arkadiusz głowacz geography education unit faculty of geographical sciences university of lodz,...

Arkadiusz Głowacz

Geography Education UnitFaculty of Geographical Sciences

University of Lodz, Poland

English school geography from a foreign perspective

GTE Conference. Winchester, 2014

Research question

In what ways is the English school

geography similar or different from

geographies in other countries?

What skills does geography develop?

What world does geography teach about?

In what contexts does it present places?

Scope of research

(International Standard Classification of Education – ISCED)

Poland

England

France

Germany

Resources

Two sets of geography textbooks from each country:

Widdowson J. (2006) „This is geography 1”, Hodder Education Hachette Livre UK, Londyn, ss. 1-141

Widdowson J. (2008) „This is geography 2”, Hodder Education Hachette Livre UK, Londyn, ss. 1-141

Widdowson J. (2009) „This is geography 3”, Hodder Education Hachette Livre UK, Londyn, ss. 1-142

Gallagher R., Parish R., Williamson J. (2005) „Geog. 1”, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, ss. 1-132

Gallagher R., Parish R. (2005) „Geog. 2”, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, ss. 1-132

Gallagher R., Parish R., Williamson J. (2009) „Geog. 3”, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, ss. 1-144

Method

Qualitative content analysis defined as:“a research method for the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns”

(Hsieh & Shannon,

2005, p.1278) Stages of the content analysis:• Define the unit of analysis• Define catagories• Test the coding system• Code all the text• Assess coding consistency• Draw conclusions• Report the methods and findingsBased on: Yan Zhang and Barbara M. Wildemuth, 2009

Limitations

ISCED 2 refers to different ages of students in different countries

textbooks may not reflect what actually happens in class

educational reality is so complex that any generalisations may be biased

What skills does geography develop?

(through textbooks)

Question 1

Work with a text

0

10

20

30

Poland England France Germany

%

Simple activities Advanced activities

Work with a map

0

10

20

30

Poland England France Germany

%

Simple activities Advanced activities

Work with a photograph

05

1015

2025

30

Poland England France Germany

%

Simple activities Advanced activities

Work with numeric data

05

1015

2025

30

Poland England France Germany

%

Simple activities Advanced activities

Work with a scheme or a sketch

0

10

20

30

Poland England France Germany

%

Simple activities Advanced activities

Other activities

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Poland England France Germany

%

Synthesize information from differentmaterials

Write a text

Search for the information elsewhere

Use the Internet

Draw a map or a profile

Do a project

Do fieldwork

Discuss or roleplay

Activity not connected with geography

What world does geography teach about?

Question 2

The world according to Polish textbooks

The world according to French textbooks

The world according to German (Sachsen) textbooks

The world according to English textbooks

In what contexts does geography present places?

Question 3

Conclusions

The textbook research proved that: English school geography develops the widest spectrum

of skills, including social and communiacation skills, fieldwork skills, mapwork skills, it means that the subject presents skills-orientated approach

The range of places presented in the textbooks is limited. Potentially impacting the worldview of students?

Geography shows places in rather positive contexts and teaches how to solve problems (case studies!)

Thank you for your attention

Bibliography: Hopkin J. (2001) “The World According to Geography Textbooks”,

International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, ss. 46-67

Zhang Y., Wildemuth B. M. (2009) “Qualitative Analysis of Content“ [w:] Wildemuth B.M. (red.) “Applications of Social Research Methods to Questions in Information and Library Science”, Book News, Inc., Portland, Stany Zjednoczone, ss. 308-320

Hsieh H.-F., Shannon S.E. (2005) “Three approaches to qualitative

content analysis” Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288.