Core Knowledge and the Revised Curriculum Geographical Association Annual Conference April 14 th 2012 Dr Stephen Scoffham Canterbury Christ Church University
Mar 28, 2015
Core Knowledge and the Revised Curriculum
Geographical Association Annual ConferenceApril 14th 2012
Dr Stephen ScoffhamCanterbury Christ Church
University
Geography in schools
Primary Schools Apart from a few outstanding schools, ‘pupils’ knowledge of
places was exceptionally weak at a national, European and global scale’ Para 10
‘Many teachers’ subject knowledge was weak’ Para 18
Secondary Schools Core knowledge for the majority of the students surveyed was
poor… They were not able to locate countries, key mountain ranges other features with any degree of confidence’
Para 36
Ofsted (2011) Geography: Learning to make a world of difference, London : Ofsted
Understanding
Information
Knowledge
Factual knowledge
Applied or ‘powerful’knowledge
It snowed last night A general statement (information)
It was minus two Greater detail and suggesting a more organised framework (knowledge)
Temperatures will Appreciation of weather patterns rise soon as the and processes (understanding)wind has veered to the south
Factual knowledge is not directly discipline related
Consider the following statements:
Ants have six legs.
Henry VIII is a famous English king.
Paris is the capital of France.
Useless knowledge?
Image of Trivial Pursuit
._Blooms tax.jpg
What knowledge is worth knowing?
Whose knowledge is worth knowing?
Herbert Spencer
Michael Apple
Michael Apple
What knowledge, skills and understanding will children need for the future?
‘It would be well if they could be taught everything that is useful and everything that is ornamental; but art is long and their time is short’Benjamin Franklin
Useful or ornamental?
Map A Key Stage 2
Map D Key Stage 3
DfE (1995) Geography in the National Curriculum
Is there a progression in locational knowledge?
ThinkingGeographically
Knowledge
SkillsPedagogy
Motivation
Engagement
Imagination
Creativity
Identity
Self awareness
Curiosity
Much of formal learning is short on threshold experiences, It feels like learning the pieces of a picture puzzle that never gets put together...In contrast getting some version of the whole game close to the beginning makes sense because it gives the enterprise some meaning. (Perkins 2009p9)
Emotion Cognition
Processes related to the body
High reason
Emotional thoughtThe platform for
learning, decision-making and creativity
both in social and non-social contexts
After Imordino –Yang and Damasio (2007)
Questions to consider
What do we think knowledge is and how
do we define it?
Can knowledge be sequenced or arranged in a progression?
Is there something special about geographical knowledge?
Who will select core knowledge in geography?
What is education for?
References• Apple, M. (2003) The State and Politics of Knowledge, London: RoutledgeFalmer • Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1::The Cognitive
Domain. New York: David McKay• Bruner, J (1960,1977) The Process of Education, Cambridge, MASS:Harvard University
Press• Dewey, J (1916,1966) Democracy and Education, New York: Free Press• Gardner, H (2006) Five Minds for the Future, Boston, MASS: Harvard Business School• Imordino-Yang, M. and Damasio, A. (2007) ‘We Feel Therefore We Learn: The
relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education’, in Mind, Brain and Education 1:1 pp3-10
• Hirsch, E. D. (1996) The Schools We Need and Why We Don’t Have Them, New York: Random House
• Hirst, P. and Peters, R. (1970) The Logic of Education, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
• Joubert, M. (2001) ‘The Art of Creative Teaching: NACCCE and beyond’ in Craft, A. (et al.) Creativity in Education, London: Continuum
• Lambert, D. (2010) A Critique of a ‘Core Knowledge’ Approach to the National Curriculum. Internal Geographical Association discussion paper
• Ofsted (2011) Geography: Learning to make a world of difference, London : Ofsted • Perkins, D (2008) Making Learning Whole: How Seven Principles of Teaching Can
Transform Education, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass• Scoffham, S. (2006) Modelling the School Geography Curriculum, Research paper
presented at the Charney Manor Primary Geography Research Conference 24th February 2006