Why This Education Is Better
Place based education is a special thing. It teaches you so many different things that regular school can’t teach you. It gives you surprises, experience, opportunity, and to be honest, a lot more passion and fire. It makes you different, and I know that that is true because I have lived it, and I will prove to you that this form of education, place based education, is life-changing.
When you are out into nature, you learn differently. You truly see things for what they are; you see what is actually there – not some edited, fabricated picture that could be in a textbook. It is really black and white; when you actually are living there at that moment, you are seeing the real deal. You also learn a lot more of things that can help you later on in life, like how to cook, make fire, do so many things that you learn from the many, many different experts you see. It also wouldn’t be the same just skyping with someone because when you go to their home turf, you know exactly what they are talking about, you know what they are feeling, you see examples of what they are dealing with and what is around them, and you can interact (do activities with them, communicate, human to human connection, etc.) It’s just so much better, and enhances the experience x100. It isn’t the same without it.
For example, in the Yukon, we went on a hike at Grizzly Trail to discover the different land forms in the Yukon, and possibly see some wildlife. We hiked up to the peak of the mountain, 3 km up, 3 km down. We saw a beautiful creek, many forms of lichen, different types of trees, and the after-effects of a wind storm. If we watched a video of someone doing the hike, it wouldn’t be the same at all – you wouldn’t feel the burn in your legs, the cool water of the creek, feel the bark on the different trees, see first-hand what lichen really is. Also, you get the satisfaction and memories of climbing to the peak of a mountain! You can’t do that in a video! Satisfaction comes with struggle, struggle comes with adventure, and adventure comes with getting out and experiencing the world around you. That is what place based education has taught me.
Like I said, experience = opportunity. You could just look at a book and see the characteristics, behaviors, and habitats of a fox, but what is the fun in that?! Or…. You could go on an amazing hike, like we did at Miles Canyon, see where the fox lives, what it deals with daily, and actually live in the moment, and experience what is happening. We saw the habitat to a t, actually saw the fox with our own 2 eyes (and a good look at it too!) and experienced what the fox does. How were we to know that it would come 5 feet away from us?! We saw it so close and clear, we would have never been able to really smell the skunk-like scent through a camera. Place based education is sensory based education. After seeing that fox, I have realized that it would have never been the same through a book. What an opportunity. With experiences comes sensory based learning. With sensory based learning comes opportunity.
After hearing that we had a chance to go to the Yukon, I immediately started researching. It wouldn’t have been the same without that research. I mean, research is great! But, why stop there when you could visit the places you have researched? My researched fueled my passion. Do you think I would have been that passionate if we were simply researching the Yukon? Of course not! I am so passionate about the Peel watershed; it wouldn’t make sense to just research it. What good would it do? You create real change by going to the place you are most passionate about, donating, and making a difference there. I am not saying that research is bad – it made me the most passionate – but you always should take the extra step, and go make a difference, because you won’t be changing the world with your bottom on your seat.
Going to the Yukon has changed my life. I have experienced things no grade 8 class has. I have existed in places that most people dare to dream of going. I have helped transform parts of Canada that are in magazines, but it would never have been the same if we just saw it from a screen, or in a book. You cannot capture the feeling you get standing on top of a mountain residing in a watershed you are fighting for with your all your heart from a book. You cannot capture the noise of a million drops of water surrounding your hand in a river from a picture. You cannot capture the musty scent of a close red fox from a video. You cannot capture the feel of jiggly tundra under your feet from a Skype call. It is just impossible. Sensory based learning works. I have experienced it this year and on this trip, and I know that it is real.
Thank you,
Jasmine J
Place based education is a special thing. It teaches you so many different things that regular school can’t teach you. It gives you surprises, experience, opportunity, and to be honest, a lot more passion and fire. It makes you different, and I know that that is true because I have lived it, and I will prove to you that this form of education, place based education, is life-changing.
When you are out into nature, you learn differently. You truly see things for what they are; you see what is actually there – not some edited, fabricated picture that could be in a textbook. It is really black and white; when you actually are living there at that moment, you are seeing the real deal. You also learn a lot more of things that can help you later on in life, like how to cook, make fire, do so many things that you learn from the many, many different experts you see. It also wouldn’t be the same just skyping with someone because when you go to their home turf, you know exactly what they are talking about, you know what they are feeling, you see examples of what they are dealing with and what is around them, and you can interact (do activities with them, communicate, human to human connection, etc.) It’s just so much better, and enhances the experience x100. It isn’t the same without it.
For example, in the Yukon, we went on a hike at Grizzly Trail to discover the different land forms in the Yukon, and possibly see some wildlife. We hiked up to the peak of the mountain, 3 km up, 3 km down. We saw a beautiful creek, many forms of lichen, different types of trees, and the after-effects of a wind storm. If we watched a video of someone doing the hike, it wouldn’t be the same at all – you wouldn’t feel the burn in your legs, the cool water of the creek, feel the bark on the different trees, see first-hand what lichen really is. Also, you get the satisfaction and memories of climbing to the peak of a mountain! You can’t do that in a video! Satisfaction comes with struggle, struggle comes with adventure, and adventure comes with getting out and experiencing the world around you. That is what place based education has taught me.
Like I said, experience = opportunity. You could just look at a book and see the characteristics, behaviors, and habitats of a fox, but what is the fun in that?! Or…. You could go on an amazing hike, like we did at Miles Canyon, see where the fox lives, what it deals with daily, and actually live in the moment, and experience what is happening. We saw the habitat to a t, actually saw the fox with our own 2 eyes (and a good look at it too!) and experienced what the fox does. How were we to know that it would come 5 feet away from us?! We saw it so close and clear, we would have never been able to really smell the skunk-like scent through a camera. Place based education is sensory based education. After seeing that fox, I have realized that it would have never been the same through a book. What an opportunity. With experiences comes sensory based learning. With sensory based learning comes opportunity.
After hearing that we had a chance to go to the Yukon, I immediately started researching. It wouldn’t have been the same without that research. I mean, research is great! But, why stop there when you could visit the places you have researched? My researched fueled my passion. Do you think I would have been that passionate if we were simply researching the Yukon? Of course not! I am so passionate about the Peel watershed; it wouldn’t make sense to just research it. What good would it do? You create real change by going to the place you are most passionate about, donating, and making a difference there. I am not saying that research is bad – it made me the most passionate – but you always should take the extra step, and go make a difference, because you won’t be changing the world with your bottom on your seat.
Going to the Yukon has changed my life. I have experienced things no grade 8 class has. I have existed in places that most people dare to dream of going. I have helped transform parts of Canada that are in magazines, but it would never have been the same if we just saw it from a screen, or in a book. You cannot capture the feeling you get standing on top of a mountain residing in a watershed you are fighting for with your all your heart from a book. You cannot capture the noise of a million drops of water surrounding your hand in a river from a picture. You cannot capture the musty scent of a close red fox from a video. You cannot capture the feel of jiggly tundra under your feet from a Skype call. It is just impossible. Sensory based learning works. I have experienced it this year and on this trip, and I know that it is real.
Thank you,
Jasmine J