PLACE BASED EDUCATION FYS: WHAT IS THIS?

Fostering sense of place further explained:

Where will your favorite places in the Salem be when you leave Salem State with degree in hand? What experiences will shape your time here at Salem State University? Who will become your lifelong friends? During this class we will explore what developing a sense of place means and what contributes to feeling a sense of belonging? Through experiencing Salem through this lens, we aim to foster your initial sense of place and belonging in the Salem town and Salem State communities. To this end, we will explore the people, places and processes that shape Salem and Salem State. We will explore the social and ecological issues that the people of Salem face. Research suggests that when people have a greater sense of place in a community, they are more empowered to get involved locally. Through local civic engagement comes an even greater sense of purpose and empowerment, circling back to an even greater sense of belonging. Required assignments will require town of Salem trips. Throughout the semester we will take several field trips into town to various places significant to Salem.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Sense of Place and talking story

Today we had Jim come to our class and talk about his experiences in Salem.
I love listening to people who tell their stories. I find so much value in listening.
I learned from listening that Salem had a large Polish population.
I learned that a great bar was the Pig or something like that and it recently closed and was a real travesty and loss to the town.
I was reminded that being open and remembering people and being a good person opens doors throughout life.

Then Kylie came...and as a teacher, I learned that having two speakers back to back is intense and should have been split up into two days. We have so many trips and visitors planned, that I could not figure out when else to have her come, so I went back to back, but i do not think this was the best planning.  I think Kylie was a WEALTH of information about downtown...and downtown planning and about how downtown plays a HUGE ROLE IN SENSE OF PLACE BUILDING.

I also learned about how every town decides what the role of farmer's market is.  In this town she said they have the role of having a market in Salem Market, creating a pipeline for new businesses, and for community members to come together.

I learned a lot about Salem in these little tidbits and makes me even more into what it means to be part of Salem!

I also learned that storytelling is the best.

I also wondered what will help all the students engage and ask questions...and I wondered if they got as much out of this as I did.

I am a fan of travel education and really feel that "TRAVELING" in our current home, is an awesome thing to do, to meet folks and learn about people and the town.

http://www.salemnews.com/archives/jim-mcallister-salem-s-first-heritage-hero/article_50f04df7-e73c-56cf-806e-658443dcfdb9.html

http://salemmainstreets.org/introducing-kylie-sullivan-main-streets-manager/

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)