Making My Place in the World Sue Bermingham MMU John Lyon Geographical Association.

Making My Place in the World

Sue Bermingham MMUJohn Lyon Geographical Association

The ModelActual Preferred

Making My Place in the World

Local Community

Curriculum PossibilitiesCurriculum Possibilities

OCR Spec A

What constitutes ‘your place’? • Where is it? What do you know about it? How do you

feel about it? Why is it important to you – and others? • How is it represented, seen and experienced by

others? (And for what different purposes?) Candidates’ personal geographies. What are the major issues affecting ‘your place’? What are the key processes of change operating on the

local area/community? What changes might take place in the future? Candidates' own visions/ideas for the future of the local

area.

What we wanted to achieve

A conceptual framework for interrogating places and spacesA vocabulary for talking about place Enquiry based learning centred on developing effective conversations between children and place managers Improved confidence with speaking and listening and a greater awareness of themselves as participants and agents of influence in the world.

An exclusive and excluding curriculum that only values certain kinds of knowledge and experience signals to many young people how we, as a society, value them now - as individuals as members of diverse communities and as contributors to wider society.

It could be deemed educationally careless to ignore the social and cultural capital of this significant group whose spatial lives are shaped by powerful local-global forces; ignoring these geographies runs the risk of alienating significant proportions of young people and of leaving school geography out of kilter with their needs and interests.

Young People’s Geographies

“Teacher talk dominates classrooms and controls the

process by which communication takes place, by deciding what kind

of talk is permissible, by whom and for how long.”

Margaret Roberts

Collaborative Classrooms

I learn best from discussing in groups

I learn best on my own

Other statements for students to respond to;Teachers do not see what pupils seeThe best lessons are activeTalking helps me to work out what I meanI am confident at trying something newI like giving my opinion on thingsWhen I leave school think I want to go to UniversityI intend to live in this area when I am an adultI am proud of my local area

Value LinesValue Lines

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

YES NO

Does your image represent your place?

What they said ....

• small• diverse• interesting• multicultural• modern

• busy• mixed• boring• Green

Initial findings

• They had very little to tell us about their place. ‘It’s just there’..

• They weren’t aware that other people might have different views of their place

• Students had very limited vocabulary to describe their place.

Familiar hard to describe

• The range of geographical vocabulary used to describe ‘familiar’ everyday places at the start of the project was limited and provided a challenge for the pupils as they converse with place managers and community geographers.

Geographical Geographical Words?Words?Extending Extending vocabulary?vocabulary?

What the City Council say

https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning-and-city-development.html

Words for the exam...

Bingo time!!

• Choose 9 words from the wordbank provided you are confident you will be able to see on the following photographs

• Are their any words that you’d like a friend to define before we start?

Student teacher perspective

I particularly thought the part of the lesson whereby the students had the opportunity to question words they didn’t know useful as it gave an opportunity to dissolve any misconceptions, using their peers to answer questions kept their attention and made them think as they didn’t know if they would have to answer! The students really seemed to engage with this and found it fun to ask other students for definitions or the teachers something they would rarely be able to do. Being able to understand the words before using them to me was an excellent idea as this allowed them to understand clearer what they were looking for in activities later in the lesson.

Pupils voice

• We tried to allow student voice to be dominant in identifying the key issues.

• We hoped to develop in the students’ awareness that theirs is only one view among a range of views and to understand and respect diversity,

• and through effectively developing their speaking and listening skills to understand they can have a voice that contributes to the future of their local area.

One student comment ‘what I’ve learnt is that you don’t really know a place until you’ve talked to other people to see what they think about it’.

Change is uncomfortable

• Relinquishing control over choice of issues and activities takes many teachers out of their comfort zone. Pupils can be passionate, voicing their concerns about place based issues e.g.

• the role of CCTV in public / private spaces• flagship developments and homeless people • inequalities and difference – how

regeneration changes communities• A flagship regeneration project – is the

social housing allocation fair

Legacy of Project

• John working with Stockport schools (P&S) – Literacy & Fieldwork

• 2 academic conferences – international conversations

• TA inclusion• Learning does it require writing?• Space and place – definitions• Planners – Stockport

Legacy of Project

• Chapter in book• Magical project – collaboration• PhD – Space that energises?• Princes Trust session – local Geog?• Ipad – digital literacy• Toolkit of ideas on website• Further study of participants (MA & PGCE)• Closer relationship with councillors

Legacy of Project

• Curriculum change in all schools• Think differently - Language and geography• Pupil involvement in GA Conference