Woodhouse, J. (2001). Over the River and Through the ’Hood: Re-viewing ’Place’ as a Focus of Pedagogy. Thresholds in Education, 27(3 & 4), 1-5.

Janice Woodhouse is faculty in the Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

Place-based education is education focused on the learner. Education happens in the context of the learner’s social, biological, and cultural region. This article is the introductory article in the Aug/Nov 2001 issue of Thresholds in Education, which focuses on place-based education. The article points out that place-based education is not a new idea and refers to historical figures who have espoused place as an important tool in education. The author provides a few examples of place-based education and then reviews the other articles included in the issue. A number of articles look at diverse examples of place-based education with the hope that teachers will be able to adapt the information and ideas to their own classrooms. Other articles focus on the theory, history, and philosophy of place-based education. Finally, one article discusses the role of standards in place-based education, examining the conflict or compatibility between the two. This article is most helpful when read as part of this entire issue of Thresholds In Education.