Powerful Geography

A curriculum with purpose in practice

Mark Enser

• Publisher: Crown House Publishing
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781785835117
• eBook ISBN: 9781785835421
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

In recent years the emphasis has shifted away from a focus on pedagogy (the how of teaching) and towards curriculum (the what of teaching). Ofsted's revised inspection framework reflects this shift, and their plans to -deep dive- into subject areas - meaning that teachers and department heads now need a much greater understanding of curricular structures - leave many educators having to think about their subject in new ways. Luckily for geography teachers, however, bestselling author Mark Enser provides plenty of insightful, subject-specific guidance in this all-encompassing book. Mark explores both the purpose of the geography curriculum and its various applications in practice. He details how teachers can take their students' learning beyond the acquisition of knowledge to transform how they see the world. He also tackles the changing nature of school geography, shares a variety of case studies, and offers his take on how best to facilitate geographical enquiry and fieldwork. The first part of the book considers the issue of purpose by looking at the role of the school in society and then shows the place that geography occupies within it. It also considers the history of the subject so as to help geography teachers better understand where they stand today, and concludes by discussing how the concepts of powerful knowledge and GeoCapabilities can help them find their way again. The second part is a practical guide which illustrates how to put this theory of curriculum purpose into practice. It explores the steps which must be taken to create a powerful geography curriculum by deciding on content and places to be studied, putting the components into a sequence and then using all this to do geography. It will also discuss the extent to which teachers need to consider the future and respond to the concerns of the wider world when planning the curriculum. Suitable for department heads and classroom teachers of geography in secondary schools and subject leads in primary schools. Powerful Geography was Highly Commended in the Geographical Association Awards 2022.

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Part I

Purpose

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Chapter 1

School – what is it good for?

Different possible purposes

One of the problems we have in shaping a curriculum in our schools is that there is scant agreement over what schools should be trying to achieve. This leads to various voices all trying to have their say and insisting that schools should fulfil a function that they deem vital. For example:

Schools attempt to provide childcare for parents so that they can work (look at the chaos that results if schools are closed).

They are asked to raise children and equip them with life skills (see the endless calls for children to be taught how to cook basic meals or to learn to garden).

There is an expectation that they will develop pupils’ character (to make them resilient, or equip them with grit or a growth mindset).

They need to cultivate pupils’ moral character (so that they have empathy and behave in a socially responsible way).

We expect them to equip young people with skills that make them employable (these “employability skills” vary but include a mix of practical capabilities and favourable personality traits, such as the ability to work well in teams or be creative).

They need to look after children’s mental health and make them happy (or teach them how to be happy and “mindful”).

And, in amongst all of this, they need to provide a broad and balanced academic curriculum that equips them with qualifications that demonstrate their ability in a range of subjects.8

Even if we were to strip all these expectations away and argue that the primary purpose of a school is, as discussed in the introduction, to be a place where pupils are taught, we are still left with the question about what they should be taught. As Gert Biesta says:

Perhaps the briefest way to put it is to say that the point of education is not that students learn […] In contrast I wish to suggest that the point of education is that students learn something, that they learn it for a reason, and that they learn it from someone.1

He goes on to argue that schools fulfil three functions within society:

1 Qualification – in which pupils learn to do something through the acquisition of knowledge and skills.

2 Socialisation – which here refers to the initiation into different traditions or ways of doing and being.

3 Subjectification – in which pupils become the subjects of initiatives and actions rather than the object of the initiatives and actions of others.

In other words, schools are places in which pupils are taught the knowledge and skills that allow them to do what they could not do before. They are taught how to think in new ways, apply knowledge in different ways (mathematically, geographically, historically, etc.) and develop the capabilities to use this knowledge as they see fit in the future.

This purpose of schooling seems fairly straightforward and uncontentious but, as this chapter will show, nothing could be further from the truth. The purpose and methods of schooling have been debated for centuries and have left a legacy of confusion and a tangle of competing ideologies that need to be cleared away if we are ever to create our garden of peace – with a clear purpose at its heart – in our schools.

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Uncertain foundations

Education – specifically the purpose thereof – was on shaky ground from the very start due to the influence of one of the founders of Western philosophy. Education, according to Socrates, should be concerned with teaching the young to be moral creatures who can differentiate between truth and lies, good and evil, right and wrong, etc. Education was about the examined life – people must be aware of the reasons why they make the decisions they make. This was, in part, because education was seen as something that was only necessary for the ruling classes, and Socrates, along with Plato, was concerned with how to create just societies by ensuring these ruling classes made just decisions.

Perhaps one of Socrates’ biggest influences on education today is the idea that the role of the teacher isn’t really to teach at all, but is to draw out of the pupil that which is already inside of them through questioning that would lead to some sort of revelation. This is the immanence, also termed a maieutic process, discussed in the introduction. It is an idea of education that may make sense if you are largely concerned with the ethics of human actions, starting by exploring the fundamental principle of fairness and then questioning to help the pupil realise how this might apply to complex moral problems, but as a principle it is hard to apply if you want to teach your pupil s...

Table of contents

• Praise
• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I: Purpose
• Part II: Practice
• Conclusion
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Copyright