The impact of place-based education on middle school students’ environmental literacy and stewardship

Abstract

This article centers on the use of place-based education (PBE), an internationally known and employed pedagogy. This yearlong, mixed-methods study centers on a grant-funded program aimed at supporting secondary teachers’ implementation of environmental place-based education (PBE), specifically meaningful watershed education experiences (MWEEs). Intended outcomes of this grant-based program included increasing middle school students’ environmental stewardship capacity; expanding their Great Lakes literacy; building teachers’ capacity for implementing robust environmental PBE; and increasing teachers’ capacity for teaching Great Lakes content. Situated in the Midwestern United States, two experienced PBE teachers and their middle school students (N = 226) from two separate schools participated in this study. Findings indicate that PBE teaching and learning experiences are impacted by multiple factors, including those that are program- and school-based as well as external factors such as weather and community partnerships. Moreover, when students perceive that they have opportunities to make choices and share ideas when engaged in PBE, they are more likely to see direct connections between PBE-based learning and the ways their stewardship endeavors can and do positively impact their local community and environment.