In a world replete with many views of education, it is perhaps easier to notice the
differences amongst educational perspectives rather than the interconnections. The role of this
thesis is to bring together some of these perspectives through a conceptual analysis of place and its
links to education, self, and ESL. Place is a term used in environmental philosophy to refer to a
particular space or region as experienced by a person, and to the relationships and responsibilities
which connect that person to the world in which he or she lives. Environmental philosophers argue
that the relationships bound up in place intimately shape who we are as individuals and the life
choices that we make. I will differentiate further between four aspects of place, and address what it
could mean to allow a sense of place to influence my life more deeply: what it means to be
placeful. Investigation of the politics of place and the impact of race, class, power, and global
inequalities on place experiences — areas I cannot explore deeply here - are important areas of
research to continue to expand this conversation.
The role of place in education is dynamic. I come to the classroom as an educator with two
main passions: concern for the learners and concern for the environment. Through an
understanding and awareness of place, environmental education and cornmunity/experience-based
pedagogy can come together to develop an educational system which will address the needs of the
learners, help them develop their understanding of self and place, and encourage care for and
awareness of the environment. Jane McRae and Winnie Tarn, two educators of the Association for
the Advancement and Promotion of Science Education (APASE), shared with me in a set of
interviews their perspectives on place in ESL education. The discussion of APASE's Community
Mapping Project which concludes the thesis is presented as an example of how one association has
done this: a place-centred curriculum which incorporates feminist pedagogy, understanding and
awareness of place, and the importance of addressing environmental issues.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/9801 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Walker, Sarah |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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