Connecting children's and young people's geographies and geography education

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore the fruitful synergies that exist between geography education and research within children’s and young people’s geographies. We draw upon two case studies – one about ethnic minority children and young people, and another about young people’s transitions to university – to consider what geography education and education more generally might learn from children’s geographies, and vice versa. We argue that connecting these two fields’ matters in many ways; we advocate that there are three key beneficiaries. First – and primarily – this matters to and for children and young people as it foregrounds their lived experiences in ways that are of potential benefits for geography educators such as teachers. Second, it matters to and for education as it can help to foreground children’s voices and experiences for geography educators as well as realising the democratic potential within education. Third, the nexus of geography education and children’s and young people’s geographies matters for society as it helps in identifying inequalities experienced by children and young people, how these may be reinforced by unhelpful practices, and how these may be overcome through utilising the synergies between these two fields.