What is geography for?
Establishing your own 'vision’ for geography
In A Vision for Geography we saw three schools which each have their own 'vision' for geography, for example:
- 'geography helps children to successfully navigate their world'
- 'we believe in developing children's geographical thinking and imagination through direct experience of the world'
- 'enhancing global understanding and citizenship through geography'.
These schools also underpin their vision with a definite set of 'aims' that embrace wider geographical learning.
Clarifying your own thinking about what you value in relation to an area of learning is a crucial aspect of providing subject leadership. Depending on your level of confidence and expertise your thoughts may be tentative or quite definite at this stage.
Your vision will be underpinned by clear 'aims' that set out what you want geography to do for children in your school.
In the next presentation we share Simon Catlin's ideas about 'what geography is for'. This slideshow has been illustrated with work from primary schools and with images from the GA's manifesto, A Different View.
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As you view the presentation think about whether there are any of Simon Catlin's statements that match your school aims for geography.
Activity: What can geography do for primary aged children?
This is a card-sort activity which can be used to stimulate discussion and your own thinking by working with a group of colleagues.
Download the card set (Word document)
- Duplicate the cards and cut them up.
- Sort into groups, make connections or create webs of cards that link together.
- Use the blank cards to write down anything that you feel is missing.
- Your aim is to select nine or ten statements that will form your schools 'aims' for geography
- How do these aims underpin the kind of 'vision' for geography that you have for your school?
You may decide that you would like to follow-up this activity by reading the documents that where referred to when compiling this card-sort activity:
- 'Understanding & developing primary geography', Catling, S. (2004) Chapter 6, p. 75, The Primary Geography Handbook, The Geographical Association (2004).
- The editorial in Issue 69 of Primary Geographer, Martin, F. (2009) Primary Geographer: Focus on Britain & Britishness, Number 69, Summer 2009, p. 4.
- 'The role of geography in a primary curriculum for the 21st century', Owens, P, North, W and Martin, H (2008) in GA Magazine, Issue no. 10, Autumn 2008, p. 22-23.
Activity: Creating a PowerPoint to show your vision
Chris Rogers, the subject leader at Perton First School in Staffordshire, created this PowerPoint to show what geography is like in her school.
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Now think about your school at the present time and create your own PowerPoint. What kind of evidence will you include? Select six photographs that best exemplify your 'values and vision', and then write captions.
Who will you share your PowerPoint with? Perhaps a colleague, your senior leadership team, governors, or even a PGQM moderator?
You definitely need an audience for your hard work.
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