Place Matters in Teacher Education

Abstract

Drawing on the philosophical underpinnings, conceptual foundations and practical particularities of a course entitled “Pedagogies of Placeˮ (PoP) within a Bachelor of Education programme in Canada, this chapter argues for a strong emphasis on place-based education (PBE) within teacher education. PBE offers a means to connect teachers and students to their communities, promote environmental stewardship and civic engagement, disrupt White settler identities, align with Indigenous ways of teaching and learning and develop capacities for lifelong learning. The discourse of PBE has flourished mainly in the field of environmental education and is less well known or developed in teacher education. This chapter offers a condensed trajectory of PBE and reviews selected critical conceptions of place from the literature. It describes the framework of the PoP course, as well as its potential to promote environmental sustainability and combat environmental degradation in meaningful ways, including through connection/attachment to place, land-based anti-oppressive education and inquiry-action projects. The challenges of a more general integration of PBE in teacher education are discussed within the context of features of an effective teacher education programme.