Learning to connect and care: Place – responsive pedagogy

Recent research has demonstrated that children who engage in deep learning about the environment, will increasingly attend to, and value nature. In this seminar, Professor Renshaw and Dr Tooth will provide an overview of the findings from their research, focusing on place-responsive pedagogy that has been shown to emotionally and aesthetically engage students, and heighten their sense of connection to place and to each other.

The research was undertaken in Queensland’s network of twenty-five environmental and outdoor education centres. It posed a key question - how can the insights and practices documented in the Environmental Education Centres be designed for schools and regular classrooms? This is critical in the current age of disconnection. The forum will discuss how educators can apply place-responsive pedagogies to motivate students to become engaged and care, rather than disengaged, sceptical and despondent.