a class of its own -article-

 Alberta mandated ENVOE curriculum (invaluable framework):
Environmental and Outdoor Education Course Rationale and Philosophy 

 CBE Eco-steward Grants -opportunities for eco-grants (not just CBE schools)

Place and community based learning can be interpreted as everything to everyone when stepping inside the outside world of a classroom. It is any form of learning that engages with the inter-connected nature of life in a way which is both accessible and academically satisfying, its relevance therefore spans across a number of fields and areas of interest; from critical theory to eco-justice education, multicultural to environmental education. 
With this, educators hope through a close examination of the local that the impact of various relationships can be properly understood.

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