Place-Based Education
America’s Best Idea and America’s Best Classroom
By: Mike Mahalik. Not only are our National Parks "America's Best Idea" but they might just be our best classrooms as well, offering a wide variety of content areas to teach today's students.
Teaching Empathy Through Place-Based Education
By: Jenny Pieratt. While searching for a way to teach my students both empathy and content, I discovered the solution through place-based learning as we interacted, engaged and connected with our community.
6 Reasons You Should Work in America’s Parks and Forests
We both personally benefited from formative experiences working summer jobs on public lands, and invite you to imagine how our society might be improved if every person in America had an opportunity to work and learn in a national park.
Parenting, Learning and The Power of Place
My husband and I recently decided to put the “4 I’s” of Smart Parents into practice during this year's family vacation. Here’s what we learned about parenting and the power of place while exploring and adventuring with our daughters.
8 Campaigns Illuminating the Path Forward
The Getting Smart team studies innovations in learning to understand the path forward and then constructs advocacy campaigns to inform and inspire action. Here are eight of our recent, current and planned thought leadership campaigns.
Expanding & Enriching Relationships in Place-Based Education
By: Gillian Judson. In place-based education, the importance of relationships in education is taken to a whole new level. Here are three guiding principles for maximizing the creation of all relationships and, by extension, the learning of all students.
Five Tips for Testing the Place-Based Education Waters
By: Jennifer Pieratt. The open-endedness of planning Place-Based Education can quickly go from exhilarating to overwhelming, so here are five tips to help teachers just dip their toe in the deeper learning pool.
20 Schools and Networks That Educate With A Sense of Place
An illustrative list of 20 U.S. schools implementing Place-Based Education by taking advantage of local geography to create authentic, meaningful and engaging personalized learning for students.
Place-Based Professional Learning in the New Tech Network
By: Julia McBride. Many recognize the power of place-based for students, but what about creating these types of professional learning opportunities for teachers?
Project-Based and Place-Based Learning in New Tech Schools
By: Julie McBride. Here are two examples of how New Tech Network schools often engage in project-based and place-based learning experiences that leverage partnerships and community assets for authentic and meaningful student learning.