Why Local Stories Matter: What New Australian Research Says About Place-Based Learning
Every School Has a Story
An Australian colleague recently recommended I read The Dreaming Path By Dr Paul Gordon. This was an enlightening experience. As an educator working in Australia, supporting Australian schools, there has been a steep and exciting learning curve for me and for the Telling Your Stories Project team. The support and encouragement we have received has been humbling and every recommendation is lapped up every time.
We already know that every school has its own unique story. It is found in the land it stands on, the people who established it, the families who helped shape its culture, and the generations of students who have passed through its gates. These stories offer more than just a historical account; they shape a school’s identity, foster a sense of belonging, and strengthen its community. Early on in our Australian journey, I came across the work of Professors Benny Wilson and David Spillman and I’d like to share my reflection on a recent Australian study by David Spillman, Ben Wilson, Monty Nixon and Katharine McKinnon (2023) that explores what happens when learning becomes deeply connected to local place, rather than being confined to the classroom. The research focuses on the pedagogy known as Country as Teacher and its message is relevant to schools across Australia: learning becomes more meaningful when students develop deeper connections with the places and communities around them.The findings highlight the educational value of encouraging students to connect with the places and communities they belong to.
The Place-Based Learning Research
To investigate how place-based learning influenced both teacher and student engagement, researchers worked with 26 teachers across four Australian Capital Territory (ACT) schools. Thirteen of these teachers participated in the study's data collection. Rather than viewing learning as something confined to the classroom, teachers encouraged students to spend time listening to, observing and learning from the places surrounding their schools. This approach is referred to as Country as Teacher.
Being an authentically Australian approach to place-based learning, the researchers describe this approach as a form of “new localism”. They argue that despite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures being considered as a cross-curriculum priority, the Australian Curriculum is still largely shaped by Western ways of thinking. Country as Teacher encourages students to recognise that local environments, histories, and Indigenous knowledge all play an important role in education. Rather than replacing the current curriculum, the authors suggest this approach enriches it by grounding learning in local contexts and lived experience.The researchers argue that Australian education has often become disconnected from local communities through increasing pressure to prioritise standardised outcomes and curriculum coverage. They suggest that reconnecting learning with local places helps students better understand where they belong while strengthening their care for community and environment.
To put this into practice, teachers encouraged students to observe, question and develop relationships with their local environment before building classroom learning from these shared experiences. Curiosity became the starting point for inquiry across many subjects and curriculum areas.
One of the most consistent findings reported by teachers was that students became more engaged, curious and invested in their learning when it centred on places that mattered to them. Even during the disruptions of COVID-19, many teachers found students valued opportunities to connect with local places and reflected positively on the impact these experiences had on their wellbeing. They conclude that Country as Teacher operates as a ‘critical pedagogy of place.’ (Spillman et al., 2023, p. 105).
Three Ways This Research Connects the Telling Your Stories Project
1. Local Stories Help Students Develop a Sense of Belonging
One of the strongest takeaways from this study is that students benefit when they understand the places they belong to.
Several teachers observed that many of their students knew very little about the history or significance of the places surrounding their schools. Before the study, they "didn't know their story of place" (Spillman et al., 2023, p. 109). But once learning centred on local places, students developed greater curiosity, stronger emotional connections, and a deeper sense of responsibility for their environment.
The same principle applies to school history.
When students discover why their school was established, who shaped its culture, and how previous generations contributed to its community, they begin to see themselves as part of an ongoing story. Rather than attending "just another school", they recognise that they belong to something much bigger than themselves.
The Telling Your Stories Project is not about communities or individuals gifting stories to schools.
it is about providing the space and the time to listen, to wait, to wonder. To ask questions like “What happened here and how can I find out?” “Whose voices are missing in this story?” “How can I contribute and become a good ancestor?”
This process helps schools preserve these narratives, so students understand not only where their school has been, but also where they fit within its continuing story.
2. Authentic Stories Create Authentic Learning
The researchers repeatedly describe how student engagement increased when learning became personally meaningful.
Instead of passively receiving information, students asked questions and actively engaged with their learning. They investigated local issues, collaborated with members of the community, and developed their own inquiries. Teachers reported greater curiosity, richer conversations, and stronger emotional investment in learning.
School and community storytelling can create many of these same opportunities.
Students and teachers might:
analyse historical photographs
explore the landscape
investigate significant local events, why do they happen, what is their history
explore how their school has changed over time
connect classroom learning with the wider community.
These activities build literacy, communication, historical inquiry and critical thinking skills because students are exploring stories that genuinely belong to them.
3. Strong Schools Are Built on Strong Communities
Another consistent theme throughout the research is the importance of community relationships.Teachers worked alongside local organisations, Traditional Custodians and community groups, creating learning experiences that extended beyond the classroom. These partnerships strengthened both student learning and community connections.
The Telling Your Stories project is founded on this same idea.Every school history relies on contributions from people across the community whether it be local knowledge holders, former principals, retired teachers, alumni, families, or local historians. The importance of community members who hold pieces of the school's story cannot be overstated.
Bringing these voices together does more than produce a historical record. It strengthens relationships between schools and their communities while ensuring valuable knowledge is preserved for future generations.
What Schools Can Take Away
This research reinforces the idea that schools are much more than places where curriculum is delivered. They are communities which hold their own histories, cultures, and identities.When students understand the stories of the places they belong to, learning becomes more meaningful because it connects directly with their own lives, experiences and sense of identity.
The Telling Your Stories project reflects this philosophy by helping schools preserve their unique histories while creating opportunities for students, staff and communities to engage with those stories.More than simply documenting the past, it creates a living resource that fosters a sense of belonging, strengthens community connections and inspires future generations.
Glossary
Country (capital C): In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, Country refers to far more than land. It includes people, waterways, plants, animals, stories, culture, ancestors and the ongoing relationships between them.
Country as Teacher: An educational approach that encourages students and teachers to learn through respectful relationships with Country and local places.
Place-based learning: Learning that uses the local environment, history and community as the starting point for education.
Pedagogy: The methods and approaches teachers use to support learning.
Inquiry learning: A learning approach where students investigate questions, explore ideas and develop understanding through curiosity and research.
Yarning circle: A respectful conversational practice commonly used in Aboriginal cultures where participants share knowledge, listen carefully and learn from one another.
Traditional Custodians: The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have longstanding cultural responsibility and connection to a particular Country.
New localism: The term used by the researchers to describe an authentically Australian approach to place-based learning that connects students with local places, communities and Indigenous knowledge.
References
Spillman, D., Wilson, B., Nixon, M., & McKinnon, K. (2023). 'New localism' in Australian schools: Country as Teacher as a critical pedagogy of place. Curriculum Perspectives, 43(2), 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-023-00201-2
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