At Presidio Graduate School (PGS), students and professors continuously seek new ways to transcend the boundaries of a traditional classroom. Professor Brett Wiley’s Planning, Policy, and Economic Development class (PPSED) took this approach when they traveled to Healdsburg, California, for a field trip in Spring 2024.
While field trips may seem like a rare occurrence, this experience was a deliberate choice to enhance experiential learning and develop a deeper sense of place in this new geographic region PGS now calls home. Presidio has recently merged with the University of Redlands and is now located on the University’s Marin Campus.
Experiential learning, which involves hands-on experiences coupled with reflection, is a key pillar of Presidio’s curriculum. To fully engage his class in this process, Professor Wiley considered his students’ learning styles and identified over two-thirds of the class as kinesthetic learners. Utilizing these learning styles was another inspiration for the field trip, cultivating a more holistic and inclusive approach to education, especially for PGS’s hybrid learning model.
Central to the field trip was meeting Jim Heid, the author of “Building Small,” one of PPSED’s primary texts that discusses the movement towards small-scale development projects. Meeting Heid and visiting the RiverHouse development bridged the gap between theory and practice, allowing students to observe the building-small mindset in real time. Heid’s discussion on planning commissions and their role in shaping communities sparked a broad acknowledgment amongst students, further connecting the class to their surroundings and inspiring students to see the world through a new lens.
Through interactions with industry leaders like Heid, Professor Wiley’s class gained invaluable insights into sustainable economic development. These real-world experiences exemplify how PGS fosters community and a sense of belonging, empowering learners to challenge traditional classroom norms and ask tough questions. This approach also enhances students’ understanding and prepares them to become thoughtful leaders in their careers.
