The Power of Place-Based Learning. (cover story)

By utilizing the environments that students live in to teach concepts, place-based education creates learning that is personally relevant and meaningful. It allows young people to apply what they learn to issues in their community. This article describes a training project in Hawai'i that is capitalizing on a remarkable worldwide journey of two double-hulled canoes—the Hokfile'a and Hikianalia—as a vehicle to help students connect history and culture to their own lives. The author describes how teams of teachers and librarians are engaging the students in experiences that nurture a deeper appreciation for traditional local practices and that invite them to embrace a sense of kinship with—and responsibility to—the larger community called Earth. In a recent article in Educational Leadership, Perkins (2016) made a critical case for “lifeworthy learning” that embodies the following elements: • Goes beyond content mastery to the acquisition of skills that have lifelong applications including collaboration, communication, and citizenship • Assumes local to global dimensions of exploration • Meshes themes and topics that provide vibrant lenses bringing the past and present together • Erases the silos that separate traditional approaches to disciplinary study • Focuses on students' personal choice, commitment, and passion, (p. 16) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]