Creating A Sense Of Place In School Environments

Creating a Sense of Place in School Environments guides its readers to the characteristics that tend to generate a sense of place through children’s vivid descriptions of their school and provides a body of critical information that can be employed to design a better school environment that can imprint cherished childhood memories. The childhood school environment calls for special attention regarding the sense of place it creates. The sense of place in childhood both affects children's current quality of life and frames their lasting world view. It is well known that children's cognitive development is closely related to their place attachment to their surroundings, and that children’s adaptation to a given environment depends on how such place attachment can be created. Therefore, it is natural that people’s identity in the world is the accumulation of their experience of place while in childhood. Cross-checking between the imprint of adults' memories of places in school and children’s current "lived experience" of their favorite school place confirmed that certain spatial configurations, which the author herein refers to as "place generators" can generate positive attributes of physical settings that construct a sense of place and last as lifelong memories. It is an ideal read for academics, students, and professionals.

Case Study Strategies for Architects and Designers explains methods in evidence-based design, also called practice-based research, to show you the value of research to your designs. Topics covered pertain to data collection and analysis techniques, including surveys, interviews, fieldwork, participatory design, occupancy evaluations, and memory sketching. Integrative data evaluation, theoretical sampling, triangulation, pattern matching logic, and analytical generalization are also discussed. Global research precedents, exercises, further reading, section summaries, sidebars, more than 30 black and white images and tables will help you conduct empirical inquiries in real-life contexts.

"Place: it's where we're from; it's where we're going. . . . It asks for our attention and care. If we pay attention, place has much to teach us." With this belief as a foundation, The Power of Place offers a comprehensive and compelling case for making communities the locus of learning for students of all ages and backgrounds. Dispelling the notion that place-based education is an approach limited to those who can afford it, the authors describe how schools in diverse contexts—urban and rural, public and private—have adopted place-based programs as a way to better engage students and attain three important goals of education: student agency, equity, and community. This book identifies six defining principles of place-based education. Namely, it 1. Embeds learning everywhere and views the community as a classroom. 2. Is centered on individual learners. 3. Is inquiry based to help students develop an understanding of their place in the world. 4. Incorporates local and global thinking and investigations. 5. Requires design thinking to find solutions to authentic problems. 6. Is interdisciplinary. For each principle, the authors share stories of students whose lives were transformed by their experiences in place-based programs, elaborate on what the principle means, demonstrate what it looks like in practice by presenting case studies from schools throughout the United States, and offer action steps for implementation. Aimed at educators from preK through high school, The Power of Place is a definitive guide to developing programs that will lead to successful outcomes for students, more fulfilling careers for teachers, and lasting benefits for communities.

The role natural environments play in human health and wellbeing is attracting increasing attention. There is growing medical evidence that access to the natural environment can prevent disease, aid recovery, tackle obesity and improve mental health. This book examines the history of natural environments being used for stress-reduction, enjoyment, aesthetics and catharsis, and traces the development of the connection between humans and the environment, and how they impact our personal and collective health.

This practitioner-focused guide to creating identity-safe classrooms presents four categories of core instructional practices: Child-centered teaching ; Classroom relationships ; Caring environments ; Cultivating diversity. The book presents a set of strategies that can be implemented immediately by teachers. It includes a wealth of vignettes taken from identity-safe classrooms as well as reflective exercises that can be completed by individual teachers or teacher teams.

This book draws together theories, research, and practice on knowledges and pedagogies of place across educational settings. Using empirical research on learning across education systems, each chapter highlights different concepts of place in various contexts such as environments, understandings of place like those experienced by communities and opportunities for embedding place in learning. Chapters are co-constructed by authors working collaboratively across different contexts, tackling key themes such as justice, mobilities, changes, and sustainability, through place. The book indicates how educators can apply creative approaches to teaching within, through and about place in education and will therefore be of relevance to a wider range of academics, teachers and practitioners working in early years settings, schools, universities and other educational context.