Originally appears in the Fall 2012 issue
“Place-based education is the process of using the local community and environment as a starting point to teach concepts in language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and other subjects across the curriculum. Emphasizing hands-on, real-world learning experiences, this approach to education increases academic achievement, helps students develop stronger ties to their communities, enhances students’ appreciation for the natural world, and creates a heightened commitment to serving as active, contributing citizens.” – David Sobel, 2004
Many educators often ask themselves how can they to school administrators and the parents of their students that there is tremendous value in getting those students out of the classroom and into the parks, streams, forests and commercial strips of their neighbourhoods – where the curriculum lives. According to the best studies on environmental inquiry and place-based education, it is significant gains in student achievement that proves its immeasurable impact.
Environmental education has long been thought of as yet another separate strand to be squeezed into the overwhelming number of curriculum expectations that students and teachers must cover every year. However, through discussion and debate in school staffrooms, faculties of education and most importantly, in classrooms, environmental education is now being defined as the big umbrella that connects all subject areas within a relevant and authentic context.
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Environmental inquiry-based and place-based education have proven themselves to be essential parts of any successful education system. Five of the best recent studies on this approach clearly highlight how inquiry-based and place-based education connects what is happening in the school community outside the classroom with the concepts taught in our schools. Such teaching strategies have also proven their ability to improve overall student achievement on government-mandated standards. These results demonstrate how we must begin to use our communities as resource hubs to help engage future generations to become the innovators that can tackle the challenges of the future.
Before looking at the specifics of the five studies, it is important to understand, from a historical perspective, the role community engagement has played in motivating young people to understand and connect their learning through authentic experience and also to learn to innovate and experiment in the process of generating new ideas. When I think back on my own experiences as a student, I only remember those days when we veered from the routine, when the teacher spontaneously took us outside or discussed a local issue hot off the press. Author Steven Johnson in his recent book Where Do Good Ideas Come From takes a walk through history to find consistent patterns that have given birth to innovation. Throughout history, when people have been given the liberty to interact and share ideas, they end up resolving the big issues of the day.
The same can be said within our schools. When literacy programs are focused on teaching students to make deep and creative connections between what they read and what they experience outside the classroom, we create fertile ground for creative problem solving and innovation. This has become a prime indicator of how well someone can bring meaning to what they read or hear or see. If we can consistently connect the concepts students learn about with relevant and meaningful issues or activities that happen in our neighbourhoods and communities, we know the connections will be lasting and meaningful.
Johnson uses the term “the disorganized mind” to describe the most innovative thought processes. The spark plug-brained students who burst forth in a seemingly quiet disconnected way, or perhaps react with unrestrained enthusiasm, best represent this “mind” of which he speaks. These are the students who are constantly reminded to raise their hands before speaking. In fact, it is these students that find the classroom the most restrictive environment to learn in. When I tell stories to my students I can almost hear the synapses popping as they stitch together ideas. This idea of disorganization, which is consistently reported on in the learning skills sections of report cards, could actually be considered a very positive attribute and an indicator of a highly developed capacity to think critically and collaboratively. Steven Johnson talks of the 17th century British coffee houses where the meeting of minds led to an era of enlightenment. In a similar way, the outdoor classroom, the business strip of a neighbourhood, or the local park are filled with the “hardwired connections” that provide the fertile ground for students to become the next generation of innovative thinkers. Clearly, there is a strong case to be made for turning our schools into community hubs where students can learn through authentic, meaningful and practical experiences.
The statistics in the five studies I wish to highlight prove how effective place-based and environmental inquiry-based programs are at preparing students to achieve at or above the mandated government standards we set for them. Yes – this often means subjecting samples of students that represent a cross-section of society to standardized tests as well as detailed interviews with teachers and parents. The studies aim to demonstrate a strong correlation between inquiry-based/place-based focused programs and above average results in a range of standardized testing.
One such example is Crellin Elementary School in Maryland. Students at this K-5 school have made consistent progress in a range of subjects and disciplines since their principal implemented an inquiry-based environmental focus to programming. Where improved test scores the true focus of their principal Dana McCauley? According to her, it was about engaging the students in the world around them. The town, and the surrounding forest and wetlands, were the hook that helped her students see how the concepts they learn in school have a practical application to waste audits, playground construction, river restoration, gardening and much more. Crellin Elementary School is one of a growing number of schools that have decided to paddle upstream against conventional teaching approaches. The school has recently won the coveted Intel award for its achievements in math. This is at a school where the attending families have been hit hard by the recession and are the recipients of a reduced or fully subsidized lunch program.
In the U.S., schools such as Crellin Elementary employ a program referred to as environment as an integrating context (EIC). The opening introduction to the report “Student Gains From Place-Based Education” reads as follows: “it (EIC program) is characterized by exploration of the local community and natural surroundings, hands-on experiences of environmental discovery and problem-solving, interdisciplinary curricula, team teaching, and learning that accommodates students’ individual skills and abilities. Research shows that this approach delivers many benefits to students.” This research report was done by the Children, Youth and Environment Center for Research and Design at the University of Colorado in Denver.
The same research institute authored another report titled “Benefits of Nature for Children’s Health.” Here they focused on an inventory of student performance in specific areas when they were immersed in nature. This included everything from a student’s ability to concentrate, deal with stress and resolve conflict. The research clearly indicates the almost therapeutic and medicinal value nature plays. It provides young people with a motivational environment for learning.
