Children's personal geographies and the English primary school geography curriculum

Abstract

There is limited recognition of the role that children's geographies play in the English primary school geography curriculum. Children's personal geographies of the classroom and playground are largely unnoticed by teachers and their impacts and potential are ignored. While this is less the case in relation to children's personal geographies of the local environment, the requirements of national curriculum geography for younger children are enacted largely through an adult interpretation of the world-at-hand and only in a limited way make use of children's experience, perspectives and interpretations to deepen a largely descriptive geography of place. It is argued that this discontinuity between real lives and the school curriculum can be challenged and overcome in both the formal and informal school geography curriculum. The danger, though, of turning children's geographies into an alternative content for geography is countered through the involvement of children in the decision-making processes about their geographical studies, even within the context of a national curriculum. This demands a greater trust, openness and flexibility in curriculum making with primary teachers.