Geography National Curriculum Research Articles

The Contents and Characters of Geography National Curriculum in Singapore

The Contents and Characters of Geography National Curriculum in Singapore

Perspectives on geography education in the Czech National Curriculum

The geography curriculum at primary and secondary schools in Czechia is undergoing a revision. This study aims to identify aspects of the current curriculum that may assist in the formulation of recommendations in the revised curriculum. We use a deductive content analysis approach based on Catling’s typology of perspectives on geography education. This typology follows in the tradition of geographical thought and describes, for example, the following categories: Globalist, Earthist, Interactionist, Placeist, and Environmentalist. The findings show inconsistencies and misalignment between the stipulated objectives of geography education and the attainment of targets in the analyzed documents. The Czech geography curriculum exhibits (a) frequent occurrences of the Globalist perspective at secondary-level schools, which emphasizes a simple and non-relational approach to teaching; (b) low congruence between the perspectives stipulated in the curriculum at individual school levels; and (c) low congruence between the perspectives stipulated in the objectives of geography education and in the expected outcomes for individual school levels. Our results attempt to provide implications for the implementation of a new national geography curriculum in Czechia.

영국 지리교육과정에 재현된 지역 서술의 특징과 시사점

본 연구의 목적은 최근 개정된 영국 국가지리교육과정 및 개정 교과서의 지역지리 내용을 비판적으로 분석하고, 향후 우리나라의 미래 지역지리 교육과정 개발에 주는 시사점을 도출하는데 있다. 이를 위해, 교육 철학, 지역지리학, 교육과정 내 최근 연구를 바탕으로 ‘약한 지역지리교육’을 세계 내 실존적 존재인 학생들이 세계 지역과 관계를 맺고, 세계 지역에 대한 책임에 주목하게 할 새로운 미래교육의 틀로 재개념화 한다. 이론적 관점에 따라 개정교육과정의 ‘중동’ 지역 관련 텍스트를 샘플로 분석한 결과, ‘경계’, ‘중심’, ‘비교’와 같은 전략을 통해, 세계 지역을 하나의 동질성을 지닌 전체화된 실체로 재현하고 있으며, 개별 주제별로는 상호 분절, 고정된 이미지로 ‘타자화’시키고 있었다. 연구결과를 바탕으로, 세계 지역에 대한 참여와 책임을 지원하는 미래 지역지리 교육을 위한 두 가지 시사점을 제안한다. 첫째, 교수학습내용 측면에서 지역의 복잡, 다양한 차이를 공평하고 정의롭게 다루어야 한다. 둘째, 교수학습방법 측면에서 전통적 지역지리의 균열 사이에 새로운 타자들의 도래를 민주적으로 허용할 해체적 전략이 필요하다.

Integrating Spatial Technology into Fieldtrips within Elementary Geography Education

Thanks to the rapid development of spatial technology, people can now easily access global geographic information. Geography education in schools faces the need to integrate spatial technology with fieldwork. The purpose of this research is to combine geospatial information and fieldtrips to promote elementary-school students’ learning in the national geography curriculum. During a GIS camp, students were taught to use Google Earth, Google Maps and desktop GIS. They were then guided to do fieldwork and mapping of their local area so that they would know how to geotag interesting local spots by themselves. Observation and questionnaires were used to understand the students’ learning progress. Sketch-map analysis was adopted to evaluate the development of their map skills and geography capability. The results indicated that students’ map skills and geography knowledge increased. Students actively participated in the activities and showed a positive attitude towards learning using Google Maps and Google Earth rather than GIS software.

