Place-Based Education

Kelsey Madison is an Oregon educator with a passion for working with youth in outdoor places. In this episode, season host Leonne talks with Kelsey about place-based education. Kelsey defines placed-based education as a way to ground in the place that we are in. It helps communities by asking those people to identify and solve local concerns. With a degree in environmental biology, experience in many placed-based education seasonal jobs nationally, and service in the Peace Corps in the Philippines, Kelsey brought her passion and skills to Oregon. Kelsey worked for MESD Outdoor School in Oregon for two years and was most recently a long-term middle school science substitute teacher in Portland Public Schools. As a long-term sub, Kelsey’s approach to place-based education was rooted in building trust and relationships with students and taking them outside every day. Leonne and Kelsey ponder the idea of a “common core” for outdoor education as well as place-based education’s connection to mindfulness. Kelsey’s advice to educators is to find out the history, culture, and local ecology of the place you’re in as a way to embrace place-based education even within the walls of your school or college.  

 

Resources:

Beetles Project - Resources for Outdoor Science Programs

Video: Placed-Based Learning: Connecting Kids to Their Community (Hood River, OR)

Placed-Based Learning (higher ed) - Teaching in Higher Ed podcast

Native Land Interactive Map

Oregon Outdoor School Providers and Sites