On Place and Education

Professional Development Opportunities Community Works Institute presents Summer Institutes 2013 Save $200 per person, When You Register by February 28th register online  l   learn more Join us for this exciting curriculum and program planning opportunity for school AND community educators. CWI's Summer WEST Institute on Service-Learning July 29-August 2, 2013 Los Angeles, California at Loyola Marymount University register online l more info tel: 909-480-3966 l email CWI's Summer EAST Institute on Service-Learning July 15-19, 2013 at Shelburne Farms, Vermont register online l more info tel: 909-480-3966 l email TRAINING & PLANNING CURRICULUM TOOLS REFLECTION & INSPIRATION CONNECTIONS ALUMNI TESTIMONIALS “I can't over state the importance of this event to my vision and enthusiasm.” Julie Metzler, Director Community Arts and Service-Learning Kansas City Art Institute “I loved the week! CWI’s Institute allows for personal and professional growth...." Dan Gaudiano High School Science Teacher Punahou School, Hawaii “You make the five day commitment worth it! Leitzel Schoen S-L Coordinator Westminster School Atlanta, Georgia “CWI gave me the opportunity to go deep in my understanding of service-learning and the way it can transform education.” Elizabeth Ferguson The Lawrenceville School New Jersey “I felt reaffirmed...Thank you for a stimulating, thoughtful, and useful week. I learned a lot, met wonderful people, and had time to think and plan. I was inspired!” Chris Tananone Global Issues/Service Coordinator International School of Bangkok from Community Works Journal Online Magazine for K-16 and Community Educators OF PLACE AND EDUCATION From High Winterages to Haute Cuisine in the Blink of an Eye? By DAVID SOBEL   read article online David Sobel is a regular contributing editor of Community Works Journal and the Director of Teacher Certification Programs at Antioch New England Graduate School. He also co-directs the Community-based School Environmental Education Program (CO-SEED). David is the author of a number of books including Children’s Special Places and is a guest faculty member of Community Works Institute (CWI). This article was originally published by Burren Insight magazine. Prologue In August 2012, the Burrenbeo Trust, an Irish landscape and cultural preservation non-profit, organized the symposium  ‘From Apathy to Empathy: Reconnecting People and Place.’ This unique event brought together leading national and international thinkers and practitioners who specialize in the theme of place-based learning. Place-based learning encourages the use of the local environment as a learning resource. It immerses individuals in local heritage, culture and landscape, encouraging them to become more aware of their place. Jen Kramer and I attended the symposium. I offered the opening talk and both Jen and I provided workshops that engaged participants in the history and ecology of the Burren, one of the few glaciated, limestone landscapes in Europe. The Burren ireland"That’s the loop to do, right there,” Brendan Dunford stabbed the map with his forefinger. “That’ll get you up high, give you a good taste of the Burren.”  Really, it was a feast rather than just a taste. Jen and I wanted the quintessential Burren bike ride, something that got us up in the high winterages, close to the sky, away from the tourist buses.   We started just east of Carron, where the road diverges, one lane continuing east down across the turlough and then up and over the ridge towards Boston. The other heading north, past the Burren Perfumery rising through farms and along the flanks of Gortaclare Mountain and Slievecarran. As soon as we passed the lane into the Perfumery, the road felt lost and lonely, reminiscent of the moors in Devon where I have tramped many miles. Passing through a farm in Doonmoor (Keep the Burren Fracking Free!), we switch-backed gently higher to the crest of the ridge. Here we tasted the first dish of our Burren feast, that sense of high mountain, sub-alpine exhilaration even though we were at an altitude of only about 250 meters. It’s a unique aspect of the Burren to be able to get that way-up-high feeling with comparatively little effort or elevation gain. Swooping down the far side toward Slievecarran, we stopped at an abandoned cottage, only the barn still in use for farming equipment storage. We shuffled through the broken glass and wall board, imagined a family of 8 or 10 packed into two small bedrooms, huddled around the meager heat from a peat fire, tired after the senseless work of constructing a famine road. This living historical record of recent history and the raft of ancient artifacts of portal tombs, towers, ringforts, abbeys and fire rings is another unique Burren feature. It’s as if all of Irish history was boiled down and concentrated into an historical gumbo, so near at hand and yet reaching so far back into history.    ....continued  read full article online New! Join CWI's ONLINE COMMUNITY NETWORK join now Community Works Institute's new online Community Network is a great way to connect with educators from around the world who share your passion for place, service, and community focused learning! learn more More Community Works Journal Article and Essays on Place, Service, and Sustainability! GO TO: communityworksjournal.org l subscribe for updates copyright 1995-2013, all rights reserved. Properly credited re-publication of articles is welcomed. Contact us for more information Community Works Institute presents 2013 CWI Summer Institutes on Place, Service-Learning, and Sustainable Communities Save $200 with Early Registration by Feb. 28th register online l  learn more 6 month payment option available The perfect curriculum and program planning opportunity for educators and organizational planning teams to renew, deepen, and expand practice. Collaborate with colleagues from across the U.S. and around the world to make service-learning a core part of student learning experiences.  register online l learn more Community Works Institute is a proud partner of The 2013 National Service-Learning Conference March 13-15th Denver, Colorado