The Next Generation of Place-based Educators:Making School More Like a Farmers' Market
Presentation with David Sobel,Panel Discussion with Sarah Anderson and Ayana VerdiDavid Sobel has helped shape the development of place- and nature-based education with a long list of influential books including Place-based Education: Connecting Schools and Communities, Mapmaking with Children, and most recently The Sky Above and the Mud Below: Lessons from Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens. In this presentation, Sobel explores the current state of schooling as often analogous to the "sprawl of America" with generic textbooks providing the same unhealthy diet as the fast food places on the retail strip. The local community connection is often considered insignificant. However, there is great hope in the next generation of place-based educators. Place-based education is a response to the alienation of schools from the community. Teachers and school leaders can organize schools around the principles of the farmers' market, drawing on the resources and variety of the local community.
The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion. The panel will be moderated by Paul Bocko, Antioch University New England (AUNE) Education Department Faculty. Ayana Verdi, founder of Verdi Eco School, and Sarah Anderson, author of Bringing School to Life: Place-based Education Across the Curriculum will join in the discussion. This event is a fundraiser for the AUNE Sobel Scholarship to benefit the next generation of place-based educators.