Margaret and Joanna examine the Hanna's Town farm pond water source
SPL PROJECT DEVELOPMENT MODEL
What does SPL offer?
- Programs and presentations for children and adults
- Residencies and workshops
- After school programs
- Summer camp programs
- In-service / professional development
- Curriculum development and implementation
- Research, data collection, and analysis
- Community-based service projects
How Does SPL Work?
SPL works collaboratively with partner organizations to identify needs and develop place-based, objective-driven programming. Grant proposals are developed in the following 5-step program development process.
- Exploratory Meetings – Target audience, timeframe, budget, community involvement and other facets of the project are discussed. SPL and organization staff members work collaboratively to identify and refine project goals and objectives. Meetings may include onsite visits and/or informal discussions with target populations to identify areas of interest.
- Proposal Development – SPL develops a project concept, and creates a multidisciplinary model that includes an outline of learning activities in the environmental sciences and the humanities designed to address the organizations’ program needs, goals, and objectives. An itemized budget proposal and implementation schedule are submitted to the partner organization at this time
- Proposal Submission – The proposal is refined with feedback and input from the partner organization and a final version is submitted, along with a signed Sense of Place Learning Professional Services Agreement
- Implementation – Upon the receipt of grant funding the project is initiated according to the agreement
- Evaluation – SPL creates assessment tools designed to measure the achievement of the stated goals and objectives. SPL collects and analyzes data, and provides a final report to the partner organization
Integral Program Components
SPL is dedicated to creating one-of-a-kind programs and projects, deeply rooted in place, and designed to meet the partner organizations’ specific needs, goals, and objective. The following components guide SPL project development.
Interdisciplinary Approach: Place-based education recognizes that there are essential interconnections between stories, traditions, natural environments, and works of art associated with specific locales that facilitate meaningful learning experiences. SPL’s unique integrated learning model departs from the more traditional separation of subject areas and creates programs and materials that guide participants in discovering these vital connections.
STEM Objectives: Educators and policy makers across the country are emphasizing the need for alternative learning techniques in the fields of Science, Technology, the Environment, and Mathematics (STEM). SPL programs address this need through hands-on, place-based studies, providing opportunities to explore careers in STEM disciplines.
Pennsylvania Environmental Education Act, Act 24 of 1993, P.L. 105: SPL creates programs and materials that align with the major legislative provisions of the PAEE Act 24. Specifically, SPL provides a “learning model that uses the Environment as an Integrated Context (EIC) to guide student learning using the school’s natural and community surroundings as a framework for teaching” (PA Department of Environmental Protection, 2009).
Arts and Humanities: High-stakes testing and budgetary constraints are creating an educational environment that devalues the role of arts and humanities in the curriculum. Schools across the country have eliminated or reduced students’ access to the arts and aesthetic experiences, particularly students living in high-poverty neighborhoods where, ironically, the arts have been shown to benefit students the most. In addition, the humanities, including American history, world cultures, and civics, are being squeezed out an increasingly narrow set of subjects taught in public schools. As a result, many students do not have the basic skills and knowledge necessary to function as effective members of a democratic society. SPL is dedicated to providing experiences and resources designed to supplement existing educational programs in these important areas.
Academic Standards: SPL understands and appreciates the importance of aligning with local, state, and national academic standards when developing school programs. Our standards-aligned lessons and materials are designed to enhance critical thinking skills and connect learning across the curriculum to meaningful, hands-on, real-life experiences. SPL provides detailed academic standards matrices to organizations that are developing school-based programs.
Differentiated Instruction: Current research indicates the need for alternative teaching methods that address multiple intelligences and learning styles. A wide range of learning modalities is utilized through SPL’s integrated curriculum and hands-on, discovery-style lessons and activities.
Inquiry and Social Action: SPL programs are inquiry-driven and student-centered. Participants’ areas of interests are carefully evaluated, and direct the development of each project. Participants are encouraged to direct their curiosity, interests, and talents toward actions that will result in a positive, site-specific community impact.
Authentic Assessments and Program Evaluation: Pre-and post-program evaluations are critical in defining program goals and measuring outcomes. In keeping with our constructivist teaching methods, individual participants’ skills and abilities are assessed through demonstration and real-world application of skills and knowledge, as well as focus group discussions and individual interviews. Program evaluations include the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data.
SPL INTEGRATED CONTENT MODEL
SPL Definition of Terms
Ecology is the study of the interactions of living organisms with each other and their environment, including human impact on terrestrial and aquatic systems and habitats.
History is the record of all known human interaction with a specific place, including the details of everyday life; social, political, and economic trends and transitions; the human impact of significant environmental events; and the on-going affects of the past on the constantly changing present.
Heritage includes the values, beliefs, traditions, accounts, folklore, stories, and artifacts produced by individuals, families, and cultural groups, as well as the interactions between various cultural and ethnic groups, within a specific place.
The Arts are the products of the creative expressions of people living in a specific place including literature, visual arts, music, dance, theater, and community public works, such as parks, memorials, and signage. Products include those created for professional venues, as well as those intended for personal and private use.
For SPL purposes, “place” refers to the geographical area being studied. The concept of place may be limited to a single building, a city block, a community or a geographic region; for example, the area affected by a specific river system
