Spatial Citizenship Research Articles

Locating the potential development of spatial ability in the Swedish national curriculum

There exists a plethora of studies that have related pupils’ spatial ability to their academic achievement and problem-solving skills, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. However, little is known about how spatial ability could be presented in a national curriculum. To increase the awareness and intention to develop pupils' spatial ability within the national curriculum, the compulsory curriculum document from the Swedish National Agency for Education which details all subject syllabi is examined and analysed using a content analysis method. The results show that two major dimensions could be used to locate the potential spatial ability development within the curriculum. The first is a visual dimension, which manifests as three different visual components: graphical, pictorial, and manufactured. The second is an epistemic dimension, which describes how pupils' different types of spatial knowledge can be nurtured, and inductively described as conceptual, procedural, and spatial citizenship knowledge. A three-by-three matrix framework is created based on the above dimensions and components. Policymakers and educators in Sweden, as well as in other countries, may draw insights from the framework created by this study and adapt it to educational practice, particularly in the realm of developing students' spatial ability through curriculum design and classroom instruction.

Mapping in the Context of Primary Social and Science Education: Children, Participation and Spatial Power Relations

Abstract This paper focuses on how children perceive (public) space and the power dynamics within them. The concept of “Education for Spatial Citizenship” (Schulze et al., 2020) is used as a theoretical and methodological framework for promoting life-world-oriented and reflexive learning concerning children’s participation and their roles in public space. The article proposes a mapping-based participatory learning environment, in which children’s desires and visions intersect or conflict with their real-life spatial experiences. The empirical study presented in this article took place in Essen, Germany, and was conducted with a total of 40 primary school children, divided into seven groups. Although the study is rooted in geography education and primary social and science education, the findings of this research are also relevant for civic education and social science education. They offer a broader perspective on student-teacher relationships and interactions in educational settings.

Cultivating spatial citizenship through collaborative mapping: an empirical study on youth engagement in peripheral urban Ecuador

Cultivating spatial citizenship through collaborative mapping: an empirical study on youth engagement in peripheral urban Ecuador

초등예비교사의 공간적 시민성 함양을 위한 커뮤니티매핑 활용 가능성 모색

The purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of using community mapping project to foster spatial citizenship among elementary pre-service teachers. In this study, the pre-service teachers themselves selected a project topic suitable for fostering spatial citizenship, established a plan for implementation, and carried out the project according to the plan. Then, we analyzed the project cases and examined the preservice teachers' responses. As a result of analyzing the pre-service teachers' reflections and project evaluation sheets, the participants were able to analyze social issues from the perspective of spatial citizenship education through the community mapping process and understand the utility of community mapping as a geospatial technology. The following implications and limitations can be drawn. First, it seems that continuous checks and appropriate feedback are necessary to understand spatial attributes such as social organization and relational understanding of space during the project implementation process. Second, it is necessary to expand educational opportunities in elementary education institutions so that pre-service teachers can be equipped with geographic information technology utilization and spatial analysis skills. Third, it is necessary to provide various participation opportunities in connection with the local community so that pre-service teachers can solve real-world problems as spatial citizens. Fourth, it is necessary to find ways to continue utilizing the community mapping results of this project. Fifth, it is necessary to develop a measurement tool to facilitate the identification of spatial citizenship competences. Despite the implications and limitations of this study, this study is meaningful in that it sought to explore the possibility of utilizing a community mapping project to foster spatial citizenship in elementary pre-service teachers.

