GeoCapability: Curriculum thinking for Geography Teachers Dr Richard Bustin Head of Geography, City of London Freemen’s School. Deputy Head Academic (elect) St James Senior Boys’ School, Surrey. Doctorate, UCL IoE. GeoCapabilities project partner. @RichardBustin

Who are the children we teach? Why do we insist on teaching SUBJECTS? What is education for? What is the value of subject knowledge (in an information rich world)? What role does geographical knowledge play in preparing young people for life in the 21st Century?

What’s the problem? (my observations) ‘Aimless’ National Curriculum. Varying curricular ideologies. Knowledge vs skills in curriculum. Combining/ removal of subjects (humanities). ‘Corruption’ of the curriculum. ‘Ofsted’ and ISI lesson observation criteria. Lack of subject knowledge required in teacher training/ education. Teacher training and preparation. ‘Knowledge Turn’ New GCSE and A-Level courses.

FUTURE 1: A ‘body of academic knowledge’ exists and a teacher’s role is to pass this on to the next generation. Subject structure key. Grammar school tradition. Learning lists of capital cities… FUTURE 2: Skills based, and child centred. Focus on PEDAGOGY- ‘pedagogic adventure?’ ‘Learnification’ of the curriculum. No need for rigidity of subjects.

What does ‘curriculum’ look like? OPENING MINDS PHILOSOPHY “…an innovative approach to the curriculum for school-aged students that aims at integration, rather than a subject-based and thus fragmented approach to knowledge. It lends itself to a more holistic and learner-centred approach that encourages interdisciplinary enquiry, the stimulation of learning power, and the acquisition of transferable skills” (Jaros and Deakin-Crick 2007, p. 436). “some students were constrained because they did not have the subject specific vocabulary they needed across the curriculum subjects to develop their understanding of different concepts”. (Ofsted 2011, p4-5).

So what does the GEOGRAPHY ‘curriculum’ look like in some schools? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkXeJDHE6C0

So where’s the geography? ‘Powerful disciplinary knowledge’ (Young 2008)… towards ‘Future 3’. ‘Specialised’: created and argued over within academic disciplines ‘Evidence based’: it represents the ‘best’ knowledge available in that subject. It is not a given; it can be replaced by ‘better’ knowledge. It is not ‘everyday’ knowledge but requires deep thought and sustained engagement. The development of powerful disciplinary knowledge from a subject specialist teacher provides a rationale for a subject based curriculum.

COMMODITY/ STRUCTURAL FEATURES THE CAPABILITY APPROACH: A framework for a powerful knowledge led curriculum COMMODITY/ STRUCTURAL FEATURES CAPABILITY (SET) FUNCTIONING Welfare economics: Sen (1980), Nussbaum (2000) Wellbeing capability Nussbaum (2000) Life. Bodily Health. Bodily Integrity. Senses, Imagination, and Thought. Humanities capability (Hinchcliffe 2006) Critical Examination and Judgement. Narrative imagination. Recognition/concern for others (citizenship in a globalised world). Educational capability (Terzi 2005) Literacy. Numeracy. Sociality and participation.

KNOWLEDGE BASED CAPABILITY: The subject of geography- “GeoCapability” Geography capability (Lambert 2011) Overall, it can be argued, a capability perspective on geography in education evokes a subject that can contribute to young people’s: An expression of the powerful disciplinary knowledge of geography on which a young person’s capability can depend.

My research: How useful is GeoCapability as a framework for Future 3 curriculum thinking in geography? 1. How do the ‘structural features’ of education promote curriculum making in geography? 2. How can capability develop student agency? 3. What contribution does geographical knowledge make to the development of capability? Methodology: Empirical base to conceptual discussion; new knowledge informs my understanding. 2 schools (Freemen’s and London Academy of Excellence): 16 semi structured interviews (teachers, school leaders, parents, governors, pupil groups). Content analysis- coding and reduction to 5 themes. Teacher workshop- narrative creation. 5 themes: Aims of Education Structural Features of curriculum Power and control of education Subject disciplines and the curriculum School geographical knowledge

So… how can the concept of GeoCapability help geography teachers?

GeoCapability: Curriculum thinking for Geography Teachers

GeoCapability: Curriculum thinking for Geography Teachers GeoCapabilities ensures geography teachers plan a significant geographical knowledge content into lessons (and lessons are not therefore simply a vehicle for key skills). GeoCapabilities places geography, and other subjects at the heart of a curriculum. Any attempt to reduce teaching time for geography (e.g. to create humanities) can be resisted- pupils will not develop the PDK of geography (or history…) To develop GeoCapabilities, highly qualified and well trained geography teachers are needed. These are subject specialists, working with their knowledge of their subject and its educational potential. To explore these ideas further… www.geocapabilities.org Training modules- INSET and CPD programmes.