Recontextualising knowledge for school geography Steve

‘geographical knowledge…has been marginalised by the exigencies of everyday practice and the imperatives of policy.’ (Firth, 2011, p.312)

‘thinking skills, learning to learn and the emotional dimensions of learning [have] assumed more immediate or urgent attention than a critical gaze on the material content of lessons.’ (Morgan and Lambert, 2011, p.281)

Degrees of recontextualisation: a model to describe, analyse, and stimulate critical discussion of knowledge

Teachers’ knowledge work Dewey – ‘psychologising’ Schwab – ‘translation’ Bruner – ‘translation’ Bernstein – ‘recontextualisation’

Less Recontextualisation More Recontextualisation

One degree Teachers described taking, copying, stealing, and robbing material used at one degree: ‘actually, it’s the selection that is as relevant as anything else’ (Claire, interview 2:36).

Two degrees: complementing ‘the fact that…the two sources don’t contradict each other again adds credence to what they’re saying’ (Richard, interview 2:104).

Two degrees: contradicting Which one is real? Which is fake?

Three degrees Teachers described this as manipulating, arranging, taking out [the data], getting [the information], and cutting and pasting.

Four degrees Described by teachers in terms of summarising, simplifying, reducing, and making text accessible.

Five degrees Teachers described absorbing knowledge; sources and experiences which have developed strongly held beliefs underneath.

Disciplined judgement: ‘publicly explaining reasons for belief and then scrutinizing those reasons.’ (Stemhagen et al., 2013, p.59)

LESS RECONTEXTUALISATION MORE RECONTEXTUALISATION (1) Authority (primarily) with/from the resource (5) Authority (primarily) with/from the teacher

Testimony, perception & deductive reason

Where was this knowledge found? To what degree has it been recontextualised? Through what processes has it been recontextualised? What modes of legitimation are appealed to? (reasons for beliefs)

What are the implications of recontextualising knowledge to different degrees? In what ways do students engage with different degrees of recontextualised knowledge? Are there shifts in degrees of recontextualisationacross topics? Key stages? What ‘reasons for beliefs’ should we be seeking to ‘publicly explain’?