Place-Based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity.

Miles, Rebecca

Place-Based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity. Edited by David Gruenewald & Gregory Smith. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2008, xxiii + 377 pp. ISBN: 0-8058-5864-4

The significance of the "places" we live in and care for is often overlooked in the urgency of addressing global environmental degradation. By returning focus to our places and grounding learning in the local, the editors of "Place-based education in the global age: Local diversity", David Gruenewald and Gregory Smith, advocate economic development that is place-conscious and aimed at benefiting the inhabitants of local communities. In turn, they critique the globalisation and standardisation of formal education, suggesting that, because of these, students' experiences of learning are often isolated and decontextualised from their lives and local communities and environments. Furthermore, Gruenewald and Smith highlight the importance of closing the gap between environmental educators and those who fight social injustices, suggesting that human welfare depends on the reconciling of environmental and social justice. They suggest that the narrative of globalisation is largely unquestioned in schooling, and argue that, in turn, this narrative has prompted a downsizing of universities and those school programs not considered necessary to compete in the global market economy. Through this collection of writing, Gruenewald and Smith make links between the growing commodification and technologisation of (Western) culture and environmental degradation, alienation from the natural world, social inequities and a rejection of community. The new localism, therefore, stands as an act of resistance against "globalisation and rootlessness" (p. xvi), with place-based education providing opportunities to "reconnect education, enculturation and human development to the well-being of community life" (p. xvi).

Gruenewald and Smith, in editing this collection of writing, aim to contribute to the theory and practices of place-based education through the stories contained within, as well as to make the case for place-based education as the "educational counterpart of a broader movement toward reclaiming the significance of the local in the global age" (p. xiii). In particular, they argue that by drawing on local experiences and phenomena as a source of student learning, education that is conscious of local places enables students to be inducted into the "knowledge and patterns of behaviour associated with responsible community engagement" (p. xvi).

This book is structured into three sections. The sections are entitled, respectively, "Models for Place-Based Learning", "Reclaiming Broader Meanings of Education", and "Global Visions of the Local in Higher Education". Each section contains several chapters which have come from various contributors, including the editors, and represent a diverse cross-section of educators and scholars working across all levels of formal schooling, rural and urban settings, and teaching across various ages. The contributors are primarily from North America, with the exception of an Australian contributor and an Israeli contributor.

This first section draws upon cases of schools and teachers "redirecting students to the value of the local" (p. 1) through place-based education. Using narrative, anecdote and descriptions of learning experiences, the authors of these chapters provide examples and details of place-based education in action. From Clifford Knapp's description of teaching place-based education in a university graduate course, to Mark Grahams' reflections on the integration of the aesthetic and place through art in the classroom, and Elaine Seneschal's discussion of teaching at the Greater Eggleston Community High School, this section provides practical examples of successful place-based education through integrating community and natural resources, fighting for environmental justice, community based teaching, and the importance of indigenous knowledge of place. Certainly, many of these chapters make compelling arguments for a community-centred approach to teaching and learning, one that not only values and respects the young people within the community, but also provides these young people learning experiences that are both engaging and compelling.

In a broader discussion of place-based education, the second section explores the concept and role of place in education, providing ample reasons for adopting a "place-conscious" approach to teaching and learning. Relevant topics in this section discuss the relationship between place, culture and diversity in the quest to create equitable and ecologically sustainable communities of "nature", the fundamental importance of grounding learning in and of experiences, and the role of place in defining communities. The third section has a larger, more global focus on higher education and the ways that institutes of higher education are introducing the potential of places to their students through democracy, political and personal awareness, and education. Of particular interest to an Australian audience is John Cameron's chapter, "Learning Country: A case study of Australian place-responsive education". Interwoven through the narrative of Cameron's own story as a teacher of "Sense of Place" subjects in Australian tertiary institutions is a recognition of the continual journey and evolution of teaching in, and about, place; places are always changing, and therefore one's teaching to respond to, and learn in, place must also evolve and change.

Easily readable and targeted towards educators at all levels of formal schooling and informal community-based learning, this book provides both practical examples and models of learning that are grounded in place, while also continuing the all-important dialogue further theorising and critiquing the role of the local, the global, and places in educational experience. With its interwoven mix of the conceptual and the practical, this book is worthwhile for both teachers and scholars who are aware of the importance of local places in teaching and learning and would like to learn more about it, or for those interested in incorporating place-conscious learning into their teaching. It would also be a valuable teaching resource or textbook for pre- and in-service teacher education courses seeking to introduce students to an education that is conscious of places.

Rebecca Miles

Charles Sturt University