Standish, A;
(2018)
What to Teach? Conceptualising a Geography Curriculum.
Journal of Geographical Research
, 68
pp. 73-88.
10.6234/JGR.201805_(68).0004.
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Abstract
Starting from the premise that a curriculum must be about knowledge, this article notes the marginalisation of disciplinary knowledge in the Anglo-American school curriculum in recent decades and how contemporary approaches to knowledge (constructivism, instrumentalism and neo-conservatism) are deficient some respect. Instead, the theory of social realism is proposed as a better way to understand the significance of disciplinary knowledge to the education of children and how it can be re-contextualised in the school curriculum. Social realism takes a sociological and epistemological approach to knowledge, moving beyond the positivist/constructivist divide. Geography’s epistemology is examined as comprising systematic geography (propositional knowledge), regional/place-based geography (contextual knowledge) and methods (procedural knowledge), and the relations between each explored. Inducting students into geography depends upon a foundational understanding of all three types of knowledge. Therefore, a robust school curriculum must be constructed with all three knowledge types such that students can enter into its conceptual framework and ways of thinking. Finally, the use of knowledge types in geography curriculum and assessment documents in the UK is discussed.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | What to Teach? Conceptualising a Geography Curriculum |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.6234/JGR.201805_(68).0004 |
Publisher version: | http://en.ntnu.edu.tw/index.php |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
Keywords: | curriculum, disciplinary knowledge, epistemology, social realism |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10050295 |
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