Gregory A. Smith

David A. Gruenewald

"Polished, clear, insightful, and meaningful.... This volume amounts to nothing less than a complete rethinking of what progressive education can be at its best and how education can be reconceptualized as one of the central practices of a genuinely democratic and sustainable society.... It is the kind of book that has the potential to be transformative." Stephen Preskill, University of New Mexico "The editors and contributors are pioneers in the field of educational theory, policy, and philosophy.... They are opening new areas of inquiry and educational reform in ways that promise to make this book in very short time into a classic.... The practical applications and experiments included reveal the richness of grassroots initiatives already underway to bring educational theory and policy down to earth. While spanning the richest and deepest intellectual ideas and concepts, the stories told are the types that practitioners and teachers will be able to relate to in their daily undertakings." Madhu Suri Prakash, The Pennsylvania State University This volume – a landmark contribution to the burgeoning theory and practice of place-based education – enriches the field in three ways: First, it frames place-based pedagogy not just as an alternative teaching methodology or novel approach to environmental education but as part of a broader social movement known as the "Anew localism", which aims toward reclaiming the significance of the local in the global age. Second, it links the development of ecological awareness and stewardship to concerns about equity and cultural diversity. Third, it presents examples of place-based education in action. The relationship between the new localism and place-based education is clarified and the process of making connections between learners and their wider communities is demonstrated. The book is organized around three themes: Reclaiming Broader Meanings of Education; Models for Place-Based Learning; and Global Visions of the Local in Higher Education This is a powerfully relevant volume for researchers, teacher educators, and students across the fields of curriculum theory, educational foundations, critical pedagogy, multicultural education, and environmental education.

Local Diversity

Place-Based Education in the Global Age

David Sobel

Place- and community-based education – an approach to teaching and learning that starts with the local – addresses two critical gaps in the experience of many children now growing up in the United States: contact with the natural world and contact with community. It offers a way to extend young people’s attention beyond the classroom to the world as it actually is, and to engage them in the process of devising solutions to the social and environmental problems they will confront as adults. This approach can increase students’ engagement with learning and enhance their academic achievement. Envisioned as a primer and guide for educators and members of the public interested in incorporating the local into schools in their own communities, this book explains the purpose and nature of place- and community-based education and provides multiple examples of its practice. The detailed descriptions of learning experiences set both within and beyond the classroom will help readers begin the process of advocating for or incorporating local content and experiences into their schools.

Place- and Community-Based Education in Schools

Public Schools That Work addresses the efforts of teachers, administrators and parents to develop alternative educational models capable of overcoming the alienation and intellectual disengagement that have become so common in American schools. Educators working in some of the best alternative elementary and secondary schools across the country recount their attempts to create systems which will educate diverse populations in their customs and heritages, involve parents and community leaders in decisions related to the life of their schools and involve students in their communities by encouraging participation in a variety of civic projects. By being rooted in their local social environment, these schools demonstrate the transformative potential of education to return power and authority to those individuals attempting to reconstruct and humanize the institutions within which they must learn and teach.

Gregory A. Smith

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