Where you live directly affects the place that you have chosen (how many choices did you have?) and the place directly affects you and your subsequent decisions ( some big, some small) related to many issues as you go about your daily life.
Have a go at answering Doreen Massey’s question: ‘Where would you draw a line around your daily life?’
Many find this intriguing. It involves thinking about connections and interconnections, and leads us to consider the power of place. For example:
- Can our decisions change places?
- Does the structure of places lead us into making certain choices rather than others?
- Are these choices sustainable?
- What are the intentional and unintentional consequences?
- What is the impact of our decisions on the places and spaces (not just the near) that we connect with?
- Can you find the global in the local?
These are just some of the ideas that teachers in East Lancashire and South Cambridgeshire wrestled with as they explored the contribution that geography can make. Working alongside citizenship teachers, these groups supported young people’s understanding of housing market issues.
Generally, students do have a grasp of different types and distributions of houses, but their knowledge and understanding of the way that the housing market operates and of regional differences in priority is less well developed. The ‘Where will I live?’ project attempted to tackle such issues and explore ways to encourage young people to imagine better futures around the organising concept of ‘sustainable community’.
