David Gruenewald in his article, “The Best Both Worlds,” is determined to combine the concepts of critical pedagogy and place-based education into what he calls “a critical pedagogy of place.” After reading and re-reading the first paragraph, I still did not grasp a clear understanding of what critical pedagogy actually is. I then only associated the term with the “emphasis of social and urban contexts“ and with challenging premade assumptions. However, giving the context of this term’s development (Page 4) helped improve my understanding of the word. The author writes with the assumption of the reader’s knowledge of these concepts. That said, the other assigned article, “Learning in Your Own Backyard,” seems to be giving an example of “critical pedagogy of place.” The Lower East Side Tenement Museum combined place-based learning with an urban setting. Those visiting the museum share the experience of walking into old tenements and are given the opportunity to understand what the immigrants of the Lower East Side went through when they first arrived in New York. It gives perspective on how certain communities developed and in turn, might affect how communities can be developed further.

I agree with Gruenewald’s argument that in order to understand a situation, its spatial context must be studied along with the situation itself. Reading the world has to be placed alongside reading the word and vice versa. It is interesting to see how connections can be made between cultures and ecosystems and how the term “ecology” can be related to an urban environment, referring to overpopulation and pollution.