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Critiquing place-based education
It’s not surprising that the “critical” aspect of place- and community-based education is not much in evidence; engaging in critique and challenge could well spark the forms of controversy educators generally seek to avoid. Yet critique and challenge seem increasingly necessary. I recall Madhu Prakash’s project in Mexico where she and Gustavo Esteva raised questions about the appropriateness of modern sanitation systems in a place where sewage is simply deposited in rivers without much thought of what this will mean for people who live downstream. They then had their students investigate and begin creating alternatives, in this instance dry latrines—an innovation that is now becoming more widespread in the developing world. Or Elaine Senechal’s environmental justice class in Boston where students helped environmental non-profits address air quality issues by participating in an anti-idling campaign that in time resulted in changes in law enforcement and the fuel used by city buses. These examples embody the kind of place- and community-based education that might nurture the dispositions and values needed to create more sustainable cultures.
http://clearingmagazine.org/archives/2108