On putting geography back into geography education: implications for the preparation of geography teachers David Mitchell IOE, University of London d.mitchell@ioe.ac.uk.

On putting geography back into geography education: implications for the preparation of geography

teachers

David MitchellIOE, University of London

d.mitchell@ioe.ac.uk

My intentions:

1.The ‘knowledge turn’

2.Implications for ITE

3.Some practical examples for a Geography ITE programme

4. Conclusion: Cautiously optimistic – but how will teaching be measured?

My argument:Putting geography back is dependent on putting education back – the curriculum making model helps.

“(The student teacher spoke)...as if the purpose was to ‘get through’ tasks rather than to develop geographical understanding.”

Roberts (2010:112)

1. A turn away from knowledge

Since 1976 decline of teacher autonomy, accountability of teachers, measurement (Ofsted, league tables), performance management, standardised systems – teacher as technician.

Schooling for skills and competencies – flexible & willing workers & consumers, learning to fit in to society and economy.

Use of geography for ‘good causes’ (that are not educational).

1. The ‘knowledge turn’

1. Policy- (DfE 2010), National Curriculum Consultation2. Academic –‘powerful knowledge’ (Young and Muller, 2010), ‘core knowledge’ for ‘cultural literacy’ (Hirsch (1987), neo-liberal hegemony/ ‘official’ knowledge (Apple, 2004), radical geography/ critical approach to knowledge Morgan (2011), Apple (2004), ‘good causes’ (Marsden,1997), therapy education (Furedi, 2009), curriculum making (Lambert and Morgan,2010) 3. Popular – media accounts of Edexcel ‘scandal’ 2011 (corruption of exams, grade inflation) suggests a cynicism about quality of what is learned in school4. School – beginning to pick up on and use ‘core knowledge’

Powerful knowledge – challenge to show student teachers in what ways geographical knowledge is powerful (transformative)

Curriculum making - enacted curriculum ‘exists’, lives in the classroom

Beliefs and values - awareness – of their own beliefs and values and those influencing them ...humanist (scholarly understanding) social reconstruction, social efficiency, learner centred?

Student teachers as geographers – an ongoing ‘conversation’ with Earth as their home

2. Implications for ITE

Future

Scenario

View of knowledge Implication for school subject

F1 Under-socialised

Knowledge for the

powerful.

Elitist - subject boundaries are fixed and

maintained. Knowledge as fixed, backward

looking.

F2 Over-socialised

Knowledge lacks power

Subject boundaries are removed. Generic

learning outcomes, such as skills, become the

aim – a turn away from knowledge.

F3 Social realist

Powerful knowledge.

Subject knowledge boundaries are maintained

but also crossed for the creation and

acquisition of new knowledge. Subject

knowledge dynamic and forward looking.

Three futures for subject knowledge (adapted from Young and Muller 2010)

2. Implications for ITE - Powerful knowledge

Student experiences, motivations, learning

Geography: the subject discipline

Teacher’s pedagogic choices, performance

Underpinned by Key Concepts Thinking

Geographically

Learning Activity

How does this take the learner beyond what they already know?

Curriculum Making

1The resources for teachers’ curriculum making in geography(Source: Lambert and Morgan 2010)

2. Implications for ITE - Curriculum making

“The casual remark over staff-room coffee lifts the curtain for a moment… ‘Of course, the fundamental thing is to give them a grasp of the basic ideas of the discipline’… ‘I don’t really care what they got from it but the trip was a tremendous experience’… ‘We are really here to get them an O level aren’t we, that’s all’… ‘If they just understand how the system gets at them, I’ll be happy’.”

(Walford, 1981:222)

Revealing teachers’ curriculum ‘ideologies’ (annotations added)

Scholar-academic

Learner-centred Social

efficiency

Social reconstructionist

2. Implications for ITE – awareness of beliefs and values

A question of putting the education back in geographic education?

2. Implications for ITE – Student teachers as geographers

Ongoing ‘conversation’

i) GA engagement

3. Some practical examples for a Geography ITE programme

ii) The lesson plan - a subject boxLesson Plan

Date: Period: Group: Unit Theme:

Lesson Title:

Lesson Aim:

Lesson Objectives:How is this lesson developing students’ geography?

Cross-curricular learning:

Resources: Advance Preparation/Action Points:

3. Some practical examples for a Geography ITE programme

iii) Curriculum making emphasis in asssignments

Assignment 1 – To plan teach and evaluate a sequence of lessons. Necessary to provide a strong rationale for the educational purpose of the geography.

Assignment 2 – Teacher Research into wider educational concerns (sustainability/ GIS/ Assessment). Necessary to engage in the purposes of geography, and how geography relates more widely to school and education.

3. Some practical examples for a Geography ITE programme

iv) Understanding their relationship to curriculum

Should we be teaching students teachers more about a)history of geography education and curriculum?b)curriculum ‘ideologies’ – the different value and belief systems which influence the curriculum?

A vision of education goes hand in hand with a purposeful use of geographical knowledge.

4. Conclusion – cautiously optimistic

Knowledge turn is to be welcomed.

Student teachers are curriculum makers – they need theories to understand this, and a vision of education to carry it through.

But, how will schools and teachers be measured?

ReferencesApple, M. (2004) Ideology and Curriculum 3rd Edition. New York: RoutledgeFalmerFuredi, F. (2009) Wasted: Why Education Isn't Educating. London: Continuum Press.Hirsch E D (1987) Cultural Literacy, New York: Houghton Mifflen.

Lambert, D. & Morgan, J. (2010) Teaching Geography 11-18 – A Conceptual Approach. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Marsden, W. (1997)On taking the geography out of geographical education: Some historical pointers. Geography 82 (3), 241–52.

Morgan, J. (2011) What is radical school geography today? Forum 53, 1, 116 – 128.Oram, R. (1973) ‘An action frame of reference as a register for curriculum discourse’,

Journal of Curriculum Studies, 10, 2, 135-149.Roberts, M. ‘Where's the geography? Reflections on being an external examiner’,

Teaching Geography, 35, 3, pp. 112-113.Walford, R. (1981) Language, ideologies and geography teaching. In Walford, R. (ed.)

Signposts for Geography Teaching (pp. 215–22). London: Longman.Young, M. & Muller, J. (2010) Three Educational Scenarios for the Future: lessons

from the sociology of knowledge, European Journal of Education, 45, 1, pp. 11-27.