The Effectiveness of SIHyL (Spatial Inquiry Hybrid Learning) Model in Improving Students’ Spatial Citizenship in Geographic Learning

Geography learning with a spatial perspective should be delivered more openly. Modern geography learning must be capable of taking advantage of social space as a learning experience, with students' spatial citizenship skills by utilizing geomedia technology and geographic information system. The SIHyL model is projected to respond to these challenges. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of SIHyL model in improving students’ spatial citizenship. SIHyL model, for geography learning, is constructive, inquiry, and hybrid. SIHyL model is effective in increasing students' spatial citizenship skills. Effectiveness of the model is proven by the increase in N-Gain score in every prototype test. In terms of effectiveness in SIHyL model after the effect size test, the score of first cycle was 0.809617, while second cycle was 0.706696. Moreover, the score for first prototype test was 1.098876, while second prototype test was 1.547322. Based on the results of effect size test, SIHyL model is effectively applied in geography learning to improve spatial citizenship skills. Students respond to the implementation of SIHyL model to increase spatial citizenship and to show their enthusiasm and satisfaction in following the learning process.

ПУБЛІЧНИЙ ІМІДЖ ГЕОГРАФІЇ В КОНТЕКСТІ ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЇ СТАНДАРТІВ БАЗОВОЇ СЕРЕДНЬОЇ ОСВІТИ: ДОСВІД УКРАЇНИ І СВІТУ

This paper aims at the analysis of basic geographical education standards transformation in Ukraine and foreign countries in the XXI century, and their influence on the public image of geography. The volume and duration of compulsory geography education in Ukraine have gradually reduced. Moreover, in the standards of basic secondary education it was partly included into integrated courses and broad academic fields. It have caused significant transformations of public perception and awareness of geography as a science, academic field, and sphere of career opportunities, led to a decline of public demand for geographers. However, world experience shows that geographical literacy is recognized as an essential condition that increase territorial competitiveness and quality of life, contributes to environment protection, and ensure national security through the development of unique cognitive skills, as spatial thinking, spatial culture, and spatial citizenship. It is argued that transformation and renovation of geography teaching methods and content should include: a) implementation of learning approaches that stimulate interest to study local, regional and international issues and support decision making based on understanding of space and spatial relationships; b) development of educational strategies using innovations and practices of geomedia resources implementation as a digital learning environment; c) regular cartographic support of academic process in geography on the principle of “teaching with GIS, not about GIS”; d) use of active learning techniques for the development of spatial thinking/literacy/ citizenship; e) implementation of projects on landscape structure and perception analysis, based on both traditional techniques (fieldworks, observations, reading and interpreting maps), and new technologies of geomedia resources; f) strengthening the emphasis on understanding of human-environmental interactions in school geography program as a particularly important topic in terms of education for sustainable development.

The Challenges of Application of The Hybrid Learning Model in Geography Learning During The Covid-19 Pandemic

<p>Since the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has occurred, Indonesia has implemented distance learning. Higher education also conducts learning with a hybrid learning model. The hybrid learning model applied is of the full type, meaning that it is carried out fully online. Geography learning that is carried out online is still trying to equip students to increase spatial citizenship skills. This study seeks to find out how the challenges of implementing the hybrid learning model in geography learning in the geography education study program are FKIP UNS. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. The research subjects were second semester students, geography education study program FKIP UNS. The data collection techniques used were interviews, observations and FGD. The result of this research is that geography learning, which is carried out using a hybrid learning model, can effectively achieve mastery of students spatial citizenship skills. The hybrid learning model that is applied must be combined with other platforms such as Zoom Meeting, Moodle, WhatsApp and Open Course Ware.</p>

The Challenges of Application of The Hybrid Learning Model in Geography Learning During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Since the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has occurred, Indonesia has implemented distance learning. Higher education also conducts learning with a hybrid learning model. The hybrid learning model applied is of the full type, meaning that it is carried out fully online. Geography learning that is carried out online is still trying to equip students to increase spatial citizenship skills. This study seeks to find out how the challenges of implementing the hybrid learning model in geography learning in the geography education study program are FKIP UNS. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. The research subjects were second semester students, geography education study program FKIP UNS. The data collection techniques used were interviews, observations and FGD. The result of this research is that geography learning, which is carried out using a hybrid learning model, can effectively achieve mastery of students spatial citizenship skills. The hybrid learning model that is applied must be combined with other platforms such as Zoom Meeting, Moodle, WhatsApp and Open Course Ware.

