The Efficacy of Place-Based Learning in Curriculum

Gary Soles

Department of Curriculum and Instruction in Educational Technology,

University of Victoria

EDCI 532: Curriculum Studies

Dr. James Nahachewsky

17 July 2020

Introduction & Professional Connection

As the technologically driven world evolves to digitization, and as education pivots to online learning, it is more important than ever to remain grounded, and to examine where one has come from. In this context, place-based learning, a modern take on viewing curriculum as not just subject, but place, which provides an opportunity for students “to participate in learning activities that focus on real-world problem-solving can impart to children a sense of their own agency and collective capacity to alter their neighbourhoods or communities for the better” (Smith, 2007, p. 192).

In my professional role, this sense of place is what I am attempting to convey to students in my carpentry / joinery class with the addition of a recently purchased bandsaw-mill. The mill allows us to utilize locally harvested wood in both our carpentry and joinery shops. It is important to note that Fort St. James is both a northern and a rural community that has historically been reliant on the forestry sector. A vast majority of our students are directly impacted by this industry – and yet, as technological expansion progresses, there is becoming a vast disconnect between this sense of place or home, and the larger digital realm. This mill project has henceforth been created to provide students with real world skill development, local employment readiness and a multitude of transversal skills, which will support sustained social and economic prosperity not only for the local learners, but the community as a whole.

Place-Based Learning: A Summary

The concept of place-based learning is a relatively new curricular trend that represents a shift from a system that has been historically externally controlled, to one that focuses more on the school district, and even the individual school community (McInerney et al. 2011). As such, place-based learning is often correlated to the notions of ‘home’ or ‘community.’ These concepts of place, home, and community encompass a number of vital characteristics which are thought to be impressed upon the learner. At its root, Smith (2007) discusses place-based learning as a method to foster environmental stewardship, as well as a way to embed positive social practices that are sustained over a long period of time.

Further on this thought of stewardship, and positive social change, are the concepts of decolonisation and reinhabitation. Smith writes that placed-based learning can guide our learners in the “direction of equity, justice, and sustainability, issues many are beginning to see as the central challenges of our era” (p. 202). These concepts and subsequent humanitarian skills are vital, moving forward. To exemplify this need, Chambers (2008) writes, as a commentary on decolonisation and land sharing, “It is where we are that matters. By learning to do what is appropriate in this place, and doing it together, perhaps we can find the common ground necessary to survive“ (p. 125).

Place Based Learning as Integrated Curriculum

As place-based learning is a type of curricular planning that needs to be implemented at the local level, it is often up to schools, departments, and indeed teachers to design, plan, and administer this curriculum. In my own work in establishing place-based learning parameters regarding our school’s bandsaw-mill, my consultation has been predominantly with school administration, combined with some oversight from our school board office. It has been of the utmost importance to me, that within this framework of place based learning, community partnerships were established, to not only tie the students to the local environment, but to local business as well. As such, partnerships were made with a number of local businesses for training, and raw log donations. A partnership was also made with a local governmental organization, (the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development) where students cut dimensional bridge decking planks in exchange for Fir logs. These partnerships, inevitably, seek to further enhance the student’s connection to place.

As this type of curricular planning progresses, it is imperative that the foundational curriculum, we as educators are beholden to, as set forth by the Government of British Columbia, is not disregarded. The learning standards herein, interestingly enough, focus on a number of skills that are only enhanced by intertwining placed based learning into the curriculum. For example, such skills include “critically analyze and prioritize competing factors to meet community needs for preferred futures” (Government of British Columbia, 2018, Ideating section, para. 4),  or “evaluate the influences of land, natural resources, and culture on the development and use of tools and technologies” (applied technologies section, para. 3), lend themselves tremendously to the integration of place-based learning. Ultimately, as the British Columbia Curriculum predominantly focuses on skills, these “skills need to respond appropriately to the places where we live require skills learned in the environment where the skill is to be practiced” (Chambers, 2008, p. 119).

Conclusion

Looking forward, place-based learning has a definable and reasonable place within my Carpentry curriculum. Although I have only recently incorporated the bandsaw-mill into my course, I have noticed that students have not only enjoyed the process of turning local logs into lumber, but have also greatly appreciated the community acknowledgement and recognition for doing so. It is important to note that place-based learning is not, in my case, directly modifying the curriculum, as put forth by the Government of British Columbia, but is rather being adopted as a  method to enhance the delivery of curriculum. Ultimately, as I progress with place-based learning, my aim is to enhance my teaching practice and “create a culture of collaboration and reflective practice within the region” (McInerney et al. 2011, p. 13).

References

Chambers, C. (2008). Where are we? Finding common ground in a curriculum of place. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 6(2), 113-128. Retrieved from https://jcacs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jcacs/article/view/18099/16865

Government of British Columbia. (2018). Woodwork 10 | Building student success. Retrieved from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/adst/10/woodwork

McInerney, P.  Smyth, J. & Down, B. (2011) ‘Coming to a place near you?’ The politics and possibilities of a critical pedagogy of place-based education, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39:1, 3-16, DOI: 10.1080/1359866X.2010.540894

Smith, G. A. (2007) Place‐based education: breaking through the constraining regularities of public school, Environmental Education Research, 13:2, 189-207, DOI: 10.1080/13504620701285180