1. Curriculum making through a GeoCapabilities approach: Practical advice for teachers
Richard Bustin
Head of Geography, City of London Freemen’s School.
Doctoral Student, UCL IoE.
GeoCapabilities project partner.

2. 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?

3. What’s the problem? (my observations)
‘Aimless’ National Curriculum
Changing nature of curriculum
‘Corruption’ of the curriculum…
Reducing importance of knowledge in schools: e.g. ‘Geography’
‘Ofsted’ lesson observation criteria
Lack of subject knowledge required in teacher training/ education
Teacher training and preparation
‘Knowledge Turn’
New GCSE/ A-Level courses

4. What can ‘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).

5. So where’s the geography?
‘Powerful disciplinary knowledge’ (Young 2008)
‘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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. So… how useful is the concept of GeoCapability for geography teachers?
Geography teacher workshop

11. Knowledge based capabilities beyond the Geo…