"This is a must read for all 11-18 geography educators. It argues for a new geography curriculum founded on a set of major concepts that are profoundly relevant to 21st century life. For years, books on 11-18 geography education have focussed on classroom techniques, new pedagogic technologies and alternative modes of student assessment. Not this one. 'Teaching Geography 11-18' digs deep. It asks not only what geography is for, but bases its answer on a set of key concepts able to sustain an exciting and relevant curriculum. It also grounds its many arguments in the latest geographical research, thus re-establishing the broken connection between geography teaching in schools and that in higher education".
Professor Noel Castree, University of Manchester, UK
This engaging and stimulating book aims to radically re-shape and sharpen debates in geography education by taking an entirely fresh approach to both the subject and its place in secondary education. Key questions addressed in this book include:
- What is the place of geography within the secondary school curriculum?
- To what extent does school geography reflect and engage with contemporary issues and theories from the wider subject?
- What are the issues, challenges and opportunities of a concept-led approach to teaching geography?
- What are the implications of ICT, media and technology for the future of geography teaching in schools?
Influenced by the revised national curriculum for geography which has reduced the prescribed content to be covered, this book offers an objective view of the concept-led approach.
The new focus on concepts represents a significant shift in how geography is to be taught in schools, yet there has been little extended discussion of what a 'concept-led' approach to teaching and learning would entail. This book fills that void by examining geography's key concepts, and providing teachers with a theoretically robust and practical approach to curriculum planning using a concept-led approach.
This is essential reading for all secondary geography teachers, trainee teachers and anyone involved with education and curriculum planning.
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface
Part 1 Concepts, contexts and histories
1 A modern school geography
Introduction
Modernity
A world to win: geography education 1945–64
1964–80 geography as a modern subject
The geography of the 1980s
Geography teaching in ‘new times’: 1989–2009
Conclusion
2 The place of geography in schools today
Shift happens
The rise of the digital economy
Education and the knowledge economy
Current policies agendas
Clearing up after the economy
Widening the debate
Deconstructing the knowledge economy
Deconstructing the community
Conclusion
3 What does it mean to be a teacher of geography?
Introduction
Schoolteachers as engaged professionals
The importance of the big picture
And back to geography
Geography as a curriculum resource
Curriculum-making
Conclusion
4 A ‘capability’ perspective on geography in schools
Introduction
Aims and purposes, knowledge and understanding
Capability
In conclusion: towards geo-capability?
Part 2 Reconstructing concepts
5 Space
Introduction
The science of space
The limits of spatial science
1989: the reassertion of space in geographical education?
Post-structural spaces
Case study: rural spaces
Conclusion
6 Place
Introduction
Fear of a placeless planet
Whose place?
Do places matter?
Conclusion
7 Scale
Introduction
The idea of scale in geography
Extending the idea of scale
What we learn from the politics of scale
The question of ‘universal scale’ and ‘virtual worlds’
Conclusion
8 Interdependence and development
Introduction
Interdependence and the ‘global dimension’
Global citizenship
Development and developmentalism
Conclusion
9 Cultural understanding and diversity: promoting community cohesion?
Introduction
Cultural understanding and diversity in the National Curriculum
Towards community cohesion
From no problem here to we're all white, thanks
Geographies of difference
Who dies of what, where and why?
Conclusion
10 Environment, sustainability and futures
Introduction: ethical and political perspectives
Sustainable development: a short reprise
Environment, environmentalism and the culture of argument
Futures
Conclusion
Part 3 Curriculum challenges
11 Geography, media and education
A world in crisis?
The importance of television
Teaching the media
Children making meaning
The rise of ‘new media’
Conclusion
12 A mind for the future
Back to the front
Facing the future
Making geography work for the future
What kind of geographer are you?
Conclusion
A different view
References
Index
