This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project partners Twycross School The Capabilities Approach Ideas of human capability development were first formulated in the writings of economist Amartya Sen and philosopher Martha Nussbaum (Nussbaum and Sen, 1993). Their work encourages reflection on how education contributes to human autonomy and potential, both in thought and action. The GeoCapabilities project argues that human capability is deprived or diminished without the opportunity to acquire geographical knowledge and develop the capacity to think geographically.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project partners Twycross School Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge Another core idea that underpins GeoCapabilities is the need for teachers (and students) to understand and value geographical knowledge as ‘powerful disciplinary knowledge’ (PDK). Based on Michael Young’s concept of powerful knowledge, the idea of PDK means more than the possession or acquisition of ‘facts’. Having PDK means understanding and interpreting the world in ways that are distinctive. Specialist teachers, such as geography teachers, provide students with opportunities to access PDK, which enables them to think in distinctive and discipline-based ways.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project partners Twycross School Future 3 Curriculum GeoCapabilities makes use of an important framework, or heuristic, to help teachers think about the curriculum they are responsible for enacting as curriculum makers. This framework distinguishes ‘three curriculum futures’. GeoCapabilities promotes a progressive knowledge-led curriculum (Future 3). The capabilities approach helps to bring this into fruition. Future 1 traditional: Content as ‘given’; a curriculum of ‘delivery’ Future 2 progressive: Content as arbitrary; a curriculum stressing generic skills and competences. Future 3 progressive: Content is neither ‘given’ nor arbitrary. It is dynamic and linked to disciplinary procedures and processes. This is a curriculum of engagement – with disciplined thought.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project partners Twycross School Powerful Pedagogies If powerful knowledge is inaccessible to young people (many of whom find more theoretical or abstract learning challenging), then it is useless. Thus, we need to combine powerful knowledge with what Margaret Roberts calls ‘powerful pedagogies’ in the classroom. Doing so enables students to: enhance their everyday experiences by extending and modifying their personal geographies; ask relevant geographical questions; see the world in a variety of different ways, informed by the academic discipline; apply what they have learnt to new situations and places; be critical of sources of geographical information; analyse conflicting data and different viewpoints; consider ethical issues implicit in geographical knowledge.