Rim Country Land Institute

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Education

(Educate, derived from the latin word educere, derived from e-, out + ducere; to lead, draw, or bring) [Webster's New World Dictionary]

RCLI is committed to a Critical Pedagogy of Place, an educational perspective described by David Gruenewald, which represents a synthesis of “critical pedagogy” and “place-based education”. [Educational Researcher, Vol 32, No.4, pp 3-12]

Such a synthesis recognizes the need to both transform and change with time and also to conserve, foster and protect those values and systems, which most allow the whole earth community to thrive. These concepts are linked to holistic wealth , which flows from values associated with one's sense of place .

RCLI programs will incorporate the following characteristics, noted as fundamental to ecological place-based education by Woodhouse and Knapp as follows:

It emerges from the particular attributes of place.

It is inherently multidisciplinary.

It is inherently experiential.

It is reflective of an educational philosophy that is broader than “learning to earn”.

It connects place with self and community.
[Woodhouse,J., & Knapp, C. (2000). Place-based curriculum and instruction. (ERIC Document Reporduction Service No. EDO-RC-00-6.]

RCLI programs will also incorporate the goals of critical pedagogy, which encourage participants to develop critical awareness of the culture in which they are immersed in order to promote the flow of creativity and imagination so necessary for fruitful change and growth. The contribution of critical pedagogy to the work of RCLI is further noted in the description of such pedagogy by Burbules and Berk as:
"an effort to work within educational institutions and other media to raise questions about inequalities of power, about the false myths of opportunity and merit for many students, and about the way belief systems become internalized to the point where individuals and groups abandon the very aspiration to question or change their lot in life. "
[Burbules, N. & Berk, R. (1999). Critical thinkig and critical pedagogy: Relations, differences and limits. In T. Popkewitz & L. Fendler (Eds.), Critical theories in education. New Yourk: Routledge]

RCLI sees this synthesis of the modes of Critical Pedagogy and Ecological Place-based Education as an ongoing project and as a powerful means to enhance connections between people and land and between people and each other. We expect our course work to be truly educational in leading, drawing and bringing participants and others toward a more fulfilling Whole Earth Community.