Revisiting A Critical Pedagogy of Place
Stepping outside of the classroom is an underrated way for a school to allow students to grow as a citizens. How do we do it with purpose? During the informal Jim Mathews video (below) on place-based education , he challenges us to embrace the current 'new localism' trend in local goods and produce, micro-enterprise, car sharing etc...a: "diverse act of resistance against homogenization and mass-consumerism." I appreciated the examples he uses, taking classes into the community, an edge into education, one of self-reliance. Mathews takes education researcher David A. Gruenewald's ground-breaking article A Critical Pedagogy of Place and gives tangible examples for students growth and well being. Moreover, he highlights student agency that is able to steer teachers away from pushing their own agenda, a common problem (mostly perceived) but so important to be mindful of. We all need reminders (myself especially), Gruenewald cal...