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Putting the Geography back into Geography Education

Putting the Geography back into Geography Education. David Lambert. An enduring issue. “Long standing tensions between geographers and geographical educationists about the balance of: subject content educational processes social purposes (‘good causes’)”. Ten years on ….

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Putting the Geography back into Geography Education

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  1. Putting the Geography back into Geography Education David Lambert

  2. An enduring issue “Long standing tensions between geographers and geographical educationists about the balance of: subject content educational processes social purposes (‘good causes’)”

  3. Ten years on … Marsden, B. (1997) ‘On taking the geography out of geographical education’, Geography, 82, 3, p 241-252

  4. 1. Geographical Content “defined not as a collection of facts but as the state of the art conceptual frameworks of the subject” [p 242]

  5. Geographical Content What are the ‘central and cherished aspects of geographical education’ (Haggett 1996)? Landscape, Place, Spatial conundrums Sensitivity to place connections at a variety of scales

  6. Geographical Content Or, according to Allen and Massey (1995): ‘We live in local versions of the world and in so doing we have to locate ourselves within a wider global context. We only understand the changes taking lace in our own backyard when we begin to understand how changes taking place elsewhere affect our world’ (p1)

  7. Geographical Content(2007) Place Space Scale Interdependence Environmental Interaction Physical and Human processes Cultural Understanding and Diversity

  8. G

  9. Doreen Massey on ‘inadequate geography’Teen spacesMyWalkGhana diasporaEuropean expansion - borders and boundariesOS and geographical information G

  10. 2. Educational Processes Response to the over-dominance of ‘content’ in the ‘old grammar school tradition’ “… the excessive influence of the subject.” “… the geography teacher should be a teacher first, and a geographer second.” [p245]

  11. Educational Processes Child centredness Integrated studies ‘… taking the ge- out of geography’ (Wooldridge 1949) Transferable skills Thinking skills Pedagogy Assessment

  12. Educational Processes “In general, educational theorists strongly favoured integration, dismissing subject-based syllabuses as mere social constructions and/or historical accidents.” [p 247]

  13. Educational Processes “From the 1970s, there was evidence also of erosion of a distinctive geographical input from within. … … being a geographer was not enough …” [p247]

  14. Educational Processes The rise of ‘relevance’ and ‘issues’ (eg GYSL) and the rise of ‘process’ : “Cartoons became more evident than cartography, and sound bite talking heads were granted more space than photographs of real-world landscapes.” [p 248]

  15. When ‘pedagogical adventures’ dominate, geography can lack: coherence purpose particular perspectiveWe lose track of how to communicate the value of a “distinctively geographical approach” [p249] G

  16. 3. Social Purposes(‘Good Causes’) Religious instruction 19th Century (Geikie) Gg, Hi and Eng Lit – the Empire Group of subjects early 20th Century (Mackinder and Fairgrieve) Utilitarian and informational – “and nationalistic in its social purposes” [p 248] late 20th Century (National Curriculum)

  17. Social Purposes(‘Good Causes’) “good causes tend to generate inculcation and indoctrination rather than genuine education” [p 244]

  18. Social Purposes(‘Good Causes’) Some contemporary (potential) ‘good causes’: Citizenship (incorporating ‘Britishness’) Sustainable Development (incorporating climate change) Global dimension (incorporating the ‘war on poverty’)

  19. When ‘teaching geography for a better world’ (however this is configured) dominates, polemics can replace constructive argument… “… a debilitating anti-intellectualism (distracting) the attention of geographical educationists away from … geography” [p 249] G

  20. Taking stock

  21. Taking stock (1) The significance of ‘curriculum thinking’ from the 1970s, “between geography in the classroom and geography as a university subject there was a burgeoning curriculum theory” [p 247]

  22. Taking stock (1) The significance of ‘curriculum theory’ The place of geography in the curriculum was now contested Strengthened arguments for more ‘integration’ But also, tightened curriculum planning in geography

  23. Taking stock (1) The significance of the 2007 QCA ‘big picture’ Putting right perceived inadequacies of the National Curriculum (eg over-prescription) Emphasising curriculum thinking (eg aims) Re-engaging the subject resources (eg teachers as ‘curriculum makers’)

  24. Taking stock (2) Agenda for the future for geographers for geography educationists for teachers

  25. Taking stock (2) Geography educationists arguably, are the key grouping: 1. Demonstrating and advocating balance between - Subject content - Educational process - Social purposes 2. Encouraging productive ‘curriculum making’ by teachers

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