Giving Compass' Take:

• Emily Liebtag, writing for Getting Smart, discusses the importance of place-based education as well as the design principles that are used to develop the concept in the classroom. 

• How will a global context and learner-focused design impact student growth and learning? Should educators prioritize place-based education? 

• Read more about the details and focus of place-based education.  

Place: It’s where we’re from, it provides a lens for how we see the world, it commands our attention and care. Place has always been central to human development–it tells the story of the world as it once was and as we currently know it.

In modern school systems we often neglect place as being integral to how, and what, we learn. The fact that many presume a school building is the only place of learning in and of itself neglects place as one of the most important factors in development. Why not begin with place?

Over the past couple of years, along with the Teton Science Schools, we have been exploring place-based education and how it can help connect learners to their communities. We are continuing our exploration in 2019, but wanted to revisit what we’ve learned so far and resources we’ve created to help you get started.

As a result of our collective time spent as educators in classrooms, researchers, designers and leaders — we believe that at the core of rich place-based experiences are six design principles.

  1. Local to global context
  2. Learner-centered
  3. Inquiry-based
  4. Design thinking
  5. Community as the classroom
  6. Interdisciplinary Approach

Read the full article about place-based education by Emily Liebtag at Getting Smart