Cultivating young minds and a sense of place through teacher professional development

Abstract

This project is a professional development experience for educators at Colegio Monte Verde, a primary school serving students from ages three to twelve in Castro Chile. It addresses integrating agroecology, a form of place-based education, into the school curriculum for the 2016 school year, beginning in March. It consisted of four phases: educator curriculum and content development onsite at Centro de Education y Tecnologia Chiloe's experimental farm, summer on and off-site professional development for educators, modeling teaching strategies and content with students, and a presentation of learning in which teachers shared their own place-based lessons. The study is designed to explore how agroecology can be used as a teaching tool to help students better understand the world around them and look at their community as a living laboratory.