Place, identity, and adaptation: conceptual insights from elementary science education initiatives in rural Hawaiʻi, Maine, and Montana

Abstract

Rural elementary science education presents a wide array of opportunities to provide connection between classroom learning and lived experiences. While existing curricula support teachers in connecting NGSS-aligned scientific sensemaking to the cultural, ecological, and political dimensions of the communities they serve, few frameworks integrate authentic rural educator perspectives and experiences. These challenges are coupled with a changing energy landscape and a need to prepare teachers for a more sustainable future. In this paper, we show how an innovative multi-year professional learning (PL) program developed by a cross-institutional team can build rural elementary educators’ capacity to adapt national science curriculum to locally significant phenomena. Our PL model scaffolds teachers progressively from supported curriculum adaptation to original place-based unit design over three years. Drawing on comparative implementation across three distinct rural contexts, Hawaiʻi, Maine and Montana, we articulate four interdependent design principles for place-conscious PL: supporting educators as place-based facilitators, centering student and community place connections, framing scientific sensemaking as a tool for investigating locally significant phenomena, and fostering dynamic rural identity. We discuss practical implications for educators, administrators, and PL designers seeking to adapt this model, and identify contextual constraints and future directions for researchers. Overall, through supporting educator reflection and professional growth, and investing in sustained collaborative learning, teachers can develop the place-pedagogical expertise to help young people in rural areas connect to place, honor who they are and where they come from, and build genuine capacity for the future ahead.