ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the initial findings of comparative research examining place-based learning. It describes one aspect: the extent to which the structure of the education systems and the contexts in which they operate shape the relationship between schools and communities and place-based learning approaches. Place-based learning is a broad movement, often understood in different ways by a growing number of academic disciplines and practitioners interested in the relationship between place, community and culture. The chapter explores similarities and differences in approaches and practices in place-based learning in the county of Nordland in Norway, four council areas within the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and six counties in the United States state of Alabama. Place-based learning is treated in principle as part of the local curriculum. Sschools and pre-schools have been expected to work with their local councils at municipal and county levels in enabling children to be better connected with 'real-life' issues.
