Building capacity for place-based education in a rural elementary school
Date
2014-04-29
Authors
Barfoot, Sean
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Abstract
This project examines the educational challenges of building capacity for Place-Based Education (PBE) in a rural elementary school on North Vancouver Island. The questions influencing my project were: (1) What is PBE? (2) What are the benefits of engaging teachers in connecting curriculum to their local community? (3) What are the barriers of PBE? and, (4) How can the barriers be mitigated to building capacity for actualizing PBE in a rural elementary school on North Vancouver Island? The project had several stages including determining the definition, benefits and barriers of PBE through the existing literature; and collaboratively developing a document revealing the local assets in our community that can be connected to curriculum. Analysis of the document revealed a desire to connect learning to the natural world, prompting a student-centered initiative to create an outdoor classroom and interpretive trail in a local park.
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Keywords
Place-Based Education, Collaboration, Outdoor Education, Environmental Education