School geography, the Geographical Association (GA) and policy making

in England (2009-2014)

David Lambert

1. The 2009 manifesto A Different View (2009-10)

2. The ‘geography curriculum consultation’ (2011-12)

• Policy context• Purposes• Content• Audience

3. Towards the 2014 national curriculum (2012-14)

• Principles• Issues• Possibilities

Mick Waters (2010)

“A school shouldn’t start with curriculum content. It should start with designing a learning experience and then check it has met national curriculum requirements.”

1 Geography: a curriculum resource par excellence

Geography underpins a lifelong ‘conversation’ about the earth as the home of humankind. Geography therefore contributes to a balanced education for all young people in schools, colleges and other settings.

2. Thinking geographically

An essential educational outcome of learning geography is to be able to apply knowledge and conceptual understanding to new settings: that is, to ‘think geographically’ about the changing world.

3. Living geography

Geography in schools, colleges and other educational settings is concerned with perceptive and deep description of the real world. It seeks explanations about how the world works and helps us think about alternative futures; it is ‘Living Geography’.

4. Geography and young people

Young people themselves, working with their teachers and drawing from their own experiences and curiosity, should be encouraged to help shape the geography curriculum.

5. Investigating and exploring geography

Geography is learned though enquiry: that is, by students as active participants and investigators, not just the passive ‘recipients’ of knowledge. Young people and teachers, together, are knowledge workers.

6. Geography and the ‘real world’

Fieldwork – that is, learning directly in the untidy real world outside the classroom – is an essential component of geography education.

7. ‘Curriculum making’ with geography

Teachers should be accountable, but they are also autonomous professionals driven by educational goals and purposes: that is, they are the curriculum makers and the subject leaders.

White Paper and ‘core knowledge’

‘The National Curriculum should set out clearly the core knowledge and understanding that all children should be expected to acquire in the course of their schooling.’ (para 4.7)

The GA’s Geography Curriculum Consultation

Clear vision of geography’s contribution and purpose- Its foundational ideas: place, space, environment- capabilities: pupils’ agency based on world knowledge, conceptual understanding and capacity to apply intellectual and other skills productively

Rationale for handling geographical knowledge- Kn1: core knowledge/context/vocabulary- Kn2: conceptual knowledge/content/grammar- Kn3: procedural/applied/practical

www.geography.org.uk/getinvolved/geographycurriculumconsultation

Issues

• Distinguishing curriculum from pedagogy: To what extent is there a clear sense of what a national curriculum document is for?

• Defining the school subject: Is it possible for the curriculum offer a clearer definition of the subject’s goals and purposes?

Issues

• Getting the level of detail right: “ ... based on concepts, principles, fundamental operations and key knowledge” (Oates 2010). But what form should the curriculum take?

• Meaningful assessment: Does the Kn1, Kn2 and Kn3 structure enable the meaningful teacher assessment of student progress?