A very detailed statistical study was also completed called “Effects of Outdoor Education Programs for Children in California.” Most of the students in the study were English language learners, and between 80 and 100% of the students were on subsidized lunch programs. The study focused on the following three research questions:
- “How does participation in outdoor education programs impact students’ personal and social skills(e.g. self-esteem, cooperation, teamwork)?
- How does participation in outdoor education programs foster students’ stewardship of the environment and their appreciation of the wise use of natural resources?
- How does the science instruction received through the outdoor education curriculum increase students’ knowledge and understanding of science concepts?”
In the social and personal skills area, those students who attended outdoor education program made significant gains compared to the control group of students who did not attend. These gains increased substantially after 6 to 8 weeks in the program. In the environmental stewardship area, the outdoor education students did not show significant gains within the program but did demonstrate environmental concerns at home including observed behaviours with regard to conservation.
Not surprisingly, students involved in the outdoor education program demonstrated very positive feelings about science and the natural environment but also in their English language development and personal and social skills including conflict resolution, self-esteem and cooperation. In the study’s conclusion, it also mentions how students felt they had developed an appreciation for the natural environment and felt empowered because they now knew how they could make a difference. This empowerment and desire to make a difference harkens back to the words of Steven Johnson. When students learn within the confines of a classroom, they are prevented from making real life connections. For many of the students involved in this study, it was the first time they had spent any length of time in a natural setting. Not surprisingly, all the achievement and learning skill areas mentioned in the studies have been the obsession of our school systems and have resulted in substantial investments in curriculum materials and teacher professional development. But this investment has rarely translated into getting students engaged in their communities. The world beyond the walls of the classroom is the “coffee house” that Steven Johnson talks about. It is an essential space in which students can make the relevant and authentic connections that “hard-wire” learning and help students grasp the concepts embedded in our school curriculum.
The Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative (PEEC) has also put out convincing evidence backed-up with scientific studies demonstrating that students learn best when they are out in their communities, forests and wetlands learning about the places, people and issues that surround them. These studies include thousands of interviews and surveys with teachers, students and parents. The results are demonstrably positive.
In Ontario, the Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario (COEO) report “Reconnecting Children” quotes studies that support the positive impact of what they refer to as Outdoor and Experiential Education (OEE). They point out that compared to students who had limited exposure to outdoor education, “children immersed in (these programs), had increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning in many curriculum subjects. As one example, students’ proficiency in developing and applying language arts skills was heightened: students liked reading about issues affecting society, and they welcome the chance to express their ideas.” Their research goes on to further highlight how place-based education has both successfully engaged students in learning and in turn has helped students considerably improve their academic achievement. In the Toronto District School Board this has been demonstrated through their Toronto Urban Studies Centre that is mandated to reconnect students to the urban landscape as a way to authenticate curriculum.
With the pedagogical pendulum forever swinging to and fro, schools are constantly redefining best practices. Research provides the supporting evidence indicating the success of the latest reading, writing and math initiatives. These initiatives include the latest on classroom layout, reading for meaning, making connections and inquiry-based math instruction. These well thought out and innovative ideas focus primarily on the classroom setting and rarely on the learning spaces that lie outside the classroom walls. Through the years, the raw and regimented classrooms of the past have changed over the years towards a collaborative inquiry-based and community focused model. The results of and reasons for this shift are clearly documented in the five studies referred to above.
So how do we make innovation and experimentation the rule rather than the exception? If we expect our students to become free thinkers and problem solvers who can adapt to the new parameters of time, space and resources then shouldn’t we be aligning our educational system more towards immersing our students in the community where real, authentic and meaningful experiences can be had? The research clearly indicates that when the classroom is centred on authentic experiences within the local community, students consistently meet and surpass government mandated standards and most importantly, as Steven Johnson points out, we are laying the foundation for a future generation of engaged students ready to innovate and experiment to generate the “good ideas” to take on the unknown challenges of the future.
Resources:
Crellin Elementary School: http://cardinal.ga.k12.md.us/Schools/CR/Home.html
Student Gains from Place-Based Education
http://www.foresthistory.org/education/Curriculum/StudentGains-Chawla.pdf
Benefits of Nature for Children’s Health
http://www.foresthistory.org/education/Curriculum/BenefitsofNature-Chawla.pdf
Effects of Outdoor Education on Children http://www.tcoe.org/SCICON/AB1330FinalReport.pdf
The Benefits of Place-Based Education Brochure
http://www.peecworks.org/PEEC/Benefits_of_PBE-PEEC_2008_web.pdf
TED Talks –Steven Johnson: Where Good Ideas Come From
http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_johnson_where_good_ideas_come_from.html
Reconnecting Children http://www.coeo.org/research-summary.html
Natural Curiosity http://www.naturalcuriosity.ca/
Issue-based Education in Action http://languageartswithmrstephen.wordpress.com
The Story of a School Garden, http://ittybittygarden.wordpress.com
Johnston, Steven. Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 2010.
Sobel, David. Place-Based Education: Connection Classrooms & Communities. Great Barrington, MA: The Orion Society, 2004.
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Stephen Skoutajan is a teacher with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board who lives in Ottawa, Ontario.