Geographical Association

Changing curricular requirements at all key stages mean that the skills necessary to plan and develop the curriculum are essential for beginning teachers. In Planning and Developing the Curriculum Parts 1 and 2, Eleanor Rawling, Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, provides an introduction to the key issues and offers practical guidance for PGCE students. Suggested templates and approaches are provided for critical consideration.

Part One will consider the teacher's active and creative role in developing the curriculum at the level of courses and outline schemes of work for the key stage and year group. It covers definitions and purposes, sequences of planning, the role of concepts, and the importance of geographical enquiry in planning schemes of work.

Part Two will consider the different meanings of progression and will examine varied approaches to planning for progression through the subject content, the teaching and learning experiences provided and the outcomes in pupils' performance.

All of the diagrams contained in this Think Piece come from Eleanor Rawling's book Planning Your Key Stage 3 Geography Curriculum. If you find this Think Piece useful, it is highly recommended that you purchase this book as it develops many of the ideas here to a much deeper level. You may purchase the book from our GeographyShop.

The activities for this Think Piece, together with links to papers, diagrams and frameworks which are referred to in the activities, are contained within an accompanying document. Download: Word PDF

• Introduction: What is curriculum planning? What is curriculum development?
• A sequence of curriculum planning and development
• Is there such a thing as concept-based curriculum planning?
• Planning a scheme of work
• What kind of curriculum planner am I?
• References
• Links

In simple terms curriculum planning is concerned with making decisions about what we teach, why we make these choices and how we organise teaching and learning. Sometimes the term curriculum development is used; indeed the two terms are often used interchangeably, although there is a distinction. Planning suggests organising and sorting out material, often that which is already provided (such as a programme of study or GCSE syllabus), whereas development implies taking things beyond what is stated or provided; i.e. development is a more creative process in which the resulting curriculum has characteristics original to you and your school.

All curriculum development includes planning but not all planning involves wider curriculum development. The GA uses the term 'curriculum-making' to refer to the planning and development process, but the original term curriculum development will continue to be used in this Think Piece.

'Curriculum development may be defined as the process of planning and developing the curriculum content and the experiences that pupils are to receive in schools in order to help them make progress in geography, enjoy the experience and appreciate the relevance of geography to their own lives.' (Rawling, 2007)

Why do you, as geography teachers, need to plan or develop the curriculum? Surely, with the National Curriculum programme of study at KS3 and the GCSE and A level syllabuses at 14-19, the content of the curriculum is already established and you need only to allocate topics to curriculum slots? In fact, this is a mistaken view. However detailed or sparse the national curriculum requirements, there is always a need to review and reorganise them to clarify the implications for teaching and learning (curriculum planning) and ideally to expand and develop them to fit the circumstances of your school and your students (curriculum development).

At one time in the 1970s and 1980s, many geography teachers took on a substantial role in developing the content and character of their geography courses with authoritative support texts (e.g. Graves, 1979) and through involvement in Schools Council Projects (Rawling, 1991). Since 1991, national curriculum constraints have inhibited and greatly reduced such activity. However, the 2006-07 review of KS3 has not only reduced content prescription but has provided more of a framework of concepts and skills, and criteria to allow for planning content, teaching/learning and assessment in all subjects (see chapter 3 in Rawling 2007). This situation provides new opportunities but the minimal nature of the requirements makes it essential that subject specialist knowledge and skills are applied in translating these requirements effectively. It should be noted too that the idea of designing a curriculum based on topics rather than subjects is being discussed again and many schools are trying out topic-based curricula in years 7 and 8. As a result, a process of curriculum development becomes not only desirable but a positive necessity if the contribution of geography is to be explicit!

Activity 1 - Topic or subject based curriculum?
In this activity, supported by a short paper, students discuss the relative merits of a topic or subject based curriculum.
Download: Word PDF

Planning and development at the school level have to relate to wider constraints. Figure 1 might provide a helpful way of considering where your school curriculum development activities fit into the wider context. Three levels of curriculum planning are recognised for a subject, here written with KS3 in mind:

1. The general level is normally undertaken by national bodies. In the past, this might have been the curriculum projects funded by the Schools Council. Today, this general level is carried out by QCA acting on behalf of the government and, to some degree, in consultation with the subject communities. This level results in the establishment of a broad National Curriculum framework for each subject which can then be used by schools at level 2.
   
