geocapabilties: a course summary
TRANSCRIPT
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
GeoCapabilitiescourse summary
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
The aims of GeoCapabilitiesGeoCapabilities aims to improve the quality of education and training in Geography by providing support for dealing with complex issues in geography. GeoCapabilities encourages us to think and reflect on EDUCATIONAL GOALS and the value of geographical knowledge for attaining human potential and well-being
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
Four FoundationsCapabilities Powerful Disciplinary KnowledgeCurriculum Making Leadership
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
Capabilities Approach• acquiring and developing a range of human
‘functionings’ that contribute to autonomy and potential – in thought and action.
• GeoCapabilities suggests that without the opportunity to acquire geographical knowledge and develop the capacity to think geographically our capability is deprived or diminished
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
GeoCapabilities questions what sort of geography: • develops knowledge that empowers
individuals to identify, select and make informed, defensible choices about how to live (for the best) based on citizenship and sustainability?
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
GeoCapabilities questions what sort of geography: • promotes individual autonomy, the
ability to think and reason? • contributes to understanding self-
potential as a creative and productive citizen in the context of the global economy and culture?
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
GeoCapabilities helps you consider: “What are your educational goals
for students?”
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
One idea that underpins GeoCapabilities is the need to understand and value geographical knowledge as ‘powerful knowledge’ - or powerful disciplinary knowledge (PDK) (Lambert, Solem and Tani, 2015).
Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge
Lambert, D., Solem, M. and Tani, S., 2015. Achieving human potential through geography education: a capabilities approach to curriculum making in schools. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 105(4), pp.723-735.
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
The absence of geographical knowledge in formal education deprives young people of some vital perspectives, ultimately undermining their capabilities as global citizens
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge• more than the acquisition of ‘facts’• you develop the means to understand and
interpret the world in ways that are distinctive (eg scientifically, artistically, historically and in the case of GeoCapabilities, geographically).
• studies should support the development of students to think geographically
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
www.geocapabilities.org
What is ‘Geo’ in Capabilities?
• a deep, descriptive ‘world knowledge’
• a theoretically-informed relational understanding of people and places
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
www.geocapabilities.org
What is ‘Geo’ in Capabilities?
• a propensity and disposition to think about alternative social, economic and environmental futures
• a framework for thinking about the value of geography
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
Curriculum Making • the significance of ‘curriculum’ • its conceptual distinctiveness compared to
‘pedagogy’• teachers are tasked to produce interesting,
engaging and challenging educational encounters for students
• need well chosen ‘curriculum artefacts’
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
Curriculum Artefacts• a launchpad to a sequence of thought to
facilitate geographical thinking (Lambert 2012)• a core artefact identifies an issue, stimulates
curiosity• supplementary resources, bridge ‘a need to
know’ and ‘making sense through description, explanation, analysis and interpretation’
Lambert, D. (2012) Thinking Geographically. Geography Association, Sheffield.
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
What sort of curriculum?
Young M and Lambert D (2014) Knowledge and the Future School, Bloomsbury
Future 1: knowledge that is ‘given’, static, canonical
Future 2: knowledge that is arbitrary, relative, personalised; gives way to generic skills and competences
“Knowledge … that allows those with access to it to question it and the authority on which it is based and gain the sense of freedom and excitement that it can offer”
Future 3 Curriculum = powerful pedagogies
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
GeoCapabilities Course
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
GeoCapabilities Course Aims• Enable critical reflection on the teaching of
geography at the level of goals and purposes. • Develop ideas of disciplinary rigour and link this
effectively with enquiry pedagogies • Empower in teachers the significance of their role in
‘enacting’ curriculum • Inspire teachers to take responsibility for ‘curriculum
making’, learn from each other • Provide examples of curriculum leadership
Project partners
Twycross School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
Visions of Geography
GeoCapabilities implies 1. we have a vision of our subject and 2. the pathway to achieve this vision can
be articulated and presented