Student: Sarah Clement
Graduation date: May 2014
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2012
Summary
In the United States, education for children is compulsory during their formative years. Though it varies from state to state, a child must attend a public or private school, or be in an approved homeschooling program, for some period between the ages of five and eighteen. When they leave secondary education, children are expected to have knowledge in science, math, literature, languages, and a variety of electives, though again curricula standards differ according to state laws (Department of Education 2004). Learning, however, does not stop when a child leaves the classroom for the day. Children absorb messages–consciously or subconsciously–from diverse interactions that they have with their surroundings. These experiences range from interactions with parents to television commercials to trips to a museum or park. Knowledge obtained outside of the classroom is generally referred to as informal education (Enhancing Education 2002).
Place-based education is a pedagogical approach that is gaining popularity in the field of environmental education. The Rural School and Community Trust, one of the oldest advocates of place-based education, defines the practice as “learning that is rooted in what is local–the unique history, environment, culture, economy, literature, and art of a particular place…This local focus has the power to engage students academically, pairing real-world relevance with intellectual rigor” (Rural and School Community Trust 2005). In environmental education, place-based education is seen as an excellent tool for teaching children about broader environmental processes and problems like the water cycle or point-source pollution in a local context.
Together, these two different sources of knowledge can be very influential in how children learn about and view the state of the world. There is an inherent contrast, however, in how place-based educational programs and informal educational sources present information on environmental problems. Place-based education tends to focus very much on local scales, and sometimes does not apply the local concepts to the global. In many cases, informal education sources such as television or magazines imply or discuss environmental problems in a purely global sense or in other places that children cannot connect to. Scale is not the only inherent contrast between these two sources of information; place-based education and informal sources of environmental knowledge differ in communication methods, intent, and the depth to which they explore different issues. How can these two sources of ideas and information about the environment relate to one another?
I am interested in the combination of informal, place-based education, particularly in young children (ages five to twelve). This period is one of enormous growth, both physically and emotionally. Kids are being bombarded with knowledge in school, outside of school, and from their peers. I am interested in studying the ways children learn about the environment and environmental issues outside of school, and how that relates to how they think within a classroom.
References
Anon. 2002. “Formal Vs. Informal Education” Enhancing Education.
https://enhancinged.wgbh.org/started/what/formal.html
2004. State Compulsory School Attendance Laws. National Center for Education Statistics.
2005. Rural School and Community Trust Annual Report 2005. Rural School and Community
Trust.
Questions
- Outside of school, what are some of the main sources of information on the environment or environmental issues that children regularly access? What information are these sources distributing?
- What is the history of place-based education in the United States? For what reasons was this style of environmental education developed, and how diverse is its practice? Are there common messages or models that are widespread?
- How can formal, place-based educational programs more effectively recognize and reckon with informal sources of environmental information to create a curriculum that discusses global problems in a local context and vice versa? Can informal sources of environment-related ideas be used to broaden perspectives on “place” in place-based education?
Concentration courses
- ED 205 (Education in a Complex World, 4 credits), fall 2012. This course looks at the state of education in the United States today, and examines potential solutions to mass of problems the education system currently faces.
- PSY 230 (Infant and Child Development, 4 credits), fall 2012. This course examines the development process of children, from conception to adolescence. It is useful in learning how children learn and think about the world during their formative years.
- ED 450 (Environmental Education, 3 credits), fall 2011. For obvious reasons, this course is useful because it examines the state of environmental education in the United States, including curricula, teaching methods, and ideas for improvement. This course also promotes place-based education.
- ENVS 499 (Independent Study, 2 credits), fall 2013. An internship with an environmental or place-based education program in Portland would offer great insight into teaching and curriculum development practices here in Portland.
- RHMS 398 (The Adea: Grand Narratives, 4 credits), fall 2013. This course examines how big ideas are communicated through short form media.