Category: place-based learning

This book, written by and for educators, sets out to counter the narrow ‘bubble’ that a white and feminized profession of youth educators can reinforce. While this bubble may be aimed at protecting young children from worldly perspectives, the book outlines how it also reinforces biases, hegemonies, and neoliberal human capital perspectives. Instead, this text…

This article examines the evolving understanding and implementation of blended learning in geography and related disciplines in Australia and New Zealand. It proposes a preliminary framework for place-based blended learning that responds to changing student and instructor needs, as well as digital transformations in teaching and learning, while fostering a sense of belonging and connection…

This theoretical article approaches migration experiences by looking for and at spaces of belonging, rather than harm, wherein connection, sustenance, and recognition offer possibility to immigrant youth in migration. It details how such spaces can be constructed at the relational, community, and national level, with focus on how physical, legal, political, and cultural geographies and…

This study examined the impact of first-generation status, living in a living-learning community (LLC), and campus club involvement on the sense of belonging among first-year college students in their first semester. The results showed that campus club involvement was a significant predictor of sense of belonging on all four subscales. Students who were more involved…

This study addresses the reality that in spite of the increase in studies on belonging and early childhood since the early 2000s, few involve young children’s voices or contributions. The paper overviews the literature on the study of belonging with young children, focusing on early education settings. It highlights studies that have found that Othering and teacher…

Drawing on a range of research project by the authors, across the field of Youth Studies, this book explores the ‘turn’ to belonging within that field and considers how ideas about belonging intersect with concepts of transitions, participation, citizenship, and mobilities within a transnational, global world. The association of cosmopolitan and entrepreneurial aspirations with creative…

The study examined the impact of a place-based learning community on first-year STEM students’ sense of belonging, academic performance, and persistence. Using a quasi-experimental design, the researchers found that participants in the place-based learning community had a stronger sense of belonging, improved academic performance in gateway courses, and increased first-year persistence compared to a matched…

This edited collection offers a broad set of perspectives on the forces that shape the self-stated “anxious politics” of belonging in the contemporary globalized world. The chapters, which come from authors around the world, explore how these forces are felt in particularly ways by young people. The book asserts that while in youth studies, belonging…

Guided by several theoretical approaches to student success, this study tested cognitive and non-cognitive variables including a set of background, financial, and psychosocial factors. Regression analysis revealed five foci that predicted Latinx student’s sense of belonging at a Hispanic Serving Institution. These included (1) finances/financial aid, (2) psychosocial experiences, (3) racial attitudes and beliefs, (4)…

The article describes the design, implementation, and initial assessment of a place-based learning community called Klamath Connection at a US state university. The program aimed to improve the academic performance and retention of first-time STEM majors, many of whom come from distant urban areas and underrepresented backgrounds. The Klamath Connection integrated four high-impact practices –…