Place-Based Education

Background

The study of place can trace its philosophical roots back to Aristotle's notion of topos, which refers to feelings of belongingness that are evoked by the “where” dimension of a person's relationship to the spaces he or she inhabits. This ancient Greek concept points to place-based education's disciplinary lineage—psychology and geography—which together frame its perceptual and spatial roots.

Place-based educators are interested in spaces, not solely in and of themselves, but also as natural and cultural spheres to which humans assign meaning and from which they derive meaning and purpose and locate their individual and collective identities. Hence, the sense of place, the quality of place, the utilitarian use of space, and the study of urban and rural communities are all reoccurring themes within the academic study of place.

In higher education, place-based education also draws from a number of interdisciplinary traditions that define both its conceptual foundations and research priorities. Working from a phenomenological perspective, some place-based educators are interested in the deeply personal experience of place that is rooted in feelings of attachment and belongingness to particular environments. Home and childhood environments are prominent themes in this regard. Closely related to this research is the study of spatial perception [Page 588]in childhood, including nearby and far away places. Place-based research also incorporates elements of critical sociology. By deconstructing the physical environment as a visual text, some critical pedagogists aim to expose schools and other places as contested spaces of power rooted in imbalances of environmental quality and equity of access.

From a historical perspective, place-based K-12 education is rooted in the progressive tradition of educational practice and reform. In recent centuries, some of the most prominent progressive educators in Europe incorporated place-based education as a key component of their instructional practice. Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827), for example, would routinely take his students on regular excursions outside of the school into the local villages and countryside for the purpose of studying the local flora and landforms. Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) called on educators to incorporate the local community context, including local farming practices and cultural traditions, into the school's curricula.

Contemporary Role

As noted above, place-based education's most notable contribution to contemporary education is the requisite community study unit in elementary school in which children learn about the basic functioning and infrastructure of their local community (e.g., community helpers and their tools). In addition to in-class work, such a unit may also comprise walking tours, the sketching of local buildings, the analysis of local artifacts and monuments, the study of maps and city plans, interviews with local residents, and other forms of community data gathering.

Most place study proponents see the traditional community study unit only as a starting point for place study in school. They also advocate for the more advanced study of place in the secondary grades and higher education. So, too, place-based educators link the study of place to environmental advocacy, child psychology, social psychology, human geography, and rural schooling, among other topics.

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