   
2. The school level is, as the name suggests, undertaken by subject departments and subject teachers, who develop their own course plans outline schemes of work and assessment plans for the subject.
   
   
3. The level of classroom development is undertaken by the individual class teacher, often in discussion with colleagues. It results in more detailed schemes of work, together with plans and resources for individual lessons and sequences of lessons.

In a topic-based curriculum, levels 2 and 3 may be undertaken by groups of teachers of different subjects but it is essential that subject specialists in participating subjects are directly involved in the planning and teaching of the subject.

Activity 2 - Levels of curriculum planning
In this activity students consider the extent to which a planning framework can be adapted for KS3, KS4 and post 16 work.
Download: Word PDF

<<< Back to top

Like many tasks, planning the curriculum is a strange mixture of rational organisation and serendipity. You need to start off with a reasonably logical process of planning in mind and be ready to address any statutory requirements, but you also should be ready to respond to that interesting article you read in a newspaper, that opportunity for funding that has arisen at school, or that good idea you had in the shower! One approach to curriculum planning is set out in circular form in Figure 2 (The Curriculum Planning Circle). The circle is used because, although the most logical approach might seem to involve starting with aims (1) and finishing with assessment strategy (5) and schemes of work or lesson plans (6), there is no reason why we always have to follow such a linear sequence. Many excellent curriculum plans have resulted from the inspiration provided by a new resource or the flash of creativity received at a workshop about a particular approach to assessment. As long as all these stages are covered in some way, you should end up with the appropriate product for your pupils.

What you need to remember is that curriculum planning is not at all a 'cut and dried' process, but more of a dialogue between yourself, the subject (geography) and the students you have in mind. As Kincheloe and Steinberg explain (1998) 'the well-prepared teacher is not one who enters the classroom with a fixed set of lesson plans but a scholar with a thorough knowledge of the subject, an understanding of knowledge production, the ability to produce knowledge, an appreciation of social context, a cognizance of what is happening in the world, insights into the lives of her students, and a sophisticated appreciation of educational goals and purposes.' This may sound daunting but it is definitely opening the door to your professional input!

Activity 3 - Using a curriculum planning circle
In this activity students consider the effect on the curriculum of using different parts of a planning circle as a starting point.
Download: Word PDF

As an example, Figure 3 is a KS3 curriculum plan developed around the idea of changing scales of enquiry and for which year 9 (personal scale) was partially inspired by the resources and activities of the Young People's Geographies project. What you should remember is that your creativity can really come into play now, in both KS3 and at 14-19, to produce fresh new curricula that will stimulate and reinvigorate geography in your school. For a template to use when developing your KS3 curriculum plan visit this page.

Activity 4 - Evaluating a KS3 curriculum plan
In this activity students examine a plan for KS3, evaluate it and discuss how it might be adapted for different situations.
Download: Word PDF

<<< Back to top

Key concepts are an essential element of the new KS3 PoS and yet there has been a great deal of misunderstanding and confused debate about these. Seven key concepts are listed in the PoS: place; space; scale; environmental interaction and sustainable development; process (physical and human); interdependence; cultural understanding and diversity. These are not new. All were present in some way in the older versions of the National Curriculum (e.g. in PoS headings) though they were not explicitly emphasised. Concepts are also highlighted in the current GCSE and A/AS criteria as items for awarding bodies to address in their syllabus planning.

Many have referred to the need for concept-based curriculum planning as if a different approach is now required. This is not the case. The planning and development process is essentially the same. The concepts and ideas of the subject represent economies of thought which are useful if geography is not just to be a mass of memorised fact. For example, the concept of space is an abstract idea that stands at the top of a hierarchy of more specific ideas such as location, pattern, distribution, interaction, distance. When geographers use the term, it conjures up certain kinds of meaning in the context of physical and human geography. These are distinctive from, but overlap with, the meanings and contexts in which mathematicians understand 'space'.

