At the beginning of the twenty-first century, policymakers are promoting globalization and a strong global economy. Schools are urged to adopt “world-class” standards and to produce graduates who will maintain the status of the United States as an economic leader. Where does a love of place fit into this picture? Should schools teach for an understanding and love of place or should they now offer curricula designed to transcend place? Is there a way to avoid the dichotomy built into these questions?

We'll start this chapter with a brief discussion of love of place and how that love has so often contributed to human happiness. Then we'll move to a more general level and explore the human connection to nature. Finally, we'll consider how schools might balance the tasks of preparing students for a global economy and of promoting the love and care of place that figure so importantly in human flourishing.

Love of Place

Many of us associate home more with a geographical region or community than with a house. Love of place is a theme that runs through fiction, poetry, and biography. John Adams, for example, had a lifelong love of Braintree and the Massachusetts coast where he was born. His biographer, David McCullough, writes: