How To Teach Geography In Secondary School

Brought To You By National Geographic Geobee

With the right geography lesson, students can travel around the world without ever leaving the classroom. Teachers of any grade and subject can incorporate geography into their curriculum to help students gain a global perspective and understand the world around them. From students learning to locate different cities, states, and countries on a map to understanding time zones and where their clothing comes from, we asked teachers to share their favorite tips and fun geography lessons to inspire students curiosity about the world. Heres what they had to say:

How Do Young People Learn About Geography

If you asked a selection of adults or young people to tell you what learning geography involves what do you think they would say?

Many people see geography as a subject concerned with remembering the names of places and landforms, and learning about human and physical processes responsible for the world around us. There is a common perception that geographers learn the facts, present them in maps, hydrographs, pie charts and do fieldwork. Many will restrict their comments to what is taught in school. Think for a moment of all the out-of-school geography that students will have encountered over the last few weeks.

Contested Concepts In Geography

Lambert and Morgan issue some health warnings with regard to concepts: they see concepts as sites of contestation, observing that they are likely to have multiple meanings that cannot be reduced to a single straightforward definition. They observe that Geography is a discipline that involves creating concepts in response to changes in the natural world. Equally in a dynamic subject some concepts, such as regional geography, fall out of favour only to re-emerge again.

Activity 3 Contested concepts

For example, ecosystem scientists might define biodiversity to include genetic, species and ecosystem diversity and view nature as having intrinsic value. A multi-national company might define biodiversity in relation to ecosystem services that benefit humans and some economists quantify the economic value of these in terms of dollars or pounds.

It is important to be aware of the contested nature of concepts. Be alert to alternative ways of thinking as you research topics and as you teach. Encourage students to develop, explain and question their own geographical conceptualisations and those of others. Have strategies to elicit and address misconceptions.

Reflection point

Are you clear about the differences between an alternative view and a misconception?

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Study A Teaching Area In Geography For Secondary Education

Geography teachers in secondary schools teach both physical and human Geography.

Studying a teaching area in Geography within the Bachelor of Education will provide you with an understanding of contemporary challenges. With the world continually changing, we are constantly beset with new social, political, cultural and environmental issues and developments. Your Geography studies will equip you with the skills to help address the impacts of these challenges on the environment.

Your studies will develop your communication skills, research experience and specialist expertise in Geography. Youll study a variety of courses in environmental ethics, sustainability, global citizenship and demographics, as well as the HSC and junior Geography syllabi. By the end of your teaching area youll have learned how to teach the HSC and junior Geography courses in a secondary school.

Why Teach Stem In Primary Schools

STEM-based education teaches children far more than science, technology, engineering and mathematical concepts with a focus on hands-on learning and real-world applications it develops life-long skills such as curiosity, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication and collaboration.

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What Can Creativity Look Like In Geography

This section explores the potential breadth of creativity within geography. Many geography lessons involve aspects of creative teaching and learning activities. You may be familiar with starter and plenary generators, mysteries and games, and a multitude of suggestions for creative approaches to geography teaching can be found on the web and in teacher resources.

Creativity is included in the criteria for outstanding achievement of geography students . However, at the same time commentators like Renshaw decry the possibility of an examination culture in schools eroding the innate creative abilities of students and systematically teaching students out of their creative capacities.

A distinction is often made between C reativity and c reativity . This section will concentrate on the latter definition. The following activity allows you to consider what creativity is and the modes and importance of creativity.

Using An Enquiry Approach

In geography, there are a range of opinions about what an enquiry approach to learning means. Roberts states that an enquiry approach to learning recognises that knowledge is not something out there ready to be learnt it is generated in the process of answering questions.

Activity 4 allows you to look at geographical enquiry in more depth.

Activity 4 Geographical enquiry

Ferretti observes that enquiry learning has long been advocated as an important approach but its use in secondary teaching and learning is limited. This may in part be due to the skills and confidence of both teachers and students. Other challenges include a drive in many schools to have a standard approach to lesson planning, often including narrowly defined, differentiated outcomes and three-part lessons. An assessment culture that focuses on coverage of the subject and progress can also be seen to be at odds with an enquiry approach. These and other concerns are discussed by Ferretti .

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References And Eric Resources

The following list of resources includes references used to prepare this Digest. The items followed by an ED number are in the ERIC system and are available in microfiche and paper copies from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service . For information about prices, contact EDRS, 3900 Wheeler Avenue, Alexandria, Virginia 22304 telephone numbers are 703-823-0500 and 800-227-3742. Entries followed by an EJ number are annotated monthly in CIJE , which is available in most libraries. EJ documents are not available through EDRS however, they can be located in the journal section of most libraries by using the bibliographic information provided below.

