‘What is this curriculum doing to my subject?’ Using geographical questions to interpret the CAPS curriculum

Abstract

An important aspect of preparing pre-service teachers is to develop their understanding of what constitutes meaningful learning in the study of Geography. This understanding is necessary for prospective and practising Social Science and Geography teachers to interpret existing and changing curricula as thinking professionals. This paper argues that there are several organising concepts that make classroom learning geographical in nature. These are place, spatial distribution, spatial processes, and human-environment interactions. The paper draws on the nature of geographical enquiry to consider what questions could steer classroom learning. This set of questions is then used as a lens to reflect on the way in which the current national curriculum (namely, CAPS) supports (and sometimes constrains) learners’ development of geographical thinking. To teach Geography effectively, Social Science teachers need to identify the central concepts they foreground in their lessons, as well as how to develop geographical thinking around those concepts. I suggest that teachers need to regard themselves first as subject experts, and then as interpreters of curricula, in order to be able to interpret the geographical nature of the content to be taught.