Daniel Bibawy
Reading through the article, I’ll be honest: I did not really understand what place-based education was or entails. However I believe these few sentences summed it up best.
“(a) it emerges from the particular attributes of place, (b) it is inherently multidisciplinary, (c) it is inherently experiential, (d) it is reflec- tive of an educational philosophy that is broader than “learning to earn”, and (e) it connects place with self and community. Perhaps the most revolutionary characteristic of place-based educa- tion—one that connects it to the Freirean tradition of critical pedagogy—is that it emerges from the particular attributes of place. This idea is radical because current educational discourses seek to standardize the experience of students from diverse geographical and cultural places so that they may compete in the global economy. Such a goal essentially dismisses the idea of place as a primary experiential or educational context, displaces it with traditional disciplinary content and technological skills, and aban- dons places to the workings of the global market.” (Grunewald, 7)
Based on this description, it seems to me that place- based education involves an experience in which the learner does most of the learning on his or her own, with guidance from the educator. Furthermore it seems that learning is done in an interactive setting and not necessarily sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher give a lecture. Lastly it seems that the learning is done through the inherent nature of the environment. The learner approaches whatever it is he or she would like to learn about the environment and learns through his or her interactions with it, while the teacher gives some input and aids the learning process without controlling it.
In my English 1012 class, I recently read the Paulo Freire’s “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed” which was frequently referenced in this article. In his piece, Freire describes the many problems with the way education is presently conducted, which he calls the “banking concept.” The teacher deposits the information into the students and withdraws it on exams, with little to no input from the students on the material being taught, the way it is taught, or the setting in which it is taught. The teacher is all knowing and the students are ignorant and listen meekly. His alternative method of teaching, which he dubs as the “problem-posing” method of teaching, seems to be much more effective to me. The teacher comes to class with a question or problem and students give their input on what the best way to go about this problem is. Students are much more interactive in class and they frequently give their input and are more aware of what is going on in the class as opposed to not paying attention when the teacher is giving a lecture. It seems to me this is the direction place-based education attempts to be going in. The educators take a step back and allow the students to teach themselves and each other and learn through an active process as opposed to a passive one.
