This article reports on the perceptions of students who participated in a place-based endeavor, the "kids in parks" program, in the largest national park in South Africa. Feedback from students who participated in the program from 2011 to 2017 was analyzed to identify themes. A random sample of 350 messages from students over the…

In recent years, Yokohama City, Japan, has seen substantial efforts to address socio-environmental issues. One such effort is the G-30 program, which has helped reduce garbage waste production by 43 percent in 2010, since 2001. The eco-picture diary, an environmental education project, has been identified as contributing to the success of G-30.…

Background: Place-based efforts offer promise in reducing childhood obesity. Yet, lack of public demand and support may hinder implementation. Aims: This study aimed to assess whether the emphasis on place-based solutions, community-wide strategies, and multisector engagement in the Healthy Schools Healthy Communities (HSHC) initiative would shift…

Bush kindergartens are a new practice in the Australian early childhood learning context and one that is rapidly becoming part of the kindergarten experience. Children leaving the confines of the bounded space of a kindergarten has been practised through excursions to outdoor places like zoos but the notion of conducting regular, ongoing…

This paper discusses human relationships with the natural world in Japanese educational policy. Based on two case studies, we argue that policy must recognize the cultural and spiritual ties that people in Japan have fostered in order to live well, which this paper considers to be part of "re-wilding education policy." We briefly review…

Theories of writing process have informed the teaching of writing for the past forty years, providing writing mentors with a language of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing that broadens ways to invite young writers to approach composition. In the past forty years, new technologies for composition have impacted the products,…

Research regarding outdoor environmental education programs for youth tends to be quantitative in nature, examining cause-and-effect relationships between program content and participants' behavior and attitudes. Some researchers have suggested that programs that help foster an affective connection with nature in its participants may have more…

Participation in early childhood development and education services is an important contributor to how well children develop throughout their early years and their success later in life. This article reports on research which examined how multicultural groups identify and use their community connections to share information and inform…

Classroom readiness and the attendant theory-practice disjunction remains a key concern of policy makers, stakeholders and graduate teachers themselves. Links between the theoretical knowledge that preservice teachers gain during initial teacher education (ITE) courses and the practical learning of their school placements need to be strengthened…

At James Cook University, a core first-year subject within the Bachelor of Education, Foundations of Sustainability in Education (FSE), sees students investigate the underlying science and complexity of socioecological challenges through inquiry, place-based learning, experimentation and consideration of classroom practice. Given that this subject…

This autoethnographic case study examines the ways in which high school students and teachers' behaviors, values, and attitudes were transformed during their participation on a semester-long study abroad program in Central America. The study found that an integrative pedagogical approach in which place-based content was paired with place-based…

This document is a step-by-step guide to organizing a study circle program to serve as a vehicle to achieve communitywide dialogue for action and change. Part 1 provides an overview of communitywide study circle programs, with special emphasis on their operation and impact. Part 2 details the following steps in organizing a communitywide study…