Place-Based Professional Development Enhances Student Learning

At the end of August, when many of their peers were enjoying the final week of summer break, 15 Govs faculty members representing five academic departments gathered in the Bill ‘67 and Peter ‘71 Alfond Coastal Research Center to participate in a place-based learning workshop. 

Bass Institute Director Erika Mitkus and History teacher and Associate Academic Dean Gary Satow led the two-and-a-half-day workshop. When the Alfond Center opened last summer, Mitkus began thinking about how it could be used as a place of learning in the summer. Combining that desire with her hope to engage more faculty across all departments in place-based learning by teaching them to see the opportunities in and around the Academy’s campus, she found a willing partner in Satow to create a workshop for their peers.

“Our goal was to provide a structured opportunity for interested faculty members to develop their content knowledge about place-based learning as a pedagogy. It was dedicated time for them to hear examples of place-based projects that our current faculty have developed for the classroom and develop their own ideas with peers,” shared Mitkus.

Place-based learning is a teaching method in which teachers use their location or space, where their students already have knowledge and connections, to enhance learning.

On the first day of the workshop, participants ventured out into “the field.” Mitkus took a group—appropriately dressed in waders—into the Great Marsh, and Satow took a group to Newburyport. Upon their return to the Alfond Center, and inspired by their time in the field, participants brainstormed curricular ideas specific to their discipline. The next day began with discussion protocols that helped participants refine their initial ideas and narrow down to one idea they wanted to explore for the remainder of the week. 

"Using classroom techniques that facilitate efficient group work, participants gathered live feedback on their initial ideas and focused their ideas into a unit for their class in the coming year. In addition, they learned some valuable classroom strategies as well," explained Satow.

Mitkus and Satow introduced participants to curricular planning tools relevant to place-based learning and could help them structure their ideas with a specific focus on assessments and public products. Faculty members shared and discussed the merits of and challenges presented by assessments that are not traditional tests, quizzes, or papers. For example, a 1000/24/7 presentation teaches students to deeply understand material by asking them to summarize it in three ways: a picture on a slide, a 24-second explanation, and a 7-word catchphrase. The second day closed with an intense feedback session with peers from their department on the current state of their idea.

The workshop’s final day provided time for participants to develop their units further and share their thinking with other participants for feedback. At the end of the PD, ideas ranged from a "Govs Ghost Tour" that will integrate Latin American mythology, an Advanced Composition project that will ask students to compose an original piece of music inspired by an aspect of Govs, and a Chemistry microplastics unit that will involve students contributing data from the Parker River to a statewide project. 

"Place-based education is a powerful tool that can tie students more deeply to their schools and larger communities. Teachers I know from outside of Govs have already expressed interest in learning more about this approach, and I'm hoping this is just the beginning of a larger conversation among local educators,” said Mitkus.