Buggey, JoAnne, and James Kracht. “Geographic Learning.” In ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES: RESEARCH AS A GUIDE TO PRACTICE, BULLETIN 79, edited by V. A. Atwood. Washington, DC: National Council for the Social Studies, 1985.

Council of Chief State School Officers . GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION AND THE STATE. Washington, DC. Council of Chief State School Officers, 1988. ED number will be assigned.

Grosvenor, Gilbert. “Geographic Ignorance: Time for a Turnaround.” NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 167 : 6.

Haas, Mary E. AN ANALYSIS OF GEOGRAPHIC CONCEPTS AND LOCATIONS IN ELEMENTARY SOCIAL STUDIES TEXTBOOKS: GRADES ONE THROUGH FOUR. . ED number will be assigned.

Haas, Mary E. THE PERCEPTION OF OTHER NATIONS BY STUDENTS IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. . ED 257 710.

Saveland, Robert A. “Map Skills Around the World.” SOCIAL EDUCATION 47 : 206-210. EJ 278 675.

Put The World Into Perspective With Google Earth

Anytime fourth grade teacher Julia McIntyre talks about her personal travels, she uses Google Earth to show students the distance between their school and her destination. It really puts it into perspective for them, she says. Now you can also use Google Earth to follow National Geographic Explorers, including those working to protect the oceans through National Geographics Pristine Seas initiative. Josh Williams students explore the Pristine Seas program and use Google Earth to analyze how places around the world have changed over time.

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Hold A Mock Geography Bee

Ashley Petersons fourth graders get ready for the GeoBee using Kahoot!

Fourth graders in Ashley Petersons class often play Kahoot! before dismissal. She recently held a mock geography bee using Kahoot! to teach geography concepts and help kids prep for the National Geographic GeoBee. National Geographic has multiple geography-themed Kahoot! games available, with topics including State Stats, Source to Sea, and The First Americans. Learn how to use Kahoot! for a mock geography bee in your classroom.

Teaching Geography In The Elementary School Eric Digest

Although geography has long been a part of the elementary curriculum, today there is a renewed interest in teaching the subject. Particularly significant is the large public response to the essay “Geographic Ignorance: Time for a Turnaround” written in 1985 by Gilbert Grosvenor, President of the National Geographic Society. Also, Geographic Awareness Week was instituted by an act of Congress in 1987 to draw attention to the need to improve geographic literacy in the United States. Furthermore, a recent survey of states and territories reports that 93 percent of their schools will increase emphasis on geography at the elementary level within the next five years . This ERIC Digest discusses reasons for teaching geography in elementary schools, how geography is taught, major deficiencies in the teaching and learning of geography, and how to improve geographic education in elementary schools.

WHY SHOULD GEOGRAPHY BE TAUGHT IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?

Geography helps one understand the physical and cultural characteristics of the world. Geographic education provides the values, knowledge, concepts, and skills to better understand ourselves, our relationship to the earth, and our interdependence with other peoples of the world. The locational organization scheme of geography provides a framework for learning the physical, social, and historical phenomena studied in both elementary and secondary schools.

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Learning To Teach Geography In The Secondary School: A Companion To School Experience

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Can You Teach English Abroad With A Dui

A DUI shouldnt count against you when it comes to getting a work permit Europe or Latin America. With the exception of international schools in the region, criminal background checks arent requested as frequently here especially for ESL teachers hired as independent contractors within private tutoring centers.

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What Do You Learn In A Geography Teaching Area

Study a teaching area in teaching Geography to learn how to teach the HSC junior courses in the subject area. We offer courses in:

• Sustainable Societies: In first year students will study a variety of introductory courses in key geographic concepts, with a focus on sustainability. Youll learn about the values of environmental philosophy, the politics of achieving a sustainable society, and environmental justice.
• Cities and Social Development: This coursework component will see students study the relationship between cities, their environment and social development. You will learn about urban growth, management plans, socio-cultural diversity and regional decline. The aim will be to identify patterns of growth and decline in Australian and international case studies.
• Globalisation: A key concept in both the junior and HSC Geography courses is globalisation. Students will study the networks through which goods, finance, services and ideas flow in the contemporary world. Youll learn how to analyse the relevant structures and processes which have created and maintain these networks. Your globalisation course will focus on governance, enterprise, markets, technological change and the dichotomy of privilege and disadvantage.

