Wachstumshormone

Dec

27

“Meet a Tree” is Boring

Filed Under Blogs, Tony Deis | 2 Comments

MeetaTree

The Arboretum Trust

Do you know Meet a Tree? The exercise where you blindfold one kid and their buddy leads them to a tree. Then, after the blindfolded is removed, the child goes and finds their tree. Yawn.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen kids enjoy this. I believe they do get some value out of it. I also believe that many outdoor educators abuse this like they do all other stock and file-card activities. It’s something for kids to do. It’s in the nearly official Environmental Educator’s Game Guide.

I’m an animal tracker. I teach it to both kids and adults. I use all my facilities and gut instincts to follow bears, cougars and bobcats across epic landscapes. I deftly understand the reasoning behind sensory based curriculum. It’s great that these kinesthetic activities begin to receive more and more credibility in a world of water quality testing and DBH. Unfortunately any game or activity can also be a crutch for educators. Read more

Oct

19

Critiquing place-based education

Filed Under Blogs, David Greenwood, Gregory Smith, Place-based Education, Resources | Leave a Comment

Part two of an on-going discussion

The following is part 2 of an on-going discussion on place-based education topics between Gregory Smith of Lewis and Clark College and David Greenwood of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario (formerly of Washington State University). You are invited to participate in this discussion and can add your comments through the reply box at the bottom of the post. Read part 1 here.

gregsmith
Dear David,

When you wrote your 2003 article about a critical place-based education, you rightly criticized those of us who had been writing about this approach for being under-theorized.  Jan Nespor and others have continued that criticism.  I’m becoming increasingly aware of the consequences of not anchoring place-based education in a more explicit critique of industrial civilization.  In some respects, place-based education can mean almost anything people want it to—much like the term sustainability.  Once ideas gain some currency, they take on a life of their own.

I’m seeing this happen with the way school gardens are becoming synonymous with place-based education.  There is nothing wrong with the creation of school gardens—in fact, helping young people learn how to grow their own food and develop more of an affinity with agricultural practices seems essential.  Wendell Berry would applaud such efforts.  But school gardens, Read more

Sep

7

A place-based education discussion

Filed Under Blogs, David Greenwood, Gregory Smith, Place-based Education | 3 Comments

The following is part 1 of an on-going discussion on place-based education topics between Gregory Smith of Lewis and Clark College and David Greenwood of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario (formerly of Washington State University). You are invited to participate in this discussion and can add your comments through the reply box at the bottom of the post.

7/21/10

gregsmithHi David,

I’ve been meaning to touch base with you about my experience in Juneau doing a place-based education institute a month ago. What I encountered there raised some questions for me about whether it’s possible to marry the wisdom of Indigenous educational systems to what happens in Western schools, even though this underlies at least some of what I’m attempting to accomplish as I advocate for place- and community-based approaches. I’m wondering whether it is appropriate to link a goal-based meritocratic enterprise with a process of acculturation that is at base spiritual, humane, and ecological. As a result of an unspoken tension between me and the Tlingit elders and leaders who were part of the team that organized the institute, I found myself increasingly questioning the application of the goal- and accountability-dominated curriculum development process encountered in contemporary schools with the kinds of more open-ended and improvisational learning experiences that connect young people to community and place encountered in Indigenous societies. Read more

Jul

31

Climate Change, Youth and Hope: Debunking the Paradox

Filed Under Blogs, Climate change, Megan McGinty, Outdoor education, Programs | 3 Comments

by Megan McGintyCCC-Reidel_Baker-500x332
North Cascades Institute

Last year we began a service-learning summer program for high school students focusing on climate change. The Climate Challenge program consisted of a summer residency in the North Cascades followed by a service project in which elementary-school students were taught by the returning high-school students back in their home communities that fall. We planned a challenging field itinerary for the summer portion – studying glaciers, interviewing scientists and exploring hydrological systems. The student team made both geographic and intellectual discoveries and practiced presentation skills in order to bring their stories to their hometowns. We anticipated that they would struggle to master new skills, become proficient communicators, and hoped that they would become passionate teachers.

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Jul

6

The future of CLEARING…?

Filed Under Blogs, Gregory Smith | Leave a Comment

By Gregory Smith, Associate Professor of Education
Lewis and Clark College, Portland OR

June 10, 2010

As conditions globally and in the Pacific Northwest worsen, it seems increasingly imperative that individuals and organizations concerned about environmental and social health find ways to achieve a higher level of collaboration than they have so far been able to demonstrate. The difficulties faced by British Petroleum and the federal government as they attempt to deal with the Gulf oil spill foreshadow the inability of large, centralized institutions to deal with the crises of climate change and the peaking of oil production. In addition, the long period of economic growth humankind has enjoyed for the previous century could well be coming to an end—in fact may need to come to an end if we hope to lay the foundation for more sustainable societies. Read more