Cultivating Learning Interest and Caring for the Community — A Practical Case Sharing on Applying Place-based Education in Moral and Affective Education (STEAM and Chinese Language) in an Inclusive Classroom

Overview

To cultivate students' awareness of caring for the community, the speaker implemented place-based education in the inclusive secondary classroom. Students explored and solved local community problems (river pollution, congregation of wild pigeons) through the ‘Inquiry and Practice’ model. The speaker introduced diversified teaching activities (micro-writing, reading newspapers, reading science articles, debating, watching short films, field trips, designing models, making models, etc.) to develop students' spirit of caring for the community, enhance their community participation, and strengthen their sense of belonging to the community. The following results have been achieved:
1. Place-based education emphasises the unity of knowledge and action. After exploring problems, students could use their creativity to practice what they have learned and solve problems in a ‘hands-on’ way. Students of different abilities could also enhance their interests and deepen their learning; and
2. Place-based education constructs a specific learning situation and context for the students of the inclusive classroom, making it easier for them to understand the meaning and value of what they have learned;
3. Place-based education also provides students with multiple ways to demonstrate their learning outcomes, allowing them to build success.