Bringing geography to the community: community-based learning and the geography classroom.

Community-based learning is a pedagogical technique designed to bring students out of the classroom and into their communities. Students typically pair with local nonprofit organizations to complete work which ties into their scholarship. Faculty, students, and community members can all benefit from these partnerships, and university-community relations are strengthened by them. These connections deepen the educational experience and improve student success and retention, and build civic engagement skills that benefit the university community and the student’s home community (Strait, Turk, and Nordyke in: JR Strait, K Nordyke (eds), Pedagogy Of Civic Engagement, High-Impact Practices, and e-Service- L Earning, Stylus Publishing, Virginian, 2015; Bednarz in Journal of Geography in Higher Education 32:87–100, 2008; Mohan in Journal of Geography in Higher Education 19:129–142, 1995). Spatial citizenship, while vital to such engagement and to effective community participation, is seldom taught in traditional pedagogy (Kanwischer, Schulze, and Gryl in: Thomas Jekel, Adrijana Car, Josef Strobl, and Gerald Griesebner (eds), Spatial citizenship—dimensions of a curriculum, Wichmann Verlag, Berlin, 2012). Connecting place to pedagogy with spatially-enabled learning helps students investigate complex global concepts at a manageable local scale. Geography is an intrinsic part of scholarship, to varying degrees, and spatial thinking can bring added dimension and value to the educational process (Vogler in: Thomas Jekel, Adrijana Car, Josef Strobl, and Gerald Griesebner (eds), Wichmann Verlag, Berlin, 2012). The intersectionalities which exist within the community, when examined with a spatial lens, are the core of community geography, a praxis-focused method of engaged scholarship (Shannon in Progress in Human Geography, 10.1177/0309132520961468, 2020). Community-based learning is not clearly defined, yet some established models exist. Place-based learning communities move cohorts of students through a curriculum that is centered on local community issues, with the community as both laboratory and lens, and building place attachment (Schweizer, Davis, and Thompson in Environmental Communication 7:42–62, 2013). Service learning, while less clearly defined, typically involves direct work with community organizations, identifying, investigating, and contributing to solutions for local issues (Strait, Turk, and Nordyke in: JR Strait, K Nordyke (eds), Pedagogy Of Civic Engagement, High-Impact Practices, and e-Service- L Earning, Stylus Publishing, Virginian, 2015; Cal Corps Public Service in Designing Community-Based Courses, 1–45, 2015). Built around the concept of place, the added dimension of improved spatial citizenship benefits both community and students. This paper will review community-based learning as practiced through upper-division service learning courses in geography at two universities, and the development of a new course, as methods of engagement with local communities through a spatial lens.

DEVELOPING A GEO-GAME APPLICATION FOR GLOBAL CONNECTIONS IN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING: GEZGİN CASE

This study investigated the developmental process of a dynamic geo-game, Gezgin, which was developed by the researcher based on the Four-Component Instructional Design (4C/ID) Model, and its benefits in the acquisitions, values and skills of the Global Connections learning area of the social studies curriculum applied in Turkey. It also determined Gezgin’s reflecting acquisitions, values, and skills, as well associal studies education experts’ opinions about Gezgin. A case study approach was adopted and five experts participated. The data collection lasted for approximately fourteen months due to the development process of Gezgin. Most of this process coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic period. The data were descriptively analysed and the experts’ evaluations were subjected to content analysis. Findings indicated that Gezgin mostly reflected the acquisitions, values, and skills of Global Connections learning area and could support the curriculum as a studying environment, create various experiences, materialise theoretical knowledge, and that it co uld be tested on students. It was also understood that values, primarily, and skills and acquisitions, subsequently, were mostly supported. Although the results of the study revealed similarities with the results of other studies in scientific literature, it differed from them as a large platform where the acquisitions, values, and skills of a learning field were reflected. The results indicated that geo-games should be used to support other learning areas, develop high-level skills, and create a level of awareness in accordance with spatial citizenship skills.