Secondary Geography and the Australian Curriculum – directions in school implementation: a comparative study

ABSTRACTAt first glance, the introduction of a national curriculum for Australian schools suggested a new era of revival for school geography. Since the late 1980s, the development and introduction of more integrated conceptions of curriculum design and implementation has seen the decline of Geography as a distinct subject in Australian schools, with statewide guidelines or frameworks that promoted the integration of Geography along with History into Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE). The approval of the Australian Curriculum: Geography design in late 2013, therefore, offered some degree of optimism that Geography would be revived as a distinctive area of learning in the secondary environment.Utilising a qualitative comparative case study of three Victorian secondary schools, this paper argues that the hopes of renewal engendered by the institution of an agreed national Geography curriculum have been confronted by the reality of school curriculum and governance processes, in which existing local staff structures and priorities are more of an imperative in school-based Geography curriculum decision-making than policy-driven curriculum change.

A Reflective Study on Development Processes of 2015 Geography National Curriculum for Elementary School

A Reflective Study on Development Processes of 2015 Geography National Curriculum for Elementary School

The Development Process and Main Characteristics of 2015 Revised Korean Geography National Curriculum

The Development Process and Main Characteristics of 2015 Revised Korean Geography National Curriculum

Australian primary in-service teachers’ conceptions of geography

This paper reports on the second part of a two pronged qualitative investigation that examines the ways in which Australian primary teachers conceptualise geography and geography teaching. In the first part of the project, 47 pre-service primary teachers were surveyed. In this paper, I draw on interviews with six in-service primary teachers to explore their experiences, conceptions and perceptions of geography. The findings indicate a noticeable difference between the conceptions of geography held by experienced teachers and those of early career, in-service teachers. Similar to the pre-service teachers studied in part one of this study, the early career teachers had a narrow, information-oriented conception of geography and geography education. Conversely, the experienced teachers portrayed more complex, relational and process-oriented perspectives. The paper concludes by exploring some of the implications for the implementation of the new National geography curriculum in Australia.

Australian primary pre-service teachers’ conceptions of geography

This article reports on the results of a survey of Australian primary pre-service teachers’ experiences, conceptions and perceptions of geography. Research was conducted with two cohorts of undergraduate primary pre-service teachers; one group in second year and another in the final year of a four-year teacher education course. The findings show congruence with similar studies conducted in the UK and indicate that pre-service teachers had a very narrow conception of geography and geography education; a conception that was information-oriented and focused on broad knowledge about the world and locational knowledge and skills. The article concludes by exploring some of the implications for the implementation of the new national geography curriculum in Australia and for primary pre-service geography teacher education more broadly.

The Characteristics of 2014 Revision of Geography National Curriculum in UK and Its Implications

The Characteristics of 2014 Revision of Geography National Curriculum in UK and Its Implications

Key Competencies and their Characters of the National Geography Curriculum in New Zealand

본 연구에서는 뉴질랜드 지리교육과정의 핵심역량과 그 특성을 살펴보았다. 지리교육과정은 뉴질랜드 교육과정에서 추구하는 비전, 원리와 가치를 충실히 반영하고 있었다. 특히 지리과는 뉴질랜드 교육과정이 지향하는 사회통합에 기여 가능성이 큼을 보여주었다. 지리교육과정에서는 뉴질랜드 교육과정의 핵심 역량인 사고력을 신장시키기 위하여 자연환경과 인문환경의 특성, 인간과 환경의 상호작용 및 그 과정이라는 지리과의 사고방식을 강조하였다. 그리고 지리과의 주요 내용 지식을 바탕으로 지역 및 장소 간의 상대적 관점에 대한 이해 능력을 신장시켜 타인과의 관계 맺기의 핵심 역량에 기여하였다. 지리교육과정은 가치 탐구 등을 통하여 사회문제에 적극적으로 참여하고 학생들의 사회적 기여를 이끌어 냄으로써, 즉 다양한 관점과 시각을 이해하고 존중할 수 있는 기회를 제공함으로써 참여와 기여의 핵심역량을 다루고 있었다. 그러나 핵심 역량 중심의 지리교육과정을 학교 수준에서 원활하게 적용하기 위해서는 탄력적인 국가 지리교육과정을 제공할 필요가 있다. 또한 국가교육과정이 제시한 핵심역량이 학교 수준의 교육과정과 수업에서 어떻게 적용되고 있는지를 살펴볼 필요가 있다.

