1st Edition

Research and Debate in Primary Geography

Edited By Simon Catling Copyright 2015
    296 Pages
    by Routledge

    260 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book brings together recent papers which make important contributions to understanding and developing primary geography. It considers primary teachers’ and trainee teachers’ knowledge of geography; how the primary curriculum uses geography; teachers’ planning of geography teaching; the way in which aspects of geography are taught; what high quality geography might look like; and children’s geographical understanding and voices.

    Though geography curricula change quite often in countries around the world, the core matters noted above remain of constant and vital importance. The papers in this book either concern research with primary teachers and children, or consider key concerns in primary geography, providing important perspectives for thinking about future developments in geography teaching and curriculum initiatives in primary schools. This is a stimulating and enticing collection written by leading exponents of, and experts in, primary geography education. This book was originally published as a special issue of Education 3-13.

    1. Introduction: Thinking about primary geography Simon Catling

    2. Enquiring into primary teachers’ geographical knowledge Simon Catling and Emma Morley

    3. English primary trainee teachers’ perceptions of geography Emma Morley

    4. Contesting powerful knowledge: the primary geography curriculum as an articulation between academic and children’s (ethno-) geographies Simon Catling and Fran Martin

    5. Ethnogeography: towards liberatory geography education Fran Martin

    6. More than just core knowledge? A framework for effective and high-quality primary geography Paula Owens

    7. Geography and creativity: developing joyful and imaginative learners Stephen Scoffham

    8. Subject-based and cross-curricular approaches within the revised primary curriculum in Northern Ireland: teachers’ concerns and preferred approaches Richard Greenwood

    9. Teachers’ perspectives on curriculum making in Primary Geography in England Simon Catling

    10. Children researching their urban environment: developing a methodology Elisabeth Barratt Hacking and Robert Barratt

    11. My Place: Exploring children’s place-related identities through reading and writing Emma Charlton, Gabrielle Cliff Hodges, Pam Pointon, Maria Nikolajeva, Erin Spring, Liz Taylor and Dominic Wyse

    12. Same old story: the problem of object-based thinking as a basis for teaching distant places Fran Martin

    13. ‘They are like us’ – teaching about Europe through the eyes of children Daniela Schmeinck

    14. Giving younger children voice in primary geography: empowering pedagogy – a personal perspective Simon Catling

    Biography

    Simon Catling taught in London primary schools before moving to Oxford Brookes University in the 1980s, serving as Dean and Assistant Dean in the 1990s and 2000s. He is a Past-President of the Geographical Association, author of Mapstart and Teaching Primary Geography (with Tessa Willy).

    “[Research and Debate in Primary Geography] is both encouraging and challenging to enthusiastic teachers in training, new teachers, experienced team leaders and all involved in any ways with curriculum development. The research covered in the book is so extensive that it also provides many valuable insights for teachers of secondary geography as well as the primary teachers, which is its main focus. … The book would clearly be a valuable resource to both students and lecturers in education faculties, but it would be stimulating for all teachers of geography, whatever age levels they teach and whatever experience they have had.” --John Butler OAM, Geographical Education