Powerful Geography

In recent years the emphasis has shifted away from a focus on pedagogy (the how of teaching) and towards curriculum (the what of teaching). Ofsted's revised inspection framework reflects this shift, and their plans to -deep dive- into subject areas - meaning that teachers and department heads now need a much greater understanding of curricular structures - leave many educators having to think about their subject in new ways. Luckily for geography teachers, however, bestselling author Mark Enser provides plenty of insightful, subject-specific guidance in this all-encompassing book. Mark explores both the purpose of the geography curriculum and its various applications in practice. He details how teachers can take their students' learning beyond the acquisition of knowledge to transform how they see the world. He also tackles the changing nature of school geography, shares a variety of case studies, and offers his take on how best to facilitate geographical enquiry and fieldwork. The first part of the book considers the issue of purpose by looking at the role of the school in society and then shows the place that geography occupies within it. It also considers the history of the subject so as to help geography teachers better understand where they stand today, and concludes by discussing how the concepts of powerful knowledge and GeoCapabilities can help them find their way again. The second part is a practical guide which illustrates how to put this theory of curriculum purpose into practice. It explores the steps which must be taken to create a powerful geography curriculum by deciding on content and places to be studied, putting the components into a sequence and then using all this to do geography. It will also discuss the extent to which teachers need to consider the future and respond to the concerns of the wider world when planning the curriculum. Suitable for department heads and classroom teachers of geography in secondary schools and subject leads in primary schools. Powerful Geography was Highly Commended in the Geographical Association Awards 2022.

Powerful Primary Geography: A Toolkit for 21st-Century Learning explores the need for children to understand the modern world and their place in it. Dedicated to helping teachers inspire children’s love of place, nature and geographical adventures through facilitating children’s voice and developing their agency, this book explores the way playful opportunities can be created for children to learn how to think geographically, to solve real-life problems and to apply their learning in meaningful ways to the world around them. Based on the very latest research, Powerful Primary Geography helps children understand change, conflict and contemporary issues influencing their current and future lives and covers topics such as: • Weather and climate change • Sustainability • Engaging in their local and global community • Graphicacy, map work and visual literacy • Understanding geography through the arts. Including several case studies from primary schools in Ireland, this book will help aid teachers, student teachers and education enthusiasts in preparing children for dealing with the complex nature of our contemporary world through artistic and thoughtful geography. Facilitating children’s engagement as local, national and global citizens ensures geography can be taught in a powerful and meaningful manner.

Powerful Primary Geography: A Toolkit for 21st-Century Learning explores the need for children to understand the modern world and their place in it. Dedicated to helping teachers inspire children's love of place, nature and geographical adventures through facilitating children's voice and developing their agency, this book explores the way playful opportunities can be created for children to learn how to think geographically, to solve real-life problems and to apply their learning in meaningful ways to the world around them. Based on the very latest research, Powerful Primary Geography helps children understand change, conflict and contemporary issues influencing their current and future lives and covers topics such as: * Weather and climate change * Sustainability * Engaging in their local and global community * Graphicacy, map work and visual literacy * Understanding geography through the arts. Including several case studies from primary schools in Ireland, this book will help aid teachers, student teachers and education enthusiasts in preparing children for dealing with the complex nature of our contemporary world through artistic and thoughtful geography. Facilitating children's engagement as local, national and global citizens ensures geography can be taught in a powerful and meaningful manner.

Mark Enser's 'Making Every Geography Lesson Count: Six principles to support great geography teaching' maps out the key elements of effective geography teaching and shows teachers how to develop their students' conceptual and contextual understanding of the subject over time.What sets geography apart from other subjects is the value placed on seeing the connections between the different parts of its broad curriculum, on building links between different topics, and on thinking like a geographer. Writing in the practical, engaging style of the award-winning 'Making Every Lesson Count', Mark Enser has set out to help his fellow practitioners maximise this value by combining the time-honoured wisdom of excellent geography teachers with the most useful evidence from cognitive science.'Making Every Geography Lesson Count' is underpinned by six pedagogical principls challenge, explanation, modelling, practice, feedback and questioning hat will enable teachers to ensure that students leave their lessons with an improved knowledge of the world, a better understanding of how it works and the geographical skills to support their learning.Each chapter looks at one of the six principles and begins with twin scenarios which illustrate some of the real challenges faced in geography classrooms. Mark then delves into a discussion on the underpinning theory and offers a range of practical, gimmick-free strategies designed to help teachers overcome these obstacles. Furthermore, each chapter also ends with a case study from a fellow geography teacher who has successfully employed the principle in their own classroom.Written for new and experienced practitioners alike, this all-encompassing book offers an inspiring alternative to restrictive Ofsted-driven definitions of great teaching and empowers geography teachers to deliver great lessons and celebrate high-quality practice.Suitable for geography teachers of students aged to 18 years.

This book explores the pivotal role that geography as a school subject plays in helping every young person achieve their educational potential. Expressed as ‘GeoCapabilities’, this concept draws on the the capabilities approach developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum applied to curriculum thinking in schools. While traditional subjects have often been deemed irrelevant and outdated in an overcrowded secondary school curriculum, subjects like geography have often been lost or combined with others to fulfil a broad skills agenda. More recent talk of a ‘knowledge led’ curriculum can often lead to the recitation of facts at the expense of developing deeper understanding. This book argues the concept of powerful geographical knowledge, based on the work of Michael Young and David Lambert, invests the subject of geography with its educational potential: this forms the basis of GeoCapabilities. GeoCapabilities focuses on both what is being taught and why, and as such provides a framework of curriculum thinking which will be of interest and value to geography teachers, school leaders with curriculum development responsibilities and all those interested in the capability approach and the moral imperative of education.

Debates in Geography Education encourages student and practising teachers to engage with and reflect on key issues, concepts and debates in their specialist subject teaching. It aims to enable geography teachers to reach their own informed judgements and argue their point of view with deeper theoretical knowledge and understanding. Expert editors and contributors provide a balance of experience and perspectives and offer international, historical and policy contexts, evidence informed classroom debates and a glimpse of the subject’s expanding horizons. Debates considered include: what constitutes knowledge in geography? constructing the curriculum; how do we link assessment to making progress in geography? the contribution of fieldwork and outdoor experiences; technology and media; how we use Geographical Information; how geography contributes to ‘global learning’; sustainable development and geography education. The comprehensive, rigorous coverage of these key issues, together with carefully annotated selected further reading, reflective questions and a range of specific web-based resources, will help support shape your own research and writing. Debates in Geography Education is a source of knowledge, experience and debate that will be essential reading for all students studying at Masters level, practising teachers who want to develop a better understanding of the issues that shape their practice, and Education Studies students considering in-depth subject teaching.

When war devastates their country, a boy and his parents are forced to flee to another country far east, where they must live in a small room shared with another couple. Food is scarce. But one day, when father goes to the bazaar to buy bread, he comes home with a map instead. The boy and his mother are furious, they are so hungry! But the map floods their cheerless room with colour. The boy becomes fascinated by it and is transported far away without ever leaving the room. Father was right to buy it, after all.