Page 318 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

292 S. Semken and E. Brandt

approach as ecological literacy – intimate understanding of natural processes and
limits comparable to the abilities to read and calculate – and “reeducating people in
the art of living well where they are” (Orr 1992, p. 130).
Gruenewald (2003) drew deeply from humanistic and scientific works on place
to characterize its pedagogical value in terms of five dimensions: perceptual,
sociological, ideological, political, and ecological. Presented as a theoretical
framework for place-conscious or place-based education, this analysis also abun-
dantly demonstrates that authentically place-based teaching is as transdisciplinary
as the construct of place itself (Gruenewald 2003). Here, Gruenewald also intro-
duces the idea of “accountability to places”: using measures of social, cultural,
economic, climatic, and ecological health of the places where students live and
learn as indicators of instructional success, instead of test scores. Similarly, Ault
(2008) recontextualized “competitive equity,” application of uniform standards
and tests with the intent of eliminating sociocultural disparities in student success,
as “reciprocal equity,” in which building relationships and meeting responsibilities
to place have the same desirable result.

Standardization, Globalization, and Displacement

The current emphasis in US K-12 schools on curriculum standards and program
evaluation by standardized testing, while outwardly intended to foster equity and
make schools accountable, is nevertheless in keeping with the century-old,
decontextualized efficiency paradigm (Gruenewald 2008). This, in turn, has been
cited as a contributing factor, along with consumerism (Sack 1992), immersion in
entertainment media and virtual reality (Pergams and Zaradic 2006), and eco-
nomic globalization (Mander and Goldsmith 1996), to placelessness (Relph
1976) and estrangement from nature (Louv 2006) among citizens of developed
nations. This syndrome is empirically linked to environmental degradation, or
acquiescence thereto (Vorkinn and Riese 2001), and to extinction of languages
and cultures around the globe.
Globalization and conflict around the world have displaced millions of people
and climate change is predicted to displace hundreds of millions more (Dasgupta
et al. 2007). Recent estimates are that about two billion people are currently dis-
placed (Cernea 1997). In 2009 alone, a record 45 million people were displaced,
and more are conflict refugees. Over half of these are children. As many as 10%
of the population in developed countries are immigrants, and in many places this
percentage is much higher.
As people become resettled, often in distant nations and separated from their
families and former communities, it is even more critical that they be enabled to
build affirmative new senses of place through place-based education. Without a
sense of connection to place, they are unmoored and may suffer from disorders of
identity and personhood. They are not only homeless, but placeless. Cernea (2000,