Personal Geographies

1. Personal Geographies Sue Bermingham GTE January 2009

2. My PhD proposal • How do trainee geography teachers build upon pupils personal geographies? • This study will focus on trainee teachers of secondary geography following the one year PGCE (M) at the Institute of Education, MMU. 

3. Aims • To investigate how personal geographies are constructed • To investigate whether there are tensions in personal geographies between the pupils (home location) compared to the trainees (work location) • To investigate strategies trainee teachers employ to ‘psychologise’ the personal geographies in the learning environment.

4. Sept 8th 2008 • Day 2 of the PGCE – What makes a good teacher group activity – • Trainees arrive on the course aware that an effective teacher ‘Takes a personal interest in individuals’, this is a great starting point on the journey to being an ‘expert’ geography teacher, Brooks (2007). ‘Expert’ Geography teachers according to Brook’s research: • ｷUse pupils experiences • ｷBuild on pupils’ prior geographical knowledge • ｷUse their own experiences (or stories).

5. Sept 12th 2008 Question Do you think everyone has the same definition of what is geography? • M Yeh everyone has .. has come from different personal geographies if you like have come from different experiences of geography you can ask 100 people a definition of geography and you will get 100 different answers • E I quite often get asked by friends who expect me to know and so what I tell them is well it relates to you, your idea of geography is your experiences so far in life and mine is mine

6. Do you think it is important to make the geography you are teaching very connected to the pupils you are teaching • M the geography your teach yeh If they can see you are making an effort making a proper intrinsic drive to give some connection to the geography you are teaching to them and they feel as though you are passionate it you want to teach it you see this is a serious or important element of geography Ok why is he enthusiastic about it is it related to a job that I may want to get in the future or is it related to some other personal interest I might like

7. Do you think it is important to make the geography you are teaching very connected to the pupils you are teaching • E it could be some form of escape for some pupils they may not want you to relate it to their lives their lives might be like well I don’t want you to know about that is my personal live I don’t want you intruding and you know maybe geography could be a form of escape to escape from their lives be able to go somewhere else in the world and think about someone else and have an idea that maybe their lives wont be like that cos they will take themselves somewhere else either mentally or physically

8. October 5th 2008 • Trainees have completed the first 5 weeks of the PGCE - Induction Phase - including 9 days in schools observing experienced teachers plus peer planning and teaching a minimum of 1 lesson

9. During the Induction Phase in schools have you gained awareness of the personal geographies of pupils? • Trainees adopted different approaches to answering this question, I have categorised their responses into 5 headings: • a. Listing observations • b. Using I … • c. I have been active .. • d. Summarising patterns • e. Cautionary tale

10. Listing observations • Activities observed by trainees included those in which pupils could offer their experiences (where they have visited, where they lived, where their family were from), their views on where they would like to visit, and their views on how the geography studied in the classroom related to their own lives.

11. Using I • Trainees in this category have looked, noticed, thought about, felt, realised and gained greater awareness, (one trainee couched his/her views tentatively ‘I think I have’) in response to the question. They have started to question and enquire further about what personal geographies may mean e.g. ‘thought about who lives there & what life in this area is like’, ‘the modern day classroom is a multi-cultural domain consisting of children from different areas (different geographies)’,

12. ‘they all had different views relating to what they thought geography was’, • ‘the relevance of agriculture being taught to Manchester inner city pupils. Was it more a judgement of the pupils personal geographies?’, • ‘both schools were in pre-dominantly white areas many students were not aware of other cultures/ethnicities’, and ‘all pupils have very different personal geographies relating to race/ethnic background’.

13. I have been active .. • These trainees highlighted the importance of oral geography – talking to, speaking to, conversations with, I said, I asked, to talk. Trainees are aware that in order to gain insights into pupils personal geographies they need to create opportunities to talk with pupils and experienced teachers / mentors.

14. Summarising patterns • These trainees indicated and expressed patterns e.g. ‘lower years were eager to share their backgrounds and quick to give examples how issues from lessons related directly to their own experiences’. • Interesting to note the good practice of other subject areas ‘as English where the pupils were asked to share their experiences and feelings with the class’.

