Pathways, Philosophies, and Pedagogies: Conversations with Teacher Educators about Place-Based Education

Overview & Synopsis

Place-based education (PBE) promises greater social and ecological justice at a time of great planetary need. This paper explores the experiences and beliefs of eight teacher educators from Canadian teacher education faculties who were invited to give their perspectives on PBE as they theorize and deliver it in their teacher education programs. Analysis of their interviews identified the participants' pathways to PBE, their terminologies for PBE, their understanding of PBE's purposes, their pedagogical practices, their sense of the structures (systemic attitudes and administrative supports or exigencies) that affect PBE, and their integration of Indigenous knowledges of place. The participants demonstrate a deep philosophical approach to place that could enhance environmental and perhaps Indigenous education more broadly.