You will need to bear in mind the concepts and big ideas of geography when selecting content, planning teaching and learning, and devising assessment. Concepts are not something to teach to pupils directly, nor will you wish to hand out definitions for them to learn. They do not imply a set selection of content, nor will you need to produce units of work entitled Place, Space, Scale etc. (though you might have units of work designed to bring out particular concepts – e.g. a unit on the UK designed to draw out understanding of Place and Interdependence). Essentially, as students deepen their knowledge and broaden their understanding of geographical matters and skills, they will gradually reach awareness and gain understanding of the big ideas of the discipline of geography.

What you will need to do is ensure that you understand what is meant by each of the key concepts, so that you can start thinking creatively about the kinds of teaching and learning experiences your pupils will need if they are ever going to understand them as well. Figure 4 shows a table designed to start you thinking about one of the KS3 concepts (Cultural Understanding and Diversity). The table addresses the following questions about the concept:

• What is it? Why are geographers interested in it?
• What teaching/learning experiences must be provided for pupils if they are to gain understanding of the concept?
• What outcomes might be expected of KS3 pupils if they do understand this concept?

It suggests that if you want your students to understand the concept of cultural diversity and to gain a more nuanced understanding of different cultures (rather than just be able to repeat a learned definition) then they must; study a range of places and cultures in different parts of the world; explore the notion of identity and factors that give rise to feelings of common identity; consider the lives of alienated groups and outsiders at a small (playground/school) or local scale; and have first hand exposure to people and resources from different cultures.

For further reflection on concepts and their role in geography and curriculum development read the short paper 'More Reflections on Concepts' and read chapter 4 in Planning Your Key Stage Curriculum (Rawling 2007b) where there are concept pages for all seven of the Key Stage 3 concepts. There is also useful discussion elsewhere on the GA website.

Activity 5 - Getting to know the key concept, 'Cultural Understanding and Diversity'
In this activity students consider how to develop understanding of the concept of 'cultural understanding and diversity' in a short unit of work. They are then encouraged to apply the way they considered this to other key concepts.
Download: Word PDF

For some approaches and templates to use in planning schemes of work see Rawling (2007b) pp. 41-45 and for some ideas about cultural topics see Rawling (2007a).

<<< Back to top

So far, the discussion has focused on planning and developing the curriculum at the level of the KS course or year group. However, the process of curriculum development also applies to schemes of work covering anything from two or three lessons to a half-tem or term. The GA's KS3 Geography Teacher's Toolkit series provides guidance at this level. However, there are some important general principles about planning a scheme of work which you may find helpful and so these will be dealt with here.

The geography National Curriculum is based on a view of geographical enquiry originally set out by the National Curriculum Geography Working Group in 1990 (DES and Welsh Office, 1990). Geographical enquiry is envisaged as an active process of investigation in which young people are fully engaged and the rubric in all versions of the National Curriculum since the 1991 programme of study make clear that knowledge, understanding and skills are to be developed through the involvement of pupils in the enquiry process. This is why it is important to focus scheme-of-work planning around enquiry.

In the 2007 programme of study there is a gradual progression from pupils mainly asking questions, observing, recording and communicating findings at KS1 to a full sequence of enquiry involving additional activities of analysing and evaluating evidence, considering alternative viewpoints and reaching conclusions at KS3. In addition, it should be remembered that the context of topics and places studied becomes more complex with progress through the KS1, 2 and 3 programmes of study. The emphasis throughout is on what pupils must do, not on what teachers must teach. However, the implication is that if pupils are to take part in and develop a full range of enquiry approaches and skills, the teacher must provide opportunities for them to do all these things. For instance, if you want pupils to plan their own enquiries and be capable of 'creating new interpretations of place', then they must be given opportunities to plan their own sequences of work and to reflect on existing interpretations of places rather than relying on the teacher for these.

At this point, consider the degree of direction and support pupils will be given. Some people think of enquiry as meaning open-ended activities in which pupils are independently discovering things for themselves; others see it, certainly at KS3, as a tightly teacher controlled set of training activities. In fact neither is wholly correct because enquiry work can and should include both kinds of activity and a full range of more or less structured approaches in between. Figure 5 presents a teaching-learning continuum showing a range from those activities that are closely teacher-directed to those in which the pupil has control. Whether the teaching and learning situation is one of exposition/response (as in a teacher giving a lecture or explaining a theory to the class) or creative activity with minimum support (as in pupils carrying out an independent project or piece of creative writing) it may be described as enquiry if the activity is oriented towards answering questions, opening up problems and issues and moving towards general principles and solutions. The key to all this is the teacher who manages and organises an appropriate range of teaching and learning experiences suitable for the pupils. Questions are therefore fundamental to enquiry. Figure 6 shows a scheme of work about Imagined Places. It has been planned using a template that highlights the sequence of enquiry questions (columns 1 and 2) and suggests a link between these and the key concepts (column 3) and key processes and skills (column 4) from the programme of study.

