Ungraded writing assignments in geography classes

Abstract

Two examples of ungraded writing assignments are described: in‐class writing and periodic writing. The purposes of these assignments are (1) to increase the use of writing as a learning tool to complement lectures and readings, and (2) to enable students to write more frequently in geography classes without unduly burdening the geography instructor with papers to correct.     

Teaching Postgraduate Development Studies: Possibilities within geography

This article outlines theoretical insights generated at the crossroads of geography and development studies, and elaborates their implications for postgraduate education. Reflecting on curriculum design and teaching experiences at one university (the University of Colorado, Boulder), the analysis focuses on the strengths of geography as a disciplinary home for postgraduate training in development studies. To this end, and based on faculty and student projects, it examines the relevance of geographic debates around space, place and scale for understanding specific development questions. While most postgraduate education in development geography already takes account of these themes, this article aims to make explicit the intellectual rationale behind such a focus, and to provide specific substantive strategies relevant to putting geography at the centre of postgraduate development studies education.     

Ethnogeography: towards liberatory geography education

In the context of education in England, an argument is put forward that Geography, as it is conceptualised in the National Curriculum, does not connect to either primary school pupils or their teachers. Reasons for this are explored and a proposal is made for a new paradigm for primary geography: ethnogeography. This proposal parallels work on ethnomathematics, which provides a political agenda to the study of maths and itself draws from Paulo Freire's politicization and consciousness raising through adult literacy. This pattern is applied to learning in geographical education. Drawing on the findings of a recent research project, a case is argued for ethnogeography and the implications for primary Initial Teacher Education courses, learners and the curriculum in primary schools and are considered.     

Praxis and theory in the writing of American historical geography

The use of primary sources in the writing of American historical geography is a relatively recent practice, and one which warrants more attention than it has been accorded. Of immediate appeal to historical geographers when they finally turned to primary sources were contemporary travel accounts, topographies and geographies. Because they were, and still are, much used, and because they reveal in simple and direct fashion the difficulty of encountering past “reality”, these kinds of material are the focus here. To turn from these essentially qualitative sources to more quantitative sources neither resolves nor avoids the issue we wish to raise, the problem of subjectivity. There are two sides to the problem of subjectivity; the first concerns the contemporary as observer and recorder of facts; the second concerns the latter-day scholar as observer and recorder of facts. The old conception of the geographer as an impersonal observer is no longer acceptable. In the quest for an understanding of the geography of the past, it may well be that “objectivity is the fruit of genuine subjectivity”, and that what is required is a collective effort of subjective scholars engaged in a continuing dialogue.     

Fieldwork@40: fieldwork in geography higher education

ABSTRACT

Fieldwork is the most powerful learning invitation in the toolkit of Geographical Education. This review of papers in The Journal of Geography in Higher Education (JGHE) suggests seven modes in the development of fieldwork. These are arrayed as a kind of historical, perhaps evolutionary, sequence but most remain current in Geography fieldwork practice. At the far end (1960s) of the sequence are didactic modes that are teacher centred and use the field as an adjunct to the classroom, in the middle (1990s) are modes that involve active learning and focus on the development of students as investigators and at the near end (2010s) are those that centred on the field study area and its qualities, that involve concern about the ethics of student engagement and that employ blended learning technologies. The review charts the JGHE’s gradual shift away from its original, almost exclusively, UK-focus toward something rather more international and inclusive. Fieldwork is where Geographers learn “from doing” Geography to “do” Geography. Its special attributes include providing experiential, sometimes transformative, learning through the immersion of the learner in the field experience. In 40 years, JGHE has helped Geography Fieldwork move from the margins of the curriculum to its current place at its core.     

Mapping pedagogic frailty in geography education: a framed autoethnographic case study

Pedagogic frailty has been proposed as a unifying concept that may help to integrate institutional efforts to enhance teaching within universities by helping to maintain a simultaneous focus on key areas that are thought to impede the development of pedagogy. These areas and the links that have been proposed to connect them are interrogated here through the analysis of an autoethnographic narrative produced by a community “insider” who has considerable experience of teaching and researching geography. This person-centred methodology acknowledges the subjective nature of teaching, gives voice to important stories that might not otherwise be heard formally and provides a case study that can been used as an exemplar to promote institutional dialogue about quality enhancement and the student experience. The findings from this case study suggest that colleagues may be able to repurpose disciplinary concepts to help make sense of the learning and teaching discourse.     

Conceptions of Australian political thought: A methodological critique

This paper takes issue with a number of standard interpretations of Australian political thought and the methods of argument by which they have been reached. It confronts the substantive claims (a) that Australia has produced no significant indigenous political thought, ideology, or ideological conflict, and (b) that which passes for political thought is generally derivative, lacking in originality and inferior. It is argued that such claims are based upon unduly narrow conceptions of political thought and misplaced categories of evaluation. Finally, the paper demonstrates that by expanding our conceptions of political thought beyond that of ‘epic’ or universalist political philosophy, and applying methods of evaluation appropriate to the subject matter, more sensible conclusions can be drawn about the existence and quality of Australian political thought, as well as its place in political life.     

