What's new

This qualitative study looked at how educators use vernacular pedagogies in place-based education (PBE). These are teaching practices that are local and relational and often sit outside the standard curriculum. The researchers ran semi-structured interviews with 14 educators from the Southeast Michigan Stewardship (SEMIS) Coalition. They explored job satisfaction, how the educators saw their roles, and how they handled tensions between dominant norms and community-rooted learning. The educators accepted indeterminism (uncertainty) as a source of creativity, responsiveness and growth, and drew personal, cultural and ecological meaning together in their practice.

Why it matters in Aotearoa

Kura and schools in Aotearoa that connect learning to local places and communities may recognise the tensions these educators describe. The study frames PBE as a cultural stance that supports locally rooted change, which may help teachers explain and defend place-based EOTC work.

Putting it into practice

In a staff or cluster meeting, ask place-based educators to share one moment when an unplanned event during learning outside the classroom led somewhere useful, and discuss how planning could leave room for this.

How strong is the evidence

This is a small qualitative interview study (14 educators) from one US coalition. It offers insight into educators' experiences, but it does not measure student outcomes or show how common these views are.

What to read

The findings section on how educators describe indeterminism and their vernacular practices.

Who it's for