Introduction: Encountering ideas of place in education

Rawlings Smith, Emma and Pike, Susan (2023) Introduction: Encountering ideas of place in education. In, Rawlings Smith, Emma and Pike, Susan (eds.) Encountering Ideas of Place in Education: Scholarship and Practice in Place-based Learning. London. Routledge, pp. 1-9.

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

Since the cultural turn in the social sciences, greater attention has been paid to place as an object of study. This body of work explores people’s perceptions, meanings and experiences of place and focuses significantly on how places are represented, experienced and imagined. Place is central to the lives of children and young people. It is recognised that they are social agents constructing their own everyday life in local places. When exploring local surroundings and venturing further from home, children and young people encounter new and unfamiliar people and places. Place-based learning is a powerful pedagogical approach that connects learning with the physical place in which it happens and seeks to connect learners with the local context, cultures and environments. The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to the education sector worldwide. Yet, as schools physically closed, place-based education gained significant attention as schools embraced ‘alternative learning environments, including teaching and learning outdoors, and learning from home’.

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