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ERIC Number: EJ1225027
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Oct
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0037-7724
EISSN: N/A
Whose Place Is This Space? Exploring Place Perceptions and the Cultural Politics of Place through a Field-Based Lesson
Seow, Tricia; Chang, Julian
Social Education, v80 n5 p296-299, 303 Oct 2016
In this article, the authors suggest a project that social studies teachers can do with students, using the location of the school as a starting point to address the inquiry question: "Whose place is this space?" They provide resources, such as a sample case study and worksheets, to conduct a field-based exercise so that students can trace how their perceptions of their school's neighborhood can change through multiple direct and indirect experiences. The field-based exercise also encourages students to think about how their perceptions of a place might differ from other people's, and how and why this may be so. Recognizing that there are differing perceptions of places can help students appreciate how tensions, conflicts and struggles over place can occur. After analyzing how different sources of information may have influenced their (changed) perception of the neighborhood, students can follow through with a decision-making exercise to cultivate a heightened sensitivity to diversity within their social environment. Students can decide on appropriate activities regarding how to challenge negative stereotypes about their neighborhood and the associated occupants or uses of the place. Teachers in the United States can adapt the Singapore case study provided in this article to suit their different contexts, or else use its methods to study their school's neighborhood. This unit allows educators the opportunity to teach their grades 9-12 students how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places.
National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street #500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Singapore
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A