Although the school curriculum of the province of Québec, Canada, does not explicitly encourage teachers to provide outdoor learning experiences, it appears that there is a growing momentum for outdoor education. Thus, the research question that guided this study was: What are preschool, elementary, and secondary teachers' outdoor education…

Social science and humanities researchers have long considered Appalachia a dynamic site for research. Within literacy education, scholars have called for continued critical literacy research within Appalachia, and to study the ways students' learning contexts can be designed to simultaneously support their comprehension, engagements with…

Place-based education (PBE) will be explored while weaving in my own experiences with place growing up in West Virginia surrounded by the coal industry. PBE is a teaching method that provides meaningful instruction for students by transforming their community or place into their classroom. PBE can teach students how to truly inhabit their places…

Calls to strengthen and diversify our nation's STEM workforce outline the need for expansion and improvement of STEM learning opportunities made available to students from minoritized backgrounds. As broader systemic issues of educational inequity disproportionately exclude students from minoritized backgrounds from high-quality STEM learning…

Place based education (PBE) is a pedagogical approach that emphasises the connection between a learning process and the physical place in which teachers and students are located. It incorporates the meanings and the experiences of place in teaching and learning, which can extend beyond the walls of the school. PBE regained significant attention…

Eco-Schools is the world's largest sustainable school program. Drawing on biopolitical theory and fieldwork conducted in Rwanda, South Africa, Sweden and Uganda, this article explores and compares how Eco-Schools is enacted in contexts marked by widely differing socio-economic living conditions. Attention is drawn to the biopolitical rationalities…

This book uses the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, as a touchstone for the importance and value of including place-based education in the social studies curriculum. Whitlock scrutinizes this local environmental issue to not only drive critical inquiry in the classroom, but also to show how the curriculum can propel valuable social change in the…

This study focuses on the systematic collective reflections of four teacher educators as they interrogate their own practice engaging in community-based settings, specifically considering how these settings can serve as an additional teacher. It is informed by a theory that centers educational experiences within the community and is guided by…

Background: Both national park (NP) interpretation and place-based education (PBE) approach learning by applying the unique attributes of a place to facilitate meaning-making experiences within learners. Despite the similarities between these two place-centered pedagogies, there is a limited amount of collaboration between NP interpretative…

Choosing instructional materials wisely is one of the most important jobs education leaders and teachers have, perhaps now more than ever. Unfinished academic instruction resulting from the COVID-19 crisis demands better ways to reignite student engagement and accelerate learning. At the same time, the disparate impact of the pandemic on students…

Relatively few studies have explored the ways in which 'middle tier' institutional arrangements in education, such as school districts and local authorities, are responding to New Public Management reforms characterized by centralization, decentralization, marketization and disintermediation. This paper analyses these issues, drawing on governance…

Rural communities around the United States are facing a critical shortage of teachers due largely to challenges with recruitment and retention. Our vision for responding to this growing crisis is to consider how technology-rich early rural field experiences that emphasize "place-attentive" technology integration can build preservice…

Observation-based ecology (OBE) generates critical knowledge about the health of ecological systems and human impacts on these systems. Systematic observations of organisms and processes from an early age can help children develop ecological knowledge and skills, and deepen their connection to the natural world. Yet recent educational reforms may…

Recent scientific studies demonstrate conclusively that our planet faces an ocean crisis and efforts to mitigate this crisis should be addressed urgently. As many species are lost to extinction, conservation steps need to be taken and are indicated by targets such as those outlined by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainability and Development. Similarly,…

This article -- initially published in Spanish by "Toma Uno" in 2012 -- explores the Catalonian project Cinema en curs, an annual, recurring and now international programme of film education that takes place with students aged 10-18 in schools and colleges. First detailing both the rationale and methodology motivating the project, the…