Pedagogies of Place

1. Action Research

1.1. potential to engage teachers and students as problem solvers and place makers

1.2. political process that determines what these places are and what they will become

1.3. Students are taught the process but learn its complexity through experiencing it

1.4. introduced to perceptual, cultural, ecological, and political dimensions of these places by combining action research methods with natural history and cultural journalism

1.5. Through action research methodology, students learn about, and become participants in, the political process of place making

2. Natural History

2.1. Has become relevant to those interested in field guides and nature writing

2.2. natural history texts did not guarantee student and teacher immersion in study of place

2.2.1. nature-study suggests the once commonplace notion that students and teachers should have regular contact with plants, animals, and natural features

2.3. can help build a framework for place-conscious education because of it is predicated on the kind of learning that schools currently make difficult

2.4. interdisciplinary educational tradition that can remind educators of the need to create time for experiences and exploring

3. Culture of Journalism

3.1. create connections between teachers, students, and the cultural life of the communities that schools serve

3.2. suggest that much can be learned from the focused study of any place, on any scale, that holds meaning for people

3.3. can also guide students into paying attention to the meanings that we attribute to particular places, the ways that places shape our beliefs about cultural and identity, and our roles as place maker

3.4. teach correspondence between the diversity of places and the diversity of cultural experiences

3.5. can teach interrelationships that exist between people and places in the global economy

3.6. finding ways to connect the study of culture in our nearby places with the study of culture in distant places