Blog Post #3 Sense of Place

Why does Sense of Place matter and what does it mean to the practice of teaching for there to be multiple senses of place in any one moment and in any one place (i.e., a classroom)?

I remember in 7^th grade when my sense of place changed overnight. I had always enjoyed going to schoo.l It was a chance to hang with friends and scope chicks. But after transferring from a quaint peaceful elementary school, I suddenly found myself in a rough intermediate school. I eventually I started getting bullied and my sense of place really changed. I would get anxiety waiting for the bus to pick me up or as we pulled up to school. I remember there was a point where I really dreaded going to school. It affected the way I interacted with friends and my learning.

I try to keep that in mind when I’m teaching because I have to realize that every student is at a unique point in their life. Although middle school is probably the worst times for most kids, these kid of anxiety situations come up at any age level. Every set of eyes perceives the school and classroom a different way. And surely the way they view that class has a lot to do with the teaching “place” I create, but mostly I think it’s determined by all the other senses of place that Gruenwald speaks about. It’s the perceptual, social, political, ideological, and ecological “places” of their life in and out of school that ultimately determine a comfortable learning space.

First you have the surface level of how much “capital” every student has. At Kalaheo, most kids are financially comfortable so the students with shabbier clothes really stand out. That’s material capital, but there’s also a diverse amount of cultural capital. With the high rate of military students we have a lot of students from all over the country who travel a lot and because of this I feel like the students have a wider perspective of the world. At the same time we have kids who have rarely drive over the Ko’olau’s and so their sense of place is much more “limited” geographically, but maybe much deeper to Ko’olaupoko.

But you can’t judge a book by its cover and even though these surface level factors exist, I would say majority of the factors that make up a student’s “sense of place” come from internal experiences. Most often when a student is acting up in class, there’s something going on at home. School can be a get away from an ugly home-life. Or school could be a dreaded place like it was for me in 7^th grade.

So I have to recognize that there are multiple senses of place happening in every moment of class. I have to cater to those that are engaged in the lesson and enjoying that space. I also have to cater to the unengaged students who maybe aren’t having a negative experience, but disinterested in the topic. Then you have the kids who aren’t even in the same world as you and their thoughts are floating on girls, boys, puberty, what’s for lunch, how big the surf is, how bad their home life is etc…Then there’s more serious things like people who have problems with someone in their class and feel unsafe and uncomfortable; Or students who used to date each other; or students who are about to. All these factors can co-exist at the same time and affect everybody’s willingness and ability to learn.

I think we as teachers have to understand the uniqueness of each kid if we wish to reach them. We can’t ignore the little interactions we have with students that can make or break them. After watching the movie “inside Out” I really connect with the idea of “core memories.” These are memories that stick with you throughout life and can negatively or positively affect your decisions down the road. We as teachers have to try to create positive core memories in our class. We have to be aware of what grading and tests do a student’s sense of place. No matter how excited a student is about the material they’re being taught, when they see that D or F on their grade sheet, it can seriously kill their motivation to strive high. Or when a student raises his hand to ask a question and we as teachers shoot down their ideas or tell them they’re wrong, that student may never raise their hand again.

I have a greater understanding of “sense of place” after reading the powerpoint and readings. I think it has changed my view of “place in my classroom and I want to work to make it a safer more comfortable environment for my students.