A possibilist analysis of the geography national curriculum in England

This article presents an analysis of the national curriculum for geography as it has evolved in England since its inception in 1991 following the Education Reform Act of 1988. Whilst the main contents of our original analysis are provided by way of a table, enabling the reader ready access to the broad trends we identify in how geography has been expressed in the national curriculum over a period of some 25 years, the main purpose of the article is to focus on the current reforms in England. This takes the form of a brief, and yet precise, “knowledge-led” national curriculum programme of study introduced to a radically marketised school system in which choice and local autonomy are emphasised and encouraged. Our discussion leads us to speculate on the possibility of teachers reclaiming professional responsibility for the curriculum rather than the state, based on a progressive discipline oriented vision of geography in education.

The reform of national geography standards in South Korea – trends, challenges and responses

The purpose of this article is to examine recent changes in the geography national curriculum in South Korea through the lenses of three curriculum components that often find themselves in competition – subject content, educational processes and national/social purposes. In recent years, the prevailing national and social aims outlined for the school curriculum, coupled with newly introduced educational processes, have dominated debate about curriculum development in South Korea. These trends have created an essentially unhealthy environment for geography education – the number of students opting for geography courses has declined; the geography curriculum is in danger of being restructured around new axes of competency; and only certain aspects of geographical subject content (such as territorial issues) are selectively promoted. We conclude that with South Korean education policies being strongly influenced by neoliberal and market forces, geography teachers may need to adopt a more proactive stance with regard to curriculum change. The grassroots reform movement ‘Sipsiilban’, initiated by a handful of Korean geography teachers, has recently taken geography curriculum matters into their own hands and developed alternative geography curricula and textbooks.

Developing a national geography curriculum for Australia

Australia is in the process of implementing a national geography curriculum to replace the separate state and territory curriculums. The paper describes the process of curriculum development, and identifies the different groups that were involved. These included the board and staff of the national curriculum authority, geography teachers across Australia, the state and territory curriculum bodies and a great variety of interest groups. It analyses some of the issues on which there were differences of opinion, such as how to describe the concepts, and some of the debates over what content to include, such as what place knowledge or skills to teach. The paper ends with a brief assessment of the curriculum and of the roles of the various groups in determining its content.

Same old story: the problem of object-based thinking as a basis for teaching distant places

The English Geography National Curriculum encourages primary teachers to focus on similarities and differences when teaching distant places. The issues this raises are particularly acute when teaching geography in the context of the Global South. In this article I argue that comparisons based on object-based thinking can lead to views of the ‘Other’ that undermine attempts to challenge stereotypes and develop positive attitudes towards difference. Relational thinking is proposed as an alternative, where difference is seen as a relation rather than a distinction. Drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council research project, these alternative ways of thinking are explored through research participants' constructions of culture and identity during study visits to Southern India and The Gambia. The implications for primary teachers are considered.

Framing the geography national curriculum

ABSTRACTThis article looks briefly at the background development of geography in successive versions of the national curriculum, before focusing on the GA's recent campaign for geography. Initially this sought to make the case for disciplined subject knowledge, fit for a 21st-century curriculum, and so to counter the erosion of geography in English schools; with the 2010 election of the coalition government, the GA's campaign developed into a sophisticated and ultimately successful attempt to secure geography's place in a revised national curriculum. The article analyses the draft proposals for the new geography national curriculum (GNC) in relation to the government's curriculum aims, and compared with the GA's own proposals.With the perspective of a quarter of a century, it is possible to see several intriguing parallels between the origins of the first GNC and the GA's response to it, and to ask questions about the place and purpose of the national curriculum such as the balance between central prescription and professional judgement, and the idea of entitlement. It suggests that the GA's approach to disciplined ‘curriculum making’ may ultimately be a more sustainable one.