You may find this a useful template for developing your own scheme of work. It is not intended to imply a rigid sequence of questions that must always be taken in full. Sometimes it may be appropriate to start from an interim point (e.g. by envisaging the future or predicting the impact of a development). The kind of enquiry may require missing out one or more steps (e.g. decision-making) or undertaking a smaller enquiry loop using only two or three steps (e.g. when carrying out a structured teacher-led piece of work analysing some photographs or statistics). Some pieces of work may not ostensibly follow an enquiry route at all, but merely focus on some serious and critical questioning of a situation or definition. However, the template in Figure 6 has the benefit of reminding us about the kind of questions geographers ask and the kinds of ideas and processes we are exploring. It also makes a useful planning template for developing a scheme of work, if you wish to work in this way. Note that this is equally applicable to planning work focused on a place as it is for a theme or issue.

Activity 6 - Planning a scheme of work (or unit of work)
In this activity students use and/or evaluate a framework for planning for enquiry.
Download: Word PDF

For more about the issues related to enquiry, see the Think Piece on Geographical Enquiry by Gill Davidson.

<<< Back to top

The way we approach planning anything new, whether it's the family holiday, buying a new house, or the development of a new geography curriculum, reflects what kind of person (or geography department) we are. I was made suddenly aware of this fact when talking to a financial adviser. I noticed that he had a diagram characterising people on the basis of their investment behaviour on a continuum, ranging from secure and cautious to adventurous and risk-taking. This seemed to be a useful way to consider curriculum planning as well so I borrowed the approach (see Figure 7). It seems particularly apposite in the context of the 2008/09 'credit crunch'! This is not meant to be critical in any way. All types of planning exist and provide perfectly good approaches to organising a curriculum. Some people prefer to take a cautious approach either because of their character and background or because the school situation warrants this. Others thrive on taking risks or feel that the school will benefit from exploring new directions.

Activity 7 - What kind of curriculum planner are you?
In this activity students place themselves along a spectrum from cautious to adventurous and justify their choice.
Download: Word PDF

Of course the main message to take away is that, whatever kind of curriculum developer you are, the important thing is to base your decisions about what to teach and how to teach it on your best understanding of the subject of geography and of its potential contribution to the education of your students. No one - not the government, not QCA, nor the head teacher – is in a better position to do this than you, the specialist geography teacher.

<<< Back to top

Graves, N. (1979) Curriculum Planning in Geography. London: Heinemann Educational.

Kincheloe, J. & Steinberg, S. (Eds) (1998) Unauthorized Methods: Strategies for Critical Teaching. London: Routledge.

Lambert, D. & Morgan, J. (2005) Geography; Teaching School Subjects, 11-19. London: Routledge.

Rawling, E. (1991) 'Innovations in the Geography Curriculum 1970-90; a personal view' in Walford, R. (Ed) Viewpoints on Geography Teaching: The Charney Manor Conference Papers 1990. York: Longman, pp. 33-38.

Rawling, E. (2007a) 'Taking a Cultural Turn', Teaching Geography, 32, 1, pp. 13-18.

Rawling, E. (2007b) Planning Your Key Stage 3 Curriculum. Sheffield: Geographical Association.

<<< Back to top

Planning Your Key Stage 3 Curriculum - Extra Resources - resources linked to the book Planning Your KS3 Curriculum including a ready-to-use version of the KS3 PoS, templates for planning a KS3 course plan and a scheme of work.

Young People's Geographies - the Young People's Geographies project is about making school geography more exciting and relevant to students by involving them in curriculum making and by focusing on their own lived geographies.

Now read Planning and Developing the Curriculum Part 2


<<< Back to top

(24.02.09)