During this school year, we have learned about a lot of different lenses and methodologies through which we may approach education. One of these that touched me the most deeply was the framework of Place Based Education. Upon my decision to return to my homeland and become part of the building of it’s future many questions fluttered around in my head. What does it mean to be from a certain place? How can I (as a white settler) enact the indigenization of my future classrooms? What exactly are these indigenous ways of knowing and being? How can I connect more deeply and spiritually with the land I inhabit?
While I haven’t come to a lot of really solid or direct answers to these questions I do feel just by asking them and reflecting on them daily I have come to some conclusions, although I am not yet perhaps at the point where I can articulate precisely the answers to all of these questions.
Nonetheless I do think that Place Based Education can help to fill some of these gaps for me. I personally love the idea of getting kids outside, boosting minfulness, connection to place, and just plain old being thankful for the beautiful and productive land that we live on.
I was lucky enough to lead a class activity on Place Based Education and it was, for me, one of the most deeply rooted experiences of my education so far.
