Evergreen Brick Works. Photo by Geoff Fitzgerald. If you want to take your students outdoors while teaching a combination of history, heritage, science and art, Evergreen Brick Works is one of the best places to visit in Toronto!
Field Study
It's been almost a year since I moved to Toronto but I should say
that I’m still in the process of exploring this wonderful, vibrant city. Whenever I discover new places here, I always get excited especially if it’s something unexpected. That’s why I was amazed that Toronto—which I thought is mostly
comprised of tall buildings, busy streets and some green spaces here and there—has this
huge city park called Evergreen Brick Works. Apparently, it is recognized globally as an innovative public space with restored structures, naturalized ponds, recreational trails, sustainable
garden market and eco-store, among others. (I should do a better research about things to do in Toronto next time!)
It was last May 24 when our cohort from the Master of Teaching
program went to Evergreen Brick Works as part of our Social Studies course with
Dr. Rose Fine-Meyer. During our walking tour, we learned that this place, which
is also called Don Valley Brick Works, used to be a former quarry and
industrial site that supplied bricks for constructing famous landmarks in Toronto. When the brick factory closed
in 1980’s, this site was forgotten, resulting to deteriorating structures and collapsing
environment. Thankfully, after almost
ten years, this place has been restored and revitalized and is now a public
space that demonstrates urban sustainability.
Here are some of the photos from our morning trip:
During our walking tour, we were asked to sketch the things that we found interesting, and then label them according to the categories we chose (history, art, science, nature, revitalization, heritage, etc.). You may wonder, why bother sketching if you can just take photos? It's true that using a camera is a lot easier and that photos provide you with a better view of what something actually looks like. But after sketching a number of times during the past field studies we've done for this class, I realized that this actually helped me to remember and appreciate the experiences I had. When you draw something, you pause for a moment and connect with what you see while taking the time to carefully observe it. Because of this, the experience can be more meaningful. So maybe next time you go to a certain place, why not try and stop for a while to draw the things you see? Remember that it doesn't have to be a perfect sketch because it's just between you and your experience! (Now I'm thinking, maybe this can also be a good mindfulness practice.)
Place-based Education
As an international student who's new to Canada, I know that it may be challenging to teach history that I’m not familiar with. I appreciate how Dr. Fine-Meyer stressed out in her article that engaging in place-based history will surely help new teachers like me in a sense that while students delve into research-based projects about their past, I will also have the opportunity to collaborate with them in developing new perspectives and learnings at the same time. In this approach, not only students but also teachers—international or local ones—will gain a better understanding and appreciation of themselves as members of local communities.
Resources
Fine-Meyer, R. (2014) Engendering Power and Legitimation: Giving Teachers the Tools to Claim a Place for History Education in their Schools. In R. Sandwell and A.von Heyking, eds., Becoming a History Teacher in Canada: Sustaining Practices in Historical Thinking. Toronto: U of T Press.
Pedretti, E. (2006). Informal science education: Critical conversations and new directions. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education, 6(1), 1-4.
Sobel, D. (2004) Place-based education: connecting classroom and community (2nd ed.). Great Barrington, MA: The Orion Society.
Skoutajan, S. (2012). Defending place-based education. Green Teacher, (97), 34-36.
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| Toronto's Waterways. A living map of the rivers, creeks and ravines in the city. |
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| Evergreen Brick Works' medicinal garden which has indigenous plants like sage, sweet grass, tobacco and cedar. |
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| Redeveloping the historic kiln building while ensuring that the traditional features and artifacts are preserved. |
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| The "Citizen Science" corner which allows the community to gather field data from the natural world. |
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| From this location, you can see the 3 main habitats of the park: ponds, meadow and the forest at the top of the slopes. |
If you want to plan your visit this summer (or any season because they're open all year long!), click here to view their website. If you're a teacher and is planning to take your students in this city park, make sure to look at their resources online as they have a lot of awesome lesson plans that you can use before, during and after your field trip to Evergreen Brick Works!
Place-based Education
Going on field trips—whether it involves exploring local museums, visiting
botanical gardens, or hiking through historical trails—is a common experience
for students at any school level. There
is no doubt that students learn something new when they go to these informal
education settings which are outside the traditional, formal schooling context.
The importance of teaching place-based history has been highly emphasized
by a number of experts:
- Sobel (2004) explained that through place-based history, students can make meaningful and emotional connections as they learn about their past. He mentioned two principles that teachers should take into consideration when using this approach: (1) maximizing ownership through partnerships, which means collaborating with local community organizations like historical societies, government departments, and environmental centers; and (2) engaging students in real-world projects in the local environment and community which includes activities such as tree-planting, recycling or helping others outside the school where they can make actual contributions.
- Skoutajan (2012) highlighted that place-based education improves overall student achievement on government-mandated standards which demonstrates the value of using communities to help engage students to “become the innovators that can tackle the challenges of the future.”
- Fine-Meyer (2014) argued that while it is true that multicultural understanding and international relationships are necessary to thrive in today’s world, globalization can also make people lose their sense of place to an extent. It is therefore the role of the teachers to actively engage their students in local history and provide them opportunities to acknowledge and appreciate the land where they live and the community which they belong.
- Pedretti (2006) pointed out the fact that having place-based field experience contributes to students’ development of scientific and historical knowledge and increases their performance and belief in their own abilities.
As an international student who's new to Canada, I know that it may be challenging to teach history that I’m not familiar with. I appreciate how Dr. Fine-Meyer stressed out in her article that engaging in place-based history will surely help new teachers like me in a sense that while students delve into research-based projects about their past, I will also have the opportunity to collaborate with them in developing new perspectives and learnings at the same time. In this approach, not only students but also teachers—international or local ones—will gain a better understanding and appreciation of themselves as members of local communities.
Resources
Fine-Meyer, R. (2014) Engendering Power and Legitimation: Giving Teachers the Tools to Claim a Place for History Education in their Schools. In R. Sandwell and A.von Heyking, eds., Becoming a History Teacher in Canada: Sustaining Practices in Historical Thinking. Toronto: U of T Press.
Pedretti, E. (2006). Informal science education: Critical conversations and new directions. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education, 6(1), 1-4.
Sobel, D. (2004) Place-based education: connecting classroom and community (2nd ed.). Great Barrington, MA: The Orion Society.
Skoutajan, S. (2012). Defending place-based education. Green Teacher, (97), 34-36.