Why Study Geography Social Science Teacher Education

Teachers are in high-demand in Illinois, especially in the Chicago area. Our teacher education program is rooted in excellence. We prepare the most teachers in the state and rank nationally for quality and value. Youll study physical and human geography while training to be a well-qualified middle and high school teacher.

Your hands-on learning experience starts as soon as you enroll in the program. Youll observe a variety of diverse classrooms and end with student teaching. Our dedicated faculty will be there to support your whole journey.

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Controversial Issues In Geography

Many topics in geography have an element of controversy within them. This means that there is likely to be a variety of stances that different people can take. Some issues may provoke very strong feelings. As a geography teacher you must be well prepared to handle such topics, and you need to consider how to introduce and manage activities in a classroom to encourage everyone to take part and be listened to.

The next two activities require you to consider which issues may be defined as being controversial in geography and some general approaches you might adopt as you teach them.

Activity 9 Considering controversial issues in geography

What do you consider to be the most controversial issues in geography? Quickly write down your first thoughts before reading on.

• Who or what is responsible for the problem?
• How are ecological and economic costs and benefits evaluated and compared?
• How will a solution be found?

How Can Young People Be Engaged In Geography

Acknowledging and valuing what young people bring to the curriculum is one way of ensuring that the geography they learn is both meaningful and connected to their everyday lives it is also the means by which we can build a bridge between young people and the mandated curriculum to ensure that the subject discipline, the geography that they learn, is a vehicle through which they make sense of their own lives as well as those beyond their immediate horizon.

A curriculum of engagement and a mix of teaching strategies that cater for diverse needs can motivate students. This section explores opportunities and challenges related to enquiry learning and Young Peoples Geographies. These approaches can demonstrate the relevance of geography, thereby helping to engage students. Creativity and teaching controversial issues will also help to motivate and engage students and are discussed in Sections 3 and 4, respectively.

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Teaching Approaches To Controversial Issues

Almost any topic can become controversial if individual groups offer differing explanations about events, what should happen next and how issues should be resolved, or if one side of an issue is presented in a way that raises the emotional response of those who might disagree.

While you might decide to teach whole lessons or units focusing on a controversial issue, they are so embedded within geographical learning it is worth including values and attitudes as you plan any lesson. This will help you to identify relevant issues, plan to support students learning and to anticipate a range of possible reactions from students.

Reflection point

How will you feel if some students say they dont care?

How will you tackle feelings of helplessness among students to instead engender a sense of empowerment?

Activity 10 Approaches to teaching controversial issues in geography

Table 2 lists four teaching approaches that could be adopted when covering moral or controversial issues.

Choose a potentially controversial issue that you might have to teach in geography. Then, using Table 2 or a mindmap, note down the reasons why you might adopt each approach and the dangers to be aware of. Note: you could use different approaches at different times within the same lesson.

Table 2 Possible approaches towards teaching controversial issues in geography

Reflection point

Can you identify instances when your own values might affect your ability to be neutral?

Activity 1 Views Of Geography

• Ask young people and some adults what they think learning geography involves.
• Ask adults about their views of geography now, as well as when they were learning it at school. What has led to their views?
• What are the most common responses?
• Were you surprised by any of the responses? Why?

Within the geography community there has long been a lively debate about the nature of geographical knowledge with views including, for example, those of:

• positivists
• social constructivists
• social realists .

Positivists argue for a traditional content-driven, socially conservative curriculum in which knowledge is fixed and the objective is to induct the learner into the dominant knowledge traditions . By contrast, what vexes constructivists and realists is how best to help learners to develop structures and processes so that they can effectively make sense of the massive amount of geographical information available to them, pose questions, investigate issues, generate their own data and formulate and articulate their own opinions. Your view of geography matters in terms of what and how you teach. Furthermore the opinions of students will affect what and how they learn.

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Creativity In A Wider Context

Creativity can interact with education in the classroom in a number of ways. Sir Ken Robinson is a creativity expert. In an interview with Amy Azzam , he summarises key points about creativity in teaching and learning. You will explore these and different modes of creativity in Activity 7.

Activity 7 Modes and importance of creativity

Part 1

Scroll down to the bottom of the article, Why creativity now? A conversation with Sir Ken Robinson , and click on the video. Listen to Sir Ken Robinsons conversation with Amy Azzam and make notes under the following headings:

• Misconceptions about creativity

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