This page was created by Collin Hardwick.
Gruenewald, “The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place”
Discipline/Field: Education, Environmental Studies
Year: 2003
Main Arguments & Concepts
In this article, Gruenewald analyzes the conflict between place-based and critical pedagogies, concluding that two are at odds because they have different goals: place-based pedagogy aims for conservation; critical pedagogy aims for transformation. Gruenewald argues for the benefits of bringing the two approaches together, and terms his hybrid approach “critical place-based pedagogy.”Quotes
“A critical pedagogy of place aims to (a) identify, recover, and create material spaces and places that teach us how to live well in our total environments (reinhabitation); and (b) identify and change ways of thinking that injure and exploit other people and places (decolonization)” (9).“Though Freire does not thoroughly explore the spatial aspects of "situationality," this passage from his seminal Pedagogy of the Oppressed, demonstrates the importance of space, or place, to critical pedagogy’s origins. Being in a situation has a spacial, geographical, contextual dimension. Reflecting on one's situation corresponds to reflecting on the space(s) one inhabits; acting on one's situation often corresponds to changing one's relationship to a place” (4).
Notes
My particular bias makes it difficult for me to understand why the relationship between place-based and critical pedagogies should be so contentious. I agree with Gruenewald that they make sense together. Even his discussion of their separate concerns make them seem similar: for example, he points out that “some ecological place-based educators have learned that over-politicizing pedagogy can be a strategic mistake” (7); over-politicization is probably the biggest criticism levergaged at critical pedagogy.Related
Bowers, Revitalizing the CommonsHerndl and Brown, Green Culture
