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Eleven Steps to better
geography in the new era of literacy and numeracy! Why do pupils in primary schools study geography The study of geography is part of the primary curriculum because there is a belief that pupils need to:
Eleven steps to a better geographical education in the primary school Step one - Know the experience of your pupils What experiences of the local and wider world do the children in our school have? Consider this question carefully and the fewer the experiences of world the more important that distant places are in the curriculum. Step two – Consider the national expectations Examine this knowledge of your own children carefully along with the ‘Expectations in geography’ for each key stage outlined in the document from QCA – ‘Maintaining Breadth and Balance in the Primary Curriculum’. A vital resource for you is QCA's National Curriculum in Action website which is rich with examples of pupils' work, along with a commentary on how it represents aspects of particular levels and how pupils could make their work even better. Step three – Maintaining a balance Consider carefully the balance of units of work already in place across the key stage. There should be some:
Try and keep one unit of discrete geography per year. Step four – Consider staff experiences and expertise In this take into account the interests, expertise and experiences of staff in the choice of these units. Step five – Combining where relevant Consider where there is a genuine link between subjects to avoid unnecessary repetition and overlap. Use geographical subject matter in the development of ICT. For example in searching the Internet for information about a distant place and selecting and reject sources for a desk top published guide to that distant place. Step six – Use enquiry planning and variable lengths of time Use an enquiry model for each unit of work. Start with a big question that defines the purpose of the unit and break the unit of work down into little key questions that define each teaching and learning activity. Also consider doing geography as short intensive units (perhaps related to a trip) or long continuous units (weather across the year). Step seven – Skill development throughout Spread the development of geographical skills over every unit of work and look at where they can be reinforced in other subjects. For example in mathematics the development of co-ordinates and scale. Step eight - Plan for the unexpected Consider doing a short unit of geography in the news where it is appropriate. These might be local planning issues and local redevelopment. These might be severe weather events. ‘Severe weather hits the Midlands’ or ‘Hurricane hits the Caribbean’. are possible headlines. Short units like these make excellent stimuli for Literacy activities. Step nine – Geographical texts are superb for the literacy hour Begin collecting high quality geographical texts for use in the Literacy Hour Share these among your colleagues. You might use Grace Nicholls poems set in the Caribbean, ‘Come into my Tropical Garden’. You can also use newspapers as well as non-fiction texts. Step ten – Real and relevant data Start collecting examples of real and relevant geographical data for teaching numeracy and ICT. For example, do questionnaire surveys on real local issues and use them in databases or spreadsheets. Step eleven – Celebrate the study of geography Monitor developments with your colleagues. Inspire and support them in developing excellence in geographical teaching. Share your work with a wider audience. The community (parents, governors, civic societies etc.) need to see how the study of geography is relevant to life. Further advice and support Email: chris.durbin@staffordshire.gov.uk Tel; 01785 278233 Email: kate.russell@staffordshire.gov.uk Tel; 01785 277966
Questions or problems regarding this
web site should be directed to
kate.russell@staffordshire.gov.uk This page last updated 06 February 2004 |
This page was last updated 06/02/04