지리교육과정의 성취목표와 국가수준학업성취도 평가의 평가목표의 비교분석: Bloom의 신교육목표분류학에 근거하여

Bloom의 교육목표 분류학은 분류 기준의 모호성, 불명확한 유목의 심리학적 속성, 위계 구조의 불일치와 같은 몇몇 단점들과 현실적 한계들로 인해 비판을 받아왔다. 이에 따라 Bloom의 신교육목표분류학이 고안되었으며, 이미 외국에서는 신교육목표분류체계를 교육 목표 설정, 교수 과정, 평가의 단계에 적용하고 있다. 따라서 신교육목표체계를 이용하여 지리 교육과정에서 제시하고 있는 성취목표와 학업성취도 평가의 평가목표를 분석하는 것은 교육의 과정에서 목표가 올바르게 설정되었는지, 평가가 설정된 교육 목표의 성취를 평가하고 있는 있는지 확인하는데 유용하다. 신교육목표체계를 이용하여 분석한 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 지리 교육과정은 지식의 차원에서 ‘사실적 지식’을 주로 다루고 있으며, 지리 교과의 특성을 살릴 수 있는 ‘절차적 지식’의 비중은 낮다. 인지과정 차원에서는 ‘이해하다’가 주로 제시되어 있다. 둘째, 학업 성취도 평가 문항은 지식의 차원에서는 ‘사실적 지식’,‘개념적 지식’이, 인지과정 차원에서는 ‘기억하다’가 높은 비율로 제시되었다.

The National Geography Curriculum for Basic Education in Portugal: Theory and Practices by Geography Teachers

Centered on issues related to the National Geography Curriculum for Basic Education in Portugal this paper explores the (re)interpretations by Geography teachers trained at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto in the implementation of the National Curriculum, that is, in their teaching practices.

Curriculum knowledge and justice: content, competency and concept

This study is interested in understanding the configurations of knowledge underpinning three examples of curriculum policy texts in the specific case of the school subject of geography. The three policy texts are the 1991 Geography National Curriculum (GNC), the ‘Opening minds’ curriculum and the GNC 2007. I start with the proposal that each selected text promotes a particular type of knowledge, namely: content, competency and concept. I argue that deconstructive reading of three policy texts reveals what are assumed to be legitimate knowledge discourses as well as what is overlooked in each tidy curriculum scheme. I engage the help of the post‐structuralist thinker Jacques Derrida in this deconstructive undertaking. The study demonstrates how the 1991 ‘content’ curriculum privileges a western European view of the world; how the 1999 ‘competency’ curriculum overlooks the politics and ethics of knowledge by focusing on an economistic, outcomes‐driven technical view of knowledge; and how the ‘concept’ curriculum offers opportunities for deconstructive reading while at the same time indicating an unproblematical commitment to conflated and assumedly neutral approaches to knowledge. Opening up curriculum texts to deconstructive reading shows language as insecure and reveals spaces for the incoming of more just ways of thinking about the world.

(Re)Interpretations by Teachers of the National Geography Curriculum for Primary Education in Portugal

In Portugal, the Curriculo Nacional do Ensino Basico [National Curriculum for Primary Education] was published in 2001. This document reorganises primary level education from a curricular point of view. It is a key reference document for curricular management in Portuguese schools and outlines guidelines for the whole set of educational experiences as well as the core and specific skills that students are to develop in each subject or subject area. Since the implementation of this curriculum reorganisation, working documents have been produced by the Geography Department of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto, reflecting the interpretation of documents issued by the Ministry of Education and providing guidelines regarding teacher training in this subject area. These documents were shared among students, future teachers and also trainee supervisors during training sessions. Centred on issues concerning the National Curriculum for Primary Education and Curriculum Guidelines for Geography, this paper aims to present not only the reasons that led the authors of the Geography Curriculum to provide certain options, but also the (re) interpretations made by Geography teachers who graduated from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto as regards the fulfilment of the prescribed curriculum at national level, that is, in their professional teaching practice.