Our Approach
Place Corps’ methodology draws on a range of progressive education models with the goal of developing and expanding the capabilities of grounded, heart-led leaders.
The Place Corps curriculum revolves around knowing, loving, to serving with movements of joy while attending to:
MISSION DRIVEN LEADERSHIP + ENTREPRENEURSHIP
At its core, learning at Place Corps is progressive and we describe it as:
Experiential
Place Corps approaches learning through doing by living, working, building, and growing developed from pedagogy rooted in progressive education with lineage from John Dewey, bell hooks, Wendell Berry, Paolo Freire, and others. Classrooms are the local environment, including: the home, the outdoors, farms, and urban centers. The experience of learning is intentionally cultivated to be place-based with a core focus on understanding our individual and collective relationships to place.
Interdisciplinary
A core theme at Place Corps is cross-pollination for new creative approaches and the mutual enrichment of traditionally siloed disciplines. Place Corps exposes participants to a variety of methods and frameworks. Place Corps does not subscribe to a right answer, or one right way to do things; instead, Place Corps invites curious minds to make sense and meaning of the world together.
Academic
In addition to the experiential elements of the Place Corps programming, participants engage in academic work that we will refer to as “homework” including: research, reading, and reflective writing. Critical inquiry into the scholarship related to areas of study is expected during the program.
Emergent
We refer to the definition of emergence as “the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. It is a system that makes use of everything in the iterative process” (Brown, Emergent Strategy). The foundation of the program is designed to grow organically, be connected, and adapt to change.
Responsive
Drawing on lineages of regenerative design, we engage in a circular and whole systems process of developing goals, testing, iterating, and reflecting in order to be responsive to emerging dynamics as they arise.
Self-Directed & Inquiry Based
Place Corps curriculum is dedicated to creating space for participants to develop discipline by directing their own learning guided by personal inquiry. Participants are given the opportunity to pursue independent research to develop a library of resources, tools, skills, and theories.
Place Corps supports independent work by providing resources and guidance, such as:
Regular support and check-ins with mentors and leadership
Guidance as needed from educators, program teams, and affiliates
Support at the end of the year with a Practicum supervisor
Collaborative
Learning to work across differences is an essential element of collaboration at Place Corps. Participants are asked to engage in collaborative work with other residents, which can include building intentional group processes, shared leadership, shared projects, and decision-making practices.
Cooperative
Place Corps staff steward the direction of the program for residents. The spirit of cooperation grounds many activities of the program; service, devotion, and partnership describe the ways in which participation at Place Corps comes from a place of trust and intention.
Rigor & Praxis
Learning at Place Corps is holistic and not contained exclusively to workshops or classroom settings. It extends to areas of living that are often considered the domestic or private sphere. Place Corps intentionally designs opportunity for praxis by asking participants to apply, practice, and test theories in action— in real time, and with real results. It is not possible to extricate oneself from the curriculum throughout the year as it is a curriculum of learning to be in harmonious relationships with self, each other, and the earth at all times.
Learning definitions Developed in collaboration with Martha Snow, 2020 Fellow