What makes a geography lesson good? Margaret Roberts
Mar 28, 2015
What makes a geography lesson good?
Margaret Roberts
There are only ever choices
“The what, the how and the why of teaching is always up for grabs. There is no one correct set of things that students should know, there is no one ‘proper’ way of learning; there are no ‘self-evident’ goals of education. Instead there are only ever choices about what to teach, how to teach and to what ends.”
Castree, N. (2005) Nature, London: Routledge
Standards for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)• Professional attributes 1-9• Professional knowledge and
understanding 10-21• Professional skills 22-33
The standards …areoutcome statements that set out what a trainee teacher must know, understand and be able to do to be awarded QTS.
Three essentials
Geography
Constructivism:connecting with existing knowledge
Making sense
Images of children removed for
copyright reasons
Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov
Geographical data
Images of geographical data including maps, diagrams, graphs and photos removed for copyright reasons
Geography’s big ideas
Geography: in contextSource: BBC
http://earthquake.usgs.gov
Standards: subject knowledge
14 Have a secure knowledge and understanding of their subjects/curriculum areas…
15 Know and understand the relevant statutory and non-statutory curricula and frameworks…for their subjects/curriculum areas
22 Plan for progression … designing effective learning sequences within lessons …and demonstrating secure subject/curriculum knowledge.
25(b) build on prior knowledge, develop concepts and processes, enable learners to apply new knowledge, understanding and skills
Dream School
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Entering child’s mind: Zone of Proximal Development
Within ZPD:With support
On own: without support
Beyond ZPD:
“Scaffolding”
Image of a child building a basic Lego tower removed for copyright reasons
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“Entering the child’s mind”: Constructivism
“Humans actively construct their knowledge rather than receive it, fully formed, from external sources” (Physical world, social wisdom, schooling, television)
“Humans use information from these various sources to create theories of the world… concepts of other people and of society and modes of problem solving”
Constructivism: key ideas
• How we see and understand the world depends on our existing ways of thinking
• Each individual sees and understands the world differently
• In constructing new knowledge we are not adding separate new ‘bits’ of knowledge to what we already have
• Our constructions of the world are not fixed but are being modified continuously
Constructivism in practice
We need to: • take account of students’ existing knowledge
and ways of understanding• allow time for students to explore new
information • provide opportunities for students to
reconstruct their existing knowledge in discussion with others
• make students aware of the way they see things
Connecting with existing knowledge
Connecting with existing understanding
Connecting with existing opinions
Standards: constructivism1 Have high expectations of
children and young people … and to establishing fair, respectful, trusting, supportive and constructive relationships with them.
25(b) build on prior knowledge, develop concepts and processes, enable learners to apply new knowledge, understanding and skills and meet learning objectives
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copyright reasons
Making sense: through right answer culture?
“Most plants contain a green colouring called chlorophyll.
This chlorophyll enables them to make their own food by photosynthesis.
Yeast gives off alcohol when it respires”
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‘Without even passing through the brain on the way’
We can’t just pass down information, tell them to absorb it raw, ready for regurgitation in a later test, and expect them to learn anything. To learn something, students need to take that piece of information and build it into their own picture of the world. The information needs to pass into and around their consciousness. Only when it becomes part of the pattern in their heads does it become theirs.
Making sense: sharing information and ideas
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Making sense: connecting ideas
Making sense: through discussion
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Making sense: through writing
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Making sense through reconstruction
Standards: making sense
10 …provide opportunities for all learners to achieve their potential.
25(b) build on prior knowledge, develop concepts and processes, enable learners to apply new knowledge, understanding and skills and meet learning objectives
• 25(d) demonstrate the ability to manage the learning of individuals, groups and whole classes, modifying their teaching to suit the stage of the lesson.
Student Experiences
Geography: the subjectTeacher Choices
Underpinned by Key Concepts Thinking
Geographically
Learning Activity
How does this take the learner beyond what they already know?
Curriculum Making
23
There are only ever choices
“The what, the how and the why of teaching is always up for grabs. There is no one correct set of things that students should know, there is no one ‘proper’ way of learning; there are no ‘self-evident’ goals of education. Instead there are only ever choices about what to teach, how to teach and to what ends.”
Castree, N. (2005) Nature, London: Routledge