What is Place-Based Education?

Place-based education is a pedagogical approach rooted in the local community surrounding students and their school, using the students' home region to build a curriculum. In place-based education, students interact with their community and have learning experiences that revolve around local places, people, and issues. These are used as building blocks to talk about topics outside the region, such as global history. The concept was pioneered in New England in the 1990s and has spread to many regions of the world.

Students start with place-based education at a young age. They are encouraged to participate with community endeavors, contributing to the community as they learn. Elementary students might be invited to take part in a wildlife survey, for example. As they survey animals, they learn about ecology and environmental issues. They can work with scientists to map the organisms they find and discuss the implications of their findings, like increases in the populations of prey due to reductions of predator populations.

Place-based education can include interviewing local people for history projects, participating in everything from salmon surveys to maps of urban decay, and a variety of other activities. Students are often encouraged to develop their own curricula based on their interests, facilitating a direct involvement in their education. Students who shape their own lessons tend to be more focused and engaged with their schoolwork, and experiential education, where people learn through hands-on activities, can be beneficial for people with many different learning styles.

Students at a school with a place-based educational approach do not ignore issues outside their home regions. While in early grades, students may primarily focus on their local community to connect with community members and get grounded in their home environment. As students grow up, they expand their learning to other regions and more complex concepts. Many lessons can eventually be traced back to experiential learning in the community. Chemistry students in high school, for instance, can recall their lessons in younger grades where they analyzed and discussed water samples from local waterways, applying that experience to understanding other types of chemical samples.

Schools offering place-based education tend to be small and may be private or public. A low student-teacher ratio can often be observed to ensure adequate supervision for students, and many of the teachers may have substantial local experience and connections they apply to providing opportunities to their students. People interested in pursuing this educational opportunity for their children are encouraged to tour schools with their kids to get a chance to meet teachers and see other students in action.