Algorithmic Cultures: A Missing Link of Spatial Citizenship Education

This article addresses the current challenges for geographical educational science brought about by algorithmic cultures. It argues from different theoretical perspectives. First, we discuss sociological, cultural and geographical perspectives on algorithmic cultures and link them to selected approaches of media education in general and geographical media education in particular. We conclude from the discussion that Spatial Citizenship Education is especially suitable to address the challenges. This leads to the question of what aspects of Spatial Citizenship Education need to be supplemented to address algorithmic cultures. We therefore examined the curriculum of Spatial Citizenship Education. The analysis demonstrated that the approach is a sound basis for coping with the developments seen in the context of algorithmic cultures. Nevertheless, algorithmic cultures are accompanied by some changes in social and geographical structures that have not yet been captured by the approach. For example, there is no consideration of geomedia as algorithmic, semi-autonomous systems. Further implications also emerge. In this context, the investigation into the practicability and relevance of algorithmic cultures for the practical learning process is of particular interest.

‘This is a Great Place for Children. Here, They Can Play, Do What They Want, Have Fun and Other Things.’ Mapping Primary School Children’s Everyday Spaces

This article presents empirical findings from a learning environment based on education for Spatial Citizenship (Gryl & Jekel, 2012; Schulze et al., 2015) conducted with primary school children (6 to 10 years of age) in the city of Essen, Germany. In workshops comprising three stages, participants used an easy-to-use mapping application to trace significant places and objects in their school surroundings in relation to the workshops’ overall topic of envisioning designs and features of a ‘city for children’. This paper focuses on the analysis of collaborative maps created from children’s perspectives on urban space in their own life-worlds.

WebGIS Implementation and Effectiveness in Secondary Education Using the Digital Atlas for Schools

The Digital Atlas for Schools is an innovative WebGIS development contributing to the use of geospatial information in schools. Based on a story map tool, it creates a geography curriculum constructed on ArcGIS Online. This article discusses the implications of implementing geospatial technologies so that learners can acquire spatial thinking and geographical knowledge, but also develop responsible and active spatial citizenship. Based on the learning progression approach, it presents results showing the effectiveness of this instructional resource, both for secondary school students and for geography teachers in training. The article concludes with a discussion on how results confirm the need for geospatial technologies to be better incorporated into the geography curriculum at secondary schools.

Trends and Characteristics of “Spatial Citizenship Education”: Geography Education and Social Studies Education in Western Countries

Trends and Characteristics of “Spatial Citizenship Education”: Geography Education and Social Studies Education in Western Countries

Fostering Valuable Participation in Shaping Spaces and Societies: Towards Creating an Ethical Meta Level in the Model Design for Innovativeness

The approach of an education for innovativeness aims to enable pupils to participate in shaping societies in a mature manner, which includes the appropriation and designing of spaces. This approach is useful for educational and practical concepts such as Spatial Citizenship, which promotes the use of digital geomedia for individual and collective appropriation and re-shaping of spaces. However, encouraging innovativeness may also seem to foster participation in questionable inventing processes with trivial – or even harmful – intentions. Including an ethical meta level in the model design for innovativeness would generate reflection on the purpose of the novelty. In this paper, we look first at theories that address the term ‘problem’, social innovations and applied ethics, in order then to develop a first attempt at creating an ethical meta level in the model design for innovativeness.

Traffic Noise Education in Secondary Schools: From Basic Understanding to Active Angagement

Chronic exposure to loud noise has detrimental effects on health, subjective wellbeing and concentration levels of both adults and children. Over two million people in Austria reside in areas where traffic noise surpasses the legal threshold for action. Hundreds of schools are also affected. A similar situation is present throughout large parts of the European Union. Because traffic noise can be heard and measured relatively easily, awareness among the general population is high. Publicly funded data collection has taken place based on EU regulations, and reliable noise maps are available online. This paper aims to provide teachers with multidisciplinary tools to improve their students’ understanding of noise. It suggests project ideas for students to choose depending on their strengths and affinities. The ultimate goal is to enable and motivate students to engage in informed spatial citizenship, notably in taking action to help keep exposure to traffic noise at acceptable levels.

