Teachers are increasingly challenged to make school more relevant for students marginalized by poverty and limited opportunities. Place-based instruction offers hope to teachers and students, particularly those in rural areas, for bridging the divide between home and school. A Place to Learn provides an overview of place-based pedagogy and introduces a framework for implementing a critical pedagogy of place for literacy instruction.

Paulo Freire argued that education is political and that literacy instruction either liberates or oppresses - that to be literate requires a great deal more than simply reading and writing. Indeed, literacy instruction (as Dewey suggested) should begin with what students know best, home, and extend from there into the world. A Place to Learn takes these principles - the power of language and the importance of home - and contextualizes them for educators. This is a valuable work that tightens the connection between research and the classroom and provides practical and specific strategies for putting theory into practice.