Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
connectedness of place and culture, have an acute sensitivity to learners' personal ex-
periences in their total environment, and realize that such experiences often entail
oppression across race, class, gender, and other cultural contexts (Gruenewald 2008;
chaps. 5, 20, this volume). Being culturally responsive and embracing the lived expe-
riences of learners allows for locally relevant, multidisciplinary inquiry, with greater
potential for democratic participation (Gruenewald 2008). Similarly, Lambert (1999)
contends that RBE must be interdisciplinary, embrace other ways of knowing beyond
scientific models, and ensure culturally embedded conceptions of place (see also
Nabhan and Trimble 1994).
We can also consider how engagement in RBE can affect learners' view of them-
selves and their “place,” however they define it. For instance, there is some evidence
that engaging teachers in school restoration sites affects their connection to their
workplace (fig. 22.2). An Earth Partnership for Schools' teacher-participant explained
it this way: “[School] is pretty cold and sprawling, pretty sparse . . . the prairie brings a
little humanity” and “I feel closer to the place I teach than I did before” (McCann
2003). While more research is needed, this teacher's experience illustrates how
“place” can range from a physical workplace to a person's impressions of the human
experience on a broader scale.
Planning Considerations for Successful Restoration-Based Education
Planning is important in any endeavor, and in the case of a successful RBE program
there are several key considerations. These include the following: (1) authentic par-
ticipation and stakeholder involvement, (2) partnership development, (3) youth as
stakeholders, (4) adult and youth learning and development, (5) integrating RBE into
FIGURE 22.2.
Elementary students from Mary Collins School at Cherry Valley in Petaluma,
California work with their parents and teachers to restore the habitat near a San Francisco
wetland. (Photo courtesy of Laurette Rogers, STRAW)
