Michael Duffin's Talk

I attended Michael Duffin's talk on place-based education on Thursday and have to tell you it wasn't what I expected. It pretty much started off as an open discussion about why we were there, our thoughts about place-based education, and what it's benefits are. It turned out being more of a Q and A session for people that were trying to implement place-based education rather than an actual presentation. I guess this is because this is such a new concept and it is just starting to implemented at the educational level so there is still allot to be learned. This really put things in perspective for me in how important what we are doing at Casey really is and how it will help students learn, connect them and the school with the community which will start transforming school culture, and make the environment more of an importance. We are lucky to be involved with starting a placed-based educational program such as our Casey after school design club and I hope that this will help spark acknowledgement, interested, and continuation for future types of education at Casey Middle School. I know that our after school program is just a start and definitely could have a stronger place-based educational focus but it is a learn process for not just the students but for us too. What I took from the talk is that this a going to be a long road and it is how future programs will build off of what we have started which will ultimately make place-based education a higher priority in the current educational system.

Ben