Place-based Education

Fostering Place-based Education (PBE)

Place-based education (PBE) is a pedagogical approach that encourages educators and students to engage with their local environments and communities, both natural and social to achieve learning goals. The Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative embraces a place-based stewardship education model that promotes students’ sense of place and seeks to actively engage youth in civic engagement and stewardship action. This model fosters student agency and personal responsibility while providing them with an opportunity to contribute to the sustainability and vitality of their communities.  

Place-based Education Connects Students to the Local Community and Environment

Educators who adopt a place-based approach have seen improvements in several important behaviors and outlooks amongst their students. For example, educators most commonly noted an increase in interest and motivation; with a PBE curriculum that leads with inquiry based learning or place-based projects that allow for students to see, understand, and believe in their individual and collective impact on an outcome, they are more willing and excited to participate (Smith et al., 2010). 

This excitement is paired with students’ heightened sense of community. By expanding the classroom beyond the four walls of a traditional setting, not only can you expose your students to the people and places that maintain their surrounding systems, but also prompt them to reckon with their importance and the ways in which they can be improved through relevant activities and assignments. You have the power to promote students’ “willingness and capacity … to work for the collective good of a community” (Sobel, 2005), which then inspires a strong sense of responsibility. That is, for place-based projects that require follow-through and have real-world stakes, such as writing grant proposals or harvesting food from a community garden, students are more likely to hold themselves accountable for their work and persist through challenges (Rote et al., 2015).

With regard to place-based, food systems education, these benefits have the potential to transform your students' learning experience, as well as your community in the long term. Food systems operate at the intersection of social, economic, and environmental conditions, so there are many entry points to gain student interest and garner their influence over within your local food system. The state of Michigan has a robust food system, teeming with smaller localities that shape how and where many access their food along any part of the chain. What possibilities exist in your community to introduce students to food systems topics? 

A great place to start is by simply getting your students outside on a farm, community garden, or any food production site to introduce them to the scale and importance of food systems work. Rather than an indoor lesson on food production conditions, introduce your students to a local farmer, engage them in growing food itself, and lead with the curiosities of students. This is an opportunity to situate students in their physical and temporal contexts, and show them what lies beyond food consumption. Ask them what gets them excited about food and how they can imagine effecting change in their local system. Incorporating this place-based context will allow your students to relate their learning to something relevant and meaningful to them.

Written by Lashaun Jackson, March 2025.