The Importance of Place-Based Education

by Jeff Snyder

My family and I are new Albuquerque residents, and like many transplants, we were drawn to the area’s natural beauty, rich cultural history, and varied opportunities for outdoor recreation. Most importantly, we moved here inspired by Bosque School, La Luz’s neighbor to the north, where I now serve as Middle School Division Head and our daughter attends as a tenth grader. 

Bosque is a private school with a public purpose, uniquely positioned geographically and pedagogically, and when I reflect on what I have come to value most about our school community, three core ideas resonate. We are a school that prioritizes helping students discover and become the best version of themselves, empowering them to lead lives of intellectual curiosity, personal integrity, and compassionate contribution. We are a school where our staffulty (a term we use to emphasize the fact that every employee’s contribution to the school ultimately impacts student learning and success) are kind and caring human beings first, and experts in their fields second. We are a school founded on the importance of meaningful and relevant learning opportunities across all disciplines that are inquiry-based and grounded in place, including the bosque and Rio Grande in our backyard, as well as the larger Albuquerque and New Mexico communities. 

This last notion of place-based learning stands as one of the school’s four core values, articulated in the following statement: 

We are a community of learners rooted in the ancestral homelands of Puebloan peoples in the Rio Grande bosque. The complex cultural and ecological story of the bosque offers an extraordinary extension of our classrooms and serves as a call to action to care for the environment as a whole.” 

The throughline of place runs through so many aspects of our curricular approach, and though there is not enough room to mention them all, I have highlighted a few below. 

Bosque School sixth graders participate regularly in UNM’s Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP), where they spend time not only learning about the bosque and the Rio Grande, but also actively gathering data for UNM and other land management agencies on groundwater, precipitation, and foliage litter fall. 

Bosque School seventh-grade students not only study the challenges and cultural triumphs of the New Mexico Pueblos and Indigenous Nations, but they also visit Acoma Pueblo and conduct individual research, producing a children’s book which focuses on one of the regional Pueblos or Indigenous Nations. These books creatively demonstrate an understanding of tribal governments and the mutual respect that exists between each Pueblo’s individual sovereignty. Additionally, they research the unique celebrations and traditions of each Pueblo as well as the current representatives and services provided for community members. 

The Bosque Upper School Art Alchemy class collects natural materials from the bosque and other local outdoor spaces to make charcoal and other pigments for multiple art mediums. 

Through our vibrant outdoor program, students spend time in the Jemez and Pecos Wilderness Areas, backpacking, camping, and studying ecological aspects of these areas. 

Extending from the BEMP experience, within the Field and Community Science Program, our upper school students tag and track porcupine movements and behavioral patterns along with other field science work, and they frequently use this hands-on learning to host local elementary students, teaching them important science-based skills by truly “doing” science. 

As Bosque School continues to explore partnerships within the larger community to provide more robust opportunities for place-based learning, we are excited about our recent connection to longtime La Luz resident, Dr. Anne Taylor, whose work in architectural education is inspiring. After our initial conversations with Anne and her team, we look forward to carrying on the legacy Dr. Taylor has established with the School Zone Institute, an integrated educational approach to guiding students to learn about the intersections that exist between built, natural, and cultural environments. Dr. Taylor’s program and its key elements align well with the work we are already accomplishing within our growing Integrated Applied Design program, which has touchpoints across all grade levels. As our partnership with SZI continues to grow, we also look forward to a greater connection with the La Luz community so that our students might connect more deeply with the history, architecture, and cultural significance of our next-door neighbors. 

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 The View: Volume 1, Issue 1

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about the author:

Jeff Snyder is the Middle School Division Head at Bosque School. His career in education spans more than two decades in both public and independent schools where he has taught fifth grade through twelfth grade. He has spent the last nine years in senior leadership roles, including Middle School Division Head and Assistant Head of School.