What are the goals of PBE?

Rural schools can take avantage of natural spaces and students have a more direct contact. On the other hand, urban schools are surrounded by a concrete-built setting and there are more difficulties to have contact with nature at its best. Thus, Place-Based Education can be a light to guide teachers and students to understand and go deeper into historical and cultural matters of the place where learning happens.

Having the former in mind, implementing Place-Based Education (PBE) can be a challenge for us as teachers in a country where schools and learning seem to be a decontextualized process. However, it becomes relevant to show some of the goals that you should pursue when using this approach in your classes. These goals aim to reach the multiple benefits of PBE that your students would profit and take advantage of.

Having in mind that PBE is an approach that searches to connect students with their setting,  to Impacting communities is the objective stated to promote students compromise with environmental, political or social issues in their current place (Neighborhood, city, town, country.) As PBE is a more personalized way of teaching and it is learner-centered, this approaches searches to Increase student and teacher engagement; additionally, not only teachers become more committed with students' learning, but students become more committed with their learning due to the inquiry-based aspect that PBE demands.

Finally, another objective in PBE is Boosting academic outcomes as the educational goal and fulfilling the school requirements in terms of knowledge.

How would you achieve the goals previously presented? Do you think these goals are reachable in Colombian schools? Especially those in urban settings. Leave your comments below. 


Source: http://www.gettingsmart.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/What-is-Place-Based-Education-and-Why-Does-it-Matter-3.pdf