This commentary is by Sarah Montroll, a University of Vermont student who conducted a research project last semester on the Burlington City & Lake Semester.
Students are inside. Each student sits at their desk, spaced 6 feet apart, masks on, facing forward, and works independently. The teacher stands at the front of the room, but from this distance, their presence almost feels irrelevant.
To many, these students are the lucky ones as they are “in-person” instead of attending class from behind a screen at home. All people want is to go back to “normal.” But normal wasn’t working. Teachers work hard to provide content, but many students aren’t learning.
As vaccines roll out and we begin to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel, it is time that we embrace a new approach to education.
Place-based learning puts the learner at the center and provides ways for students to not only engage with the learning process, but to own it. It is interdisciplinary, experiential and prepares students to be active citizens. It honors and welcomes diverse backgrounds, and nurtures a resilient community.
In Burlington, the high school offers an opportunity for a group of students to experience just that.
I had the opportunity to join this group as part of a research project with the University of Vermont. What I saw was a model of education that actively embraced our changing world, rather than ignoring it. This program is called Burlington City & Lake Semester.
It is an immersive program available for interested students at Burlington High School. The program is guided by the mission of “empowering young people as citizens, students and community members through authentic, collaborative, real-world learning experiences in and around the city of Burlington.” Using the city of Burlington as a classroom, students explore themes of community, civic engagement, social justice and sustainability.
This approach to teaching and learning is defined as place-based education. By transcending the boundaries of the classroom walls and examining the environments around them, students have the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills and clarity of purpose.
A student from Burlington City & Lake Semester cohort 5 shared, “I think that it is our generation that will make the biggest difference, but we can’t fight if we don’t know what we are fighting for. BCL gave me hope and power because it made me realize that I can make a change.”
This past year, while implementing the core place-based practices like engaging with real-world problems and partnering with community members, Burlington City & Lake Semester shifted learning outdoors. The transition to outdoor learning wasn’t hard, as the curriculum was already inherently experiential, allowing for a meaningful learning experience to now be Covid-safe.
Burlington City & Lake Semester’s Covid-inspired transition to outdoor learning isn’t just making the best out of a bad situation. It is about using the situation to make the learning better. This something all schools must do.
Across the globe, educators are being forced to modify teaching methods and even reinvent their courses. In this period of transition, let’s not go back to what school was like before. Instead, we must embrace the opportunity to enhance the education system for students and provide them with the skills necessary to live and flourish in our changing world.
