Core Knowledge and the Revised Curriculum

Geographical Association Annual ConferenceApril 14th 2012

Dr Stephen ScoffhamCanterbury Christ Church

University

Geography in schools

Primary Schools Apart from a few outstanding schools, ‘pupils’ knowledge of

places was exceptionally weak at a national, European and global scale’ Para 10

‘Many teachers’ subject knowledge was weak’ Para 18

Secondary Schools Core knowledge for the majority of the students surveyed was

poor… They were not able to locate countries, key mountain ranges other features with any degree of confidence’

Para 36

Ofsted (2011) Geography: Learning to make a world of difference, London : Ofsted

Understanding

Information

Knowledge

Factual knowledge

Applied or ‘powerful’knowledge

It snowed last night A general statement (information)

It was minus two Greater detail and suggesting a more organised framework (knowledge)

Temperatures will Appreciation of weather patterns rise soon as the and processes (understanding)wind has veered to the south

Factual knowledge is not directly discipline related

Consider the following statements:

Ants have six legs.

Henry VIII is a famous English king.

Paris is the capital of France.

Useless knowledge?

Image of Trivial Pursuit

._Blooms tax.jpg

What knowledge is worth knowing?

Whose knowledge is worth knowing?

Herbert Spencer

Michael Apple

Michael Apple

What knowledge, skills and understanding will children need for the future?

‘It would be well if they could be taught everything that is useful and everything that is ornamental; but art is long and their time is short’Benjamin Franklin

Useful or ornamental?

Map A Key Stage 2

Map D Key Stage 3

DfE (1995) Geography in the National Curriculum

Is there a progression in locational knowledge?

ThinkingGeographically

Knowledge

SkillsPedagogy

Motivation

Engagement

Imagination

Creativity

Identity

Self awareness

Curiosity

Much of formal learning is short on threshold experiences, It feels like learning the pieces of a picture puzzle that never gets put together...In contrast getting some version of the whole game close to the beginning makes sense because it gives the enterprise some meaning. (Perkins 2009p9)

Emotion Cognition

Processes related to the body

High reason

Emotional thoughtThe platform for

learning, decision-making and creativity

both in social and non-social contexts

After Imordino –Yang and Damasio (2007)

Questions to consider

What do we think knowledge is and how

do we define it?

Can knowledge be sequenced or arranged in a progression?

Is there something special about geographical knowledge?

Who will select core knowledge in geography?

What is education for?

References• Apple, M. (2003) The State and Politics of Knowledge, London: RoutledgeFalmer • Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1::The Cognitive

Domain. New York: David McKay• Bruner, J (1960,1977) The Process of Education, Cambridge, MASS:Harvard University

Press• Dewey, J (1916,1966) Democracy and Education, New York: Free Press• Gardner, H (2006) Five Minds for the Future, Boston, MASS: Harvard Business School• Imordino-Yang, M. and Damasio, A. (2007) ‘We Feel Therefore We Learn: The

relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education’, in Mind, Brain and Education 1:1 pp3-10

• Hirsch, E. D. (1996) The Schools We Need and Why We Don’t Have Them, New York: Random House

• Hirst, P. and Peters, R. (1970) The Logic of Education, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul

• Joubert, M. (2001) ‘The Art of Creative Teaching: NACCCE and beyond’ in Craft, A. (et al.) Creativity in Education, London: Continuum

• Lambert, D. (2010) A Critique of a ‘Core Knowledge’ Approach to the National Curriculum. Internal Geographical Association discussion paper

• Ofsted (2011) Geography: Learning to make a world of difference, London : Ofsted • Perkins, D (2008) Making Learning Whole: How Seven Principles of Teaching Can

Transform Education, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass• Scoffham, S. (2006) Modelling the School Geography Curriculum, Research paper

presented at the Charney Manor Primary Geography Research Conference 24th February 2006