Gruenewald, D. A., & Smith, G. A. (Eds.) (2008). Place-Based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity. Reviewed by Samuel S. Perkins, Barry University

Gruenewald, D. A., & Smith, G. A. (Eds.) (2008). Place-Based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity. NY: Lawrence Erlbaum. Pp. xxiii + 377         ISBN 0-8058-5864-4 Reviewed by Samuel S. Perkins Barry University August 12, 2008 An effective review of Place-Based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity could not occur without first defining the core concept of this work: Place-based education. The editors, David A. Gruenewald and Gregory A. Smith, provide this definition in the “Introduction” section: … place-based education can be understood as a community effort to reconnect the process of education, enculturation, and human development to the well-being of community life. Place-based or place-conscious education introduces children and youth to the skills and dispositions needed to regenerate and sustain communities. It achieves this end by drawing on local phenomena as the source of at least a share of children’s learning experiences, helping them to understand the processes that underlie the health of natural and social systems essential to human welfare. (p. xvi) Multiple contributors to this book contend that educational systems (in various countries) have not adequately considered (1) students as contributing members to diverse communities (including the global community) and (2) the importance of these systems in developing students as effective participants and leaders in these communities. Several contributors also argue that many educational systems have not adequately exposed students to ecological education, which has as a primary focus making students aware of (the effects of their actions on) nature and the environment. Effective place-based educational systems address these timely and important topics. Gruenewald and Smith offer the two purposes of the book in the “Introduction” section: First, we wish to contribute to the theory and practice of place-based or place-conscious education by collecting instructive and inspiring stories that can serve as exemplars for this exciting, burgeoning field. Second, we want to make the case through these stories of collaboration that place-based education can be viewed as the educational counterpart of a broader movement toward reclaiming the significance of the local in the global age. (p. xiii) This review will address the level of success that this book attains in meeting the above purposes in addition to providing a brief summary of the work’s content. This book is structured in three sections; the sections are entitled “Models for Place-Based Learning,” “Reclaiming Broader Meanings of Education,” and “Global Visions of the Local in Higher Education.” Each section contains several chapters, each chapter authored by a different contributor or contributors (two maximum). In total, there are sixteen contributors to this text. In terms of professional affiliations and geographic headquarters, the contributors represent a diverse cross section of global professionals: educators and scholars working with various age levels of students and with different vantage points on the roles of place-based education in today’s world. The contributors work in multiple sections of the United States (urban and non-urban) in addition to one contributor being from Australia and one from Israel. Employing devices such as detailed descriptions, anecdotes, and narratives, the contributors in the first section thoroughly and vividly provide “instructive and inspiring stories” (p. xiii) of place-based education in action. The stories take place in micro settings such as an art classroom, but also extend the concept of place-based education to macro settings outside the classroom (e.g., communities and nature). The contributors in the second section broaden and extend the focus of the entries in the first section to address the roles and benefits of place-based education in education and communities. Relevant and timely topics in this section include the close relationship between place-based education and culturally responsive teaching and how place-based education can contribute to the collaborative economic development of diverse communities. The second section serves as a primer to the third and final section, which has an even broader, global focus in the form of case studies from diverse global locales. These case studies bring home the authors’ argument that place-based education serves important global roles and can be effectively implemented around the world. The second and third sections of the book also meet the editors’ second purpose in synthesizing this collaborative volume: “… place-based education can be viewed as the educational counterpart of a broader movement toward reclaiming the significance of the local in the global age” (p. xiii). The last chapter of the final section is entitled “Place-Based Teacher Education.” The chapter’s authors clearly and effectively connect various concepts of place-based education introduced in the previous chapters to provide ideas for developing teacher education courses and programs based on these concepts. Following the final chapter is the “Afterword,” which is authored by the editors of the book. This section provides ideas for action plans for implementing place-based educational systems. Also, in order to help the reader in further researching and implementing such systems, there are valuable lists of references offered at the ends of chapters. In summary, Place-Based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity is a thorough and engaging volume of topics and issues related to place-based education. The contributors provide background knowledge the reader needs, offer examples of place-based education in action, connect place-based education to community and global considerations, summarize the content, and offer ideas on where to go from here. I highly recommend this book as a primary textbook in the increasing number of university courses that focus on place-based education. I also highly recommend this book as a supplementary resource in courses that focus on such topics as culturally responsive teaching and development of aware and responsive community leaders. About the Reviewer Samuel S. Perkins, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Early and Middle Childhood Education at Barry University. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education (with a specialization in TESOL) from Georgia State University. His research agenda includes topics related to culture, language acquisition, and language assessment.