Knapp, C & Woodhouse, J. (2003). Place-Based Pedagogy: Experiential Learning for Culturally and Ecologically Sustainable Communities. Paper presented at the Experiential—Community—Workbased: Researching Learning Outside the Academy International Conference at Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, June 27-29, 2003.
Clifford Knapp is a professor of outdoor education in the Teacher Education Department at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Janice Woodhouse is faculty in the Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
Place-based education is often associated with school-age children; this article discusses how it can be applied to adult education. The article argues that three philosophical traditions, liberal-progressive, counter-critique, and personal growth combine to form a place-based education “belief system,” which helps to characterize place-based education and differentiate it from other educational movements. A unique section discusses the clear relationship between the goals of place-based education and Agenda 21, a document produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. According to Agenda 21, “education is deemed ‘critical’ for improving the capacity of people to address environment and development issues through formal and non-formal means.” Both movements support education for sustainable communities. Much of the information in this article could be applied to place-based education for youth, however, it is helpful and encouraging to know that the theories of place-based education are being considered for audiences beyond the K-12 classroom.