TPA Article (March 2006)

The Value of Things: Place-Based Education in a Global Economy

Nick Hylla

Wisconsin Forest Resources Education Alliance (WFREA)

When I think about the community where I live – the people, history, economy, environment – a certain type of question always comes to mind. It may seem strange, but the question always takes a form similar to the following:

Is a brand new DVD player really only worth $39.99?

Is the water that comes from my tap worth only what I pay for it ($0.80 for 100 cubic feet!)?

I think the answer, for many kids and young adults, would be yes – if that’s what you pay, than that is what it is worth. This simple answer always makes me think of the following quote from Wendell Berry:

Most of us cannot imagine the wheat beyond the bread, or the farmer beyond the wheat, or the farm beyond the farmer, or the history beyond the farm. Most people cannot imagine the forest and the forest economy that produced their houses and furniture and paper; or the landscapes, the streams, and the weather that fill their pitchers and bathtubs and swimming pools with water. Most people appear to assume that when they have paid their money for these things they have entirely met their obligations.

What is missing is an understanding of the systems beyond the sale price. What is missing is an understanding of where the materials come from, where they are manufactured, and who makes their living by doing so. What is missing is an understanding of the hidden costs, whether they be monetary, social, or environmental. What is missing is an understanding of place.

An incomplete understanding of the place where we live and the systems that influence it can lead to actions based on misunderstandings and misperceptions. These actions can take many forms, including such things as the demonization of the forest industry or the endless consumer search for the lowest priced goods regardless of their hidden costs.

In my mind, the devaluation of place is an educational failure. Many factors lead school districts to forget about the local community and region in their curriculum. Multinational textbook publishers produce and market generic textbooks, often designed for the big markets of Texas and California. State and national education standards and standardized testing keep teachers and students busy with their noses in textbooks. Local educators do not have the time or resources to develop quality educational programs about their community and region. Local businesses and institutions are not proactive about supporting community learning projects.

So what does the standard curriculum, a curriculum with no sense of place, look like? Instead of learning about the Precambrian geology and glacial history of the Great Lakes Region, students study pictures of the Grand Canyon in textbooks. Instead of learning about forest management in the great Northwoods at their school forest, they learn about clearcutting in the Amazonian rainforest on the Internet. And instead of learning about the resource-based economies in the rural communities of the upper Midwest, they watch a movie about cotton production in the South.

Place-based education proposes to link schools to their communities and regions. Regional industries and local businesses play a central role in this process. By involving local business and institutions in hands-on, minds-on learning projects, schools gain expertise, teachers gain skills, and students gain experience. Often, and importantly, they gain help with funding as well. If this seems far-fetched, know that educational relationships between schools and their communities are re-forming across the country and in our own region.

Wisconsin’s reinvigorated school forest program is an ideal setting for place-based education programs. Wisconsin’s school forest programs have been around since 1927. Today nearly 200 schools have more than 300 registered school forests. A variety of Wisconsin school districts such as Elcho, Mellen, Manitowoc, and Tri-County have growing education programs and strong ties to community businesses and institutions. They hold school-wide forestry field days, involve classes in developing forest management plans, collaborate with local loggers on timber harvests, and involve resource professionals and local businesses as speakers, consultants, and funders of education programs.

At first glance, place-based education may seem isolationist, but it is the contrary. A place-based curriculum uses the realities of our family, community, and region to understand national and global issues and events. It embraces local traditions, economies, cultures, and landscapes as a case study that students know intimately. It empowers students with professional skills like scientific inquiry and collaboration. In this way, students learn about important concepts, principles, and systems and develop the skills to apply and adapt them.

The ideal graduate of a place-based education system is one that appreciates their community, embraces local history, understands the systems that influence their life, participates actively, and envisions a better future. An ideal graduate might say that the water that comes from their tap is worth the effort that it takes to keep their landscape forested, to keep aquatic systems healthy, to maintain community infrastructure, to educate the public, and to accept personal responsibility.

* For information on school forest projects, visit the www.uwsp.edu/cnr/leaf/SF. For information on place-based education programs from across the country, just type in “place-based learning” or “place-based education” in a Google search. You might be surprised at what you’ll find!