Sense of Place, Identity and the Revisioning of Curriculum

This book explores intersections between sense of place, the formation of identity, indigeneity and colonisation, literature and literary study, the arts, and a revisioned school curriculum for the Anthropocene. Underpinning the book is a conviction that sense of place is central to the fostering of the change of heart required to secure the survival of human life on earth. It offers a coherent overview of seemingly disparate realities on a geographically and historically sprawling canvas.

The book is a work of literary non-fiction, drawing on a range of sources: literary works and criticism, theoretical research, empirical studies and artworks. Of its very nature, the book enacts an extensive cultural critique. After establishing a cross-disciplinary foundation for “sense of place”, the book describes its relationship to identity with reference to such terms as attachment, dispossession, reclamation and representation. It shows how a hopeful narrative for planet stewardship can be developed by the uptake of indigenous and traditional discourses of place. It concludes with the envisioning of a place-conscious curriculum, and ways in which an activist agenda might be pursued in the Anthropocene.

“Terry Locke has written a book that will resonate for many readers internationally. It brings together environmental concerns; issues of identity, place and space; and the role of education in a fast-changing world. All this is imbued with Terry’s customary incisiveness, wit and a literary sensibility that makes Sense of Place an enjoyable as well as instructive read. This book is highly recommended for students, teachers, lecturers and a more general public interested in finding their own place, stability and wellbeing amid current social, climatic and political uncertainties.” — Richard Andrews, Emeritus Professor of Language Education, University of Edinburgh

“An intriguing mixture of memoir, poetry and scholarship, this book opens up the crucial issue of place and its complicated significance in an increasingly vulnerable lifeworld. Bringing together place consciousness, lineage, the arts, activism, and climate change, it asks important questions about where we live and how we live, and demonstrates why it matters, now more than ever, to attend to indigenous wisdoms and knowledges, in revisioning curriculum for a more attuned, integrated and harmonious future.” — Emeritus Professor Bill Green, Charles Sturt University