Micki Evans

Micki Evans is a writer and education consultant who focuses on transformative liberatory teaching practices. She is the co-founder of the learning organization and consultancy, PBL Path. Micki provides quality professional development focused on place-based learning, project-based learning, culturally-responsive teaching strategies, performance assessment and supporting schools in forging authentic community partnerships. Micki’s work is inspired, in part, by her own early learning experiences. After being expelled from two high schools, Micki ended up at an alternative school where the teachers engaged students in place-based learning projects. The community became her classroom, projects were grounded in the unique environmental, cultural, sociopolitical, economic, and historical context of the place where she grew up. Suddenly learning became relevant and authentic. She graduated from high school to become a teacher using place-based learning as her pedagogy of choice. She believes place-based learning is a powerful tool that promotes educational equity by connecting students to place and community, encouraging them to find their voice and express their identity in beautiful ways. Place-based learning is a culturally responsive pedagogy that is transdisciplinary, cross cultural, and intergenerational. Micki is a member of the National Faculty for PBLWorks (The Buck Institute for Education), providing professional development to educators throughout the United States. In addition, she has consulted with schools in China, Australia, Guatemala, Russia, and the United Kingdom in adopting pedagogical practices that utilize place-based and project-based learning. She has worked with organizations such as i2Learning, Center for Native Education, Coalition of Essential Schools, EdVisions, New Horizons for Learning, and Greenpeace International and was a place-based learning coach for the Suquamish Tribe. In this role she facilitated the development of an early college high school with an emphasis on creating college courses that emphasized place-based learning, ways of knowing, and decolonized teaching practices in collaboration with Olympic Community College. In addition, she facilitated ongoing professional development for Arizona State University faculty and leaders and partner high school teachers in the implementation of project-based integrated coursework for incoming Freshmen and Sophomores who were first in their family to attend college. Micki is the author of Chrysalis: Nurturing Creative and Independent Thought in Children, co-author of Our Only Earth Series, Picturing the Possibilities—What Powerful Teaching and Learning Looks Like video series and Teacher Support Materials and No Time to Waste—A Student Guide to Environmental Action. Micki holds a Bachelor of Arts in education and psychology from the University of Washington and a K–12 teaching certificate and a Master of Arts in educational systems design in curriculum and instruction from Antioch University Seattle. She currently lives north of Seattle, Washington.