Struggles and Actions for Legal Space in the Urban World: The Case of Informal Economy E-waste Workers

AbstractInformal workers play a central role in the global value chain along which electronic waste (e-waste) is collected and recycled. The failure of governments to recognize informal e-waste workers as legitimate stakeholders in the e-waste economy means these workers assume acute health and livelihood risks. This article argues that the exclusionary dynamics of contemporary e-waste governance paradigms, in failing to acknowledge the legal identity of some stakeholders and the legal responsibilities of others, contribute to a grossly imbalanced and environmentally unjust globalization of e-waste marked by the proliferation of dangerous and exploitative forms of work. E-waste legislation must embrace and reflect the needs and interests of marginalized social groups whose livelihoods depend on their participation in the urban waste economy. Waste governance paradigms must recognize informal workers’ claims over urban space and resources, in other words, their spatial citizenship and fundamental place as workers within the global hi-tech economy.

Spatial Citizenship and Service Learning – Breaking the Mould of Geography Teacher Education

Although Spatial Citizenship Education calls for real life-oriented and context-based teaching and learning within cooperative learning environments to foster students’ participation in society, a corresponding didactic strategy has not so far been integrated into pre-service teacher education. This article therefore describes the implementation of the service learning approach into a project module in geography teacher education at Goethe-Universitat Frankfurt am Main. The module allows students to participate in authentic, experience-based learning using digital geomedia, and covers aspects of children’s and adolescents’ spatial socialization in cooperation with educational and municipal institutions at local level. Our action research on the recent implementation process shows that the new, action-based learning environment increases students’ content knowledge as well as their technical and pedagogical skills. Furthermore, it prompts a positive change in students’ perceptions of, and perspectives on, the social-spatial action routines of children and adolescents. Discussing the potentials of service learning for Spatial Citizenship Education in pre-service teacher education, we argue that service learning is a suitable strategy for vital geographic learning in relation to society and civic participation.

Fostering Holocaust Education and Remembrance Culture using Geomedia

This paper deals with the integration and promotion of spatial citizenship and public-participation GIS in education – especially in geography lessons – to maintain and improve Holocaust Education. Because of the political shift towards the right in Europe during recent years, the act of maintaining and promoting Holocaust Education is more important than ever. Therefore, it is crucial for schools to educate young students in terms of what the Holocaust was, what happened, how they are connected to the topic (for example through the history of their surroundings), and, most importantly, what can be done in order to prevent such things happening again in the future. Furthermore, the Austrian Curriculum for Secondary Schools (BGBI, 2016) states that one of its highest educational goals is the direct confrontation of a student’s individual identity with the promotion of respect, tolerance and solidary. With this aim in mind, this paper deals with the ‘places of resistance in Salzburg’ project, in which students participate in the expansion of an online archive and the creation of an online tour, both of which will be available for the public. The approach builds on resistance as one part of Holocaust Education: resistance against (local) atrocities, such as the violation of values of tolerance, respect or even human rights, might be truly difficult, but it is possible – and even was so during WWII.

Using the Geographies of Learning. An Exploratory Categorization for Spatially Enabled Learning

In a discussion spanning close to three decades, a variety of approaches for the use of geomedia in secondary education have been developed, roughly following technical/ workforce, spatial thinking, and spatial citizenship arguments. However, these approaches have mainly supported teaching within the subject of geography, or adjacent school subjects with a distinctly spatial outlook. Spatially Enabled Learning looks into a completely different domain, discussing how spatio-temporal contextualization might support learning processes across subjects. This contribution explores the possibilities of supporting learning processes using the example of German language education and suggests a model for support structures.