We truly believe place-based education will take different formats in each unique location where it is practiced. Recently, part of our Professional Learning team worked with school partners and educators in Bhutan to further place-based education practices there. Some of the unique ways that we saw place-based education being practiced by schools included:
- The Pangserpo Primary School in rural Dagana, Bhutan conducted a “Human, Art, Culture, and Economy – Place-Based Education Exhibition” to showcase projects the students there had worked on. With teacher and community support, students pickled bamboo shoots to sell, wove sit mats and baskets out of recycled materials, and made pencils out of reused paper. These items were available for the community to purchase and then for the teachers who were a part of our place-based education workshop at the school to purchase too.
- The Tendruk Central School in Samtse, Bhutan uses design thinking as a part of their place-based approach. Students use design thinking to help address challenges and opportunities that they are facing as a part of their daily lives – like refrigeration and visualizing nearby natural resources. Integrating design thinking as a part of place-based education has allowed students to develop greater excitement in science and also to practice creativity, empathy, and collaboration.
- The My Gadikh Village School in Punakha, Bhutan recently completed a project on cultural heritage, natural dyes, and textiles in partnership with the Green Weaving Centre. Over the course of several weeks, students and teachers collected nettle plants, processed the nettle into yarn, engaged in a workshop on natural dyeing, and then collected their own local materials for dyes near the school. The write-up and photos of the projects are included here.
These three schools are each implementing place-based education in ways that are unique to their community and preserving parts of the culture, economy, and/ or ecology of their places. The teams at each of these schools also set goals and made plans for what place-based education will look like in the upcoming school year; the school year in Bhutan follows more of the calendar year than in the USA and runs from February through December.
At Teton Science Schools, we are continually learning from our partners around the world about the diverse ways place-based education takes shape in different communities. These partnerships are rooted in reciprocity, as we exchange insights, experiences, and ideas that enrich our collective understanding and practice.
During 2025, Teton Science Schools’ Place-Based Education Fellow Tristan Moehs will be living in Bhutan and working with our school partners there. Tristan served as an AmeriCorps member with TSS in the summer 2024, and his experiences with place-based education and studying abroad in Bhutan led him to want to return. Tristan is keeping his own blog for the year, and you can follow along on his learnings and experiences here – https://seasonsmelting.substack.com?r=4zeyuj&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile
