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History Of Place-Based Education Page 5
Miller also said, “Students' lives need to be in the literature they read, thus getting more literature into their lives.” Helen Lewis, educator and activist, is a believer in sharing students’ backgrounds and validating their experiences. She believes in emphasizing concepts and understanding more than memorizing facts or figures, and in thinking about relationships and developing thoughtful responses to questions. Sometimes called the Grandmother of Appalachian Studies, she hosted the first Appalachian Studies Conference in 1971 and is such a community activist that the Appalachian Studies Association named its annual service award after her. John Dodson of Rocky Gap High School in Bland County, VA, said when accepting an award for teaching excellence in 2006, “I describe my teaching philosophy as place-based. It is rooted in these mountains. Living where we live, how can it be anything else? How do we preserve our quality of life and yet provide a sustainable economy? There is no easy fix. It must come from within us and from within our place. The answer is an education that values place and tradition and yet creates a citizen ready to take on the future.” There is no lack of students waiting to get into Dodson’s technology classes where they are encouraged to use that technology to collect and write oral histories. Likewise, Dodson and his students are active participants in the Radford University program called AASIS, Appalachian Arts and Studies in the Schools. This student-led group of college students mentor and encourage college-able, but not necessarily college-bound, students to pursue higher education and show them how it’s possible. Stephen Fisher, professor emeritus from Emory and Henry College in southwestern Virginia says, “Building a community in the classroom encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning and link course material to events in their own lives and to their service work.” His students became accustomed to extensive journaling and reflective writing. Across the country today communities are trying to practice the concept of place-based education, trying to sustain communities by presenting educational opportunities based on real life issues. The Place-Based Education Evaluation Collaborative released a lengthy report on the benefits of place-based education. To read the entire report, go to www.peecworks.org/peec/benefits_of_pbe-pe.
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