Green, healthy, and sustainable schools have a common set of practices that distinguish them from traditional schools. For each issue of the Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly, we pick one of these commonalities and use a magnifying lens to take a deeper look at the history, theoretical foundations, practical applications, and research that supports that practice. In this issue, we examine how the pedagogical practices of phenomena-, place-, project-, and problem-based learning are implemented in schools that are committed to learning for sustainability.
I’ve been an enthusiastic supporter of these “P” based instructional strategies for my entire teaching career. Between 1984 and 1986, I was fortunate to have an extensive, immersive experience with these strategies while earning my master’s degree from the Audubon Expedition Institute (AEI) through Lesley College. After several years of teaching, I was headed toward earning a traditional M.S. in Science Education. But one afternoon, I came across an advertisement for AEI in a magazine. “Wild America is Our Classroom” it read. “Deep encounters with culture, nature, self as you meet with people and travel to places to encounter deep ecological problems, society, and self.” I was hooked. Why would I spend time learning about ecology and ecological problems in a classroom, when I could experience them and learn from the people who were impacted by them and trying to solve them! I abandoned my traditional program and never looked back.
For two years, I traveled with a cohort of other educators across North America studying local issues and problems up close with local experts who were focused on developing local solutions. On breaks, I would visit schools searching for teachers who were implementing experiential pedagogies in their classrooms. Following graduation from this program, I searched for a job with a school where I could implement these practices all day, every day. Jobs like that were few and far between in the late 1980s. So, I ended up at a school for high-risk students where it was OK to be “experimental.” My career in education was forever changed by my introduction to this type of learning and the powerful impact I saw it have on kids. And this was all before terms like phenomena-based learning, place-based education, problem-based learning, or project-based learning had become commonplace in educational circles.
Fast forward to 2019 where “P-B” learning abounds! While still not universally employed, these instructional methods are making inroads in education. Each method now has a body of research that demonstrates its net impact on learning, social skills development, and college and career readiness. The type of changes that I’ve witnessed in kids for thirty years…Hallelujah! Two decades into the 21st century, it is clear that the major issues of our time cannot be understood in isolation and need new ways of thinking to solve. These systemic issues are interconnected. The transdisciplinary nature of phenomena-, place-, project-, and problem-based learning are the pedagogies from which we can build a sustainable future.
The benefits of using place, projects, problems, and phenomena to infuse our classrooms with engaged learners is well documented, but in case you’re not yet hooked into these powerful methods of instruction we’ve assembled an amazing group of authors to provide you with background knowledge and get you up to speed on the remarkable outcomes that are possible.
The first several articles provide a foundation in theory and research that will enlighten you, whether new to or experienced with these pedagogies. Greg Smith, Emeritus Professor at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, provides an overview of the origins and aims of project-based learning and place-based education, their goals and practices, their differences, and what each approach could contribute to the other. Ellen Doris, from Antioch University New England, provides a brief history of the nature-study movement from the beginnings of the last century and shares how these practices can inform modern day place-based education. Jerry Lieberman, founder and Director of the State Education and Environment Roundtable, and I team up to share our experiences in leveraging the power of what we call “P4BL” to support transdisciplinary curriculum design.
This issue’s case studies show how linking the best practices and pedagogical frameworks of phenomena-, place-, project-, and problem-based learning can lead to increased student engagement and deeper learning. David Sobel, from Antioch University New England, and Robin Huntley, a teacher at Juniper Hill School for Place-Based Education in Maine, describe how a surging tick population at a rural Maine school inspired a class of third-graders to engage in a study of ticks, their habitat, and behaviors and share their findings with the larger school community. A team from the Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative describes how this unique place-based education consortium is engaging Northeast Michigan students in environmental stewardship projects that address natural resource issues around the Great Lakes. Finally, Nate McClennen of Teton Science Schools in Wyoming provides a pathway for replication and discusses the steps that Teton Science Schools has taken to build a national network of rural place-based K-12 schools, including lessons learned along their journey and reflections on where the network is headed.
Our columnists help magnify these practices even further. Vidalia Flores, a high school sophomore from Oregon, shares how participating in Project Citizen sharpened her knowledge of public policy and the role it plays in addressing local problems, and how students, like her, can take action through authentic projects that impact where they live, learn, and play. Joel Tolman and students at Common Ground High School in New Haven, Connecticut provide a glimpse of the pathways that students forge at this environmental charter high school, building off authentic learning experiences rooted in place to tackle real-world problems. Finally, Rob Wade describes how Plumas Unified School District’s Outdoor Core Mountain Kid initiative uses place-based learning to engage students in the exploration of science inquiry and grounds them in their place, giving them the skills they need to solve local problems.
The stories and examples we feature in this issue make my heart sing. I wish I had attended a nature-study movement school, but that pedagogy gave way to other forms of instruction before my school days began. Yet, as my grandmother was fond of saying, “what goes around, comes around” and I am encouraged by the interest and growth in these “new” P-B methods of instruction today. They are, in my mind, the best way for us to prepare students to co-create a sustainable future. We all need to become masters of these methods. All our efforts are essential as we push forward toward our goal of every child in a green, healthy, sustainable, and equitable school, not just in the U.S, but around the globe! Thank you for being a committed member of our community.
Jenny
Tell us your story of implementing “P-B” learning! Write to us at editor@greenschoolsnationalnetwork.org.
Jennifer Seydel (jseydel@greenschoolsnationalnetwork.org) brings more than 35 years of experience preparing youth for success in an ever-changing world to her role as Executive Director of Green Schools National Network (GSNN). Jenny has taught at grade levels from kindergarten to graduate school, worked in public schools and nonprofits, has been involved with starting numerous public charter schools, has extensive experience with at-risk children, and has worked with educators across the country and eastern Asia. Prior to her role with GSNN, she was a school designer with Expeditionary Learning for twelve years, providing school coaching, leadership development, and curriculum design support to schools nationwide. She was the lead author of one of the first integrated curriculum modules that combines Common Core State Standards in ELA with Next Generation Science Standards.