15. Cautionary tale One trainee offered a cautionary voice, and admiration of the teacher who was able to deal with a potentially controversial issue in a sensitive manner. So offering the opportunity for pupils to share their personal geographies and experiences may need greater skills from the novice ITT trainee.

16. October 17th 2008 • Trainees have reflected on their experiences to date and have completed their first assignment - • An exploration of your developing understanding of effective teaching and learning as informed by your University and school based experiences in the Induction Phase.

17. Of the 11 assignments I marked • over 50% (6 out of 11) mentioned either emotional/ly or personal geographies / experiences/ perspectives / lifestyle. Three specifically referred to ‘personal geographies / experiences’. • I used these 11 quotes to create a diamond ranking exercise for the trainees.

18. Diamond Ranking 14th Nov 2008 Teachers need to weave awe and wonder (the new) with existing personal perspectives (the familiar) into lessons and units of work, by offering opportunities to share personal perspectives teachers encourage the active participation of their learners. (SK) • Classrooms need to be emotionally safe learning environments in which learners can take risks and learn from mistakes. (JKP) • Effective teachers are concerned with the personal learning experience of each pupil. (NS)

19. Group Discussion Nov 14 th • HV sharing that during a lesson pupils were willing to share personal geographies e.g. I am homeless, • JH took this to the next level some of the personal experiences pupils had experienced and shared with the trainee teacher you wouldn’t want to share with the class e.g. Sierra Leone atrocities. • AC mentioned the particular context of her school (BNP) means as a teacher you would not want to encourage the sharing of such views.

20. Dec 12th 2008 • I shared with the trainees a possible model of Personal Geographies from their ideas

21. Personal Geographies 1 • - promoted by National Curriculum, observed during Induction. The personal geographies that are encouraged and can easily be facilitated within a lesson

22. Personal Geographies 2 • -excluded / silenced from the classroom by the teacher e.g. BNP

23. Personal Geographies 3 • - shared by pupil to the teacher within a geography lesson - teacher decides not appropriate to widen to class e.g. personal horrific experiences leading to refugee status, mum drinks etc

24. Personal Geographies 4 • - shared by the pupil in a lesson, linked to the geography topic - teacher decides appropriate to share with class with sensitive incorporation e.g. we were homeless

25. Personal Geographies 5 • - unknown to the teacher, pupils do not want sharing, pupils want to escape from own life, to study new information

26. Dec 12th 2008 • Trainees asked to write in under 20 words a definition – • What does the phrase Personal Geographies mean? What are Personal Geographies?

27. 4 categories emerging • Personal Geographies in the classroom: - • A way of looking / viewing the world:- • A way of experiencing / making sense of the world: • A way of behaving:-

28. Personal Geographies in the classroom: - • Personal geographies are the varied life experiences and paths followed by pupils that have brought them to where they are today. RT • Making work relevant to the world students live in. Students bring something to the classroom, include it, involve it in the work. ET

29. A way of looking / viewing the world:- • How people view the world based on their life and existing knowledge. AC • Geographies that are individual. They might consider space, place and identity. PV

30. A way of experiencing / making sense of the world: • Personal geographies relate to the individual experiences of people with the environment around them. AA • Personal geographies: how a person relates their experiences and personal perceptions to geography e.g. life experiences, perception of place etc. SB

31. A way of behaving:- • A person’s behaviour and interactions in and with their own, regularly used spaces, places and times. JH • How we behave in the world based on our culture and personality and how we see things and make decisions. GF

32. January 2009 • Trainee G mentioned that it is easier to incorporate his / the teachers personal geographies into lessons. • I passed this back to the group to discuss what personal geographies their tutor had shared

33. Sue B • Places lived (Sue & family members) • Places worked • Places visited (holidays, recreation & fieldtrips) • Affiliation to Geography groups • Geography interests / passion • Geography published • Geography worn - clothes • Geography artifacts • Geography qualifications

34. Where next? Geography the subject and the person (body) is there a boundary? Ethics - trainee teachers & pupils Is personal information Geography? The silenced personal geographies - whose?