Phenomenology,geography and geographical education

Abstract

Phenomenology is a way of study which explores and describes the essential nature of things and experiences as they are in their own terms. Phenomenology has value to geographical education; first, because it introduces the student to a way of understanding that requires openness and quiet attentiveness; second, because it provides important insight into the nature of environmental experience and behaviour; and third, because it says much about how people dwell on the earth and how they might dwell better.     

Visual methodology as a pedagogical research tool in geography education

This article offers an overview of visual methodology and its applications to geography in higher education. Drawings from an undergraduate mapping and map analysis course are used to concurrently highlight and deconstruct students' sense of place in the context of teaching and learning. As a pedagogical research tool, visual methods nurture self-reflection in learners, inform curriculum and instruction for diverse classrooms, and support the construction of meanings in geography.     

Towards a critical service learning in geography education: exploring challenges and possibilities through testimonio

There has been an increasing interest in exploring the transformational possibilities of experiential learning approaches like service learning, across post-secondary education, including geography. At the same time, scholars caution that such initiatives can entrench neoliberalism, white supremacy and other power structures and call for implementing a critical service learning (CSL) approach that is rooted in action against injustice. In response, this paper uses testimonio methodology to explore the experiences of a student and instructor engaging in a graduate geography course that implements CSL. We demonstrate how CSL is a complex process that is mired in the very power structures and institutional barriers it attempts to disrupt. Nonetheless, CSL creates opportunities for social change in the classroom and community, which make it a promising pedagogical strategy for geographers aiming to create alternative teaching approaches in their classrooms.     

International curriculum transfer in geography in higher education: an example

Internationalization of geography in higher education comes in many guises. This paper discusses some of these, with particular attention to curriculum development and transfer. The context is Bangladesh and a case study is presented of a link programme between three higher education institutions in that country and one in the UK. The British Council funded project INSPIRE provided funding and organizational support for a project that lasted 4 years and enabled 22 staff visits from Bangladesh to the UK and 6 in the other direction. As a result, curricula of 43 teaching modules in the general area of environmental hazard and risk, environmental change and climate change have been initiated or revised. While this type of transnational knowledge transfer has its drawbacks, we argue that there are specific circumstances in which it can work.     

School geography: some key issues for higher education

Abstract

Recent changes in the character and organisation of the school curriculum in England and Wales are making a direct impact on geography. Despite its place in the National Curriculum for 5–14‐year‐olds and its current popularity in public examinations at 16 + and 18 +, there are growing indications that geography may not be guaranteed security, status or quality in the long term. In particular, geography's position may be threatened in the 14–19 curriculum by its failure to be included in the statutory core, by increasing competition from vocational courses and by the possibility of further changes now proposed for the 16–19 qualification structure. There is also evidence of a growing discontinuity in content and approach between geography at school and in higher education. Threats to geography in schools are likely to have a direct impact on the supply of students to higher education and on the continuity of educational experiences. It is suggested that there needs to be a greater dialogue and joint school/higher education activity not only to ensure continuity and progression in the existing situation, but also to influence the next round of school curriculum change. Some areas for potential action are identified and these may have wider relevance to geography educators in other countries.     

A world apart: geography, Australian quarantine, and the mother country

In many respects the Australian colonies were what one person called "the proud offspring of a grand old mother." Yet when it came to the prevention of imported infectious disease, Britain's Australian colonies were not a chip off the old block. British opposition to the lengthy and costly imposition of quarantine had intensified throughout the nineteenth century, eventuating in the abolition of human quarantine in 1896. The Australian colonies, on the other hand, which had based their first quarantine regulations on British law and remained constantly aware of changing medical trends in the mother country, gradually expanded the breadth and capabilities of their maritime quarantine as the century progressed. Although other European powers and British colonies progressively adopted systems of medical inspection more in line with British port prophylaxis and away from quarantine, the Australian colonies invested increasing amounts of time and money into more elaborate quarantine stations and regulations. In this article I examine some of the basic features of coastal disease prevention in the Australian colonies and how they differed from British controls. Australia's distance from Britain was emphasized in the quarantine debates geographically as well as in policy. I argue that the often controversial differences in quarantine policy were for the most part a product of Australia's geographical location. The natural prophylactic of Australia's remoteness was not a reason to minimize quarantine in the colonies but rather served to increase it; whereas, it was argued that "the geographical position of England deprived it of the advantages...derived from a comprehensive quarantine system." I discuss this seeming anomaly in light of other arguments that have claimed that the close proximity of a state to the acknowledged origin of a disease was likely to increase its eagerness to quarantine.     

An economic and financial geography of the Australian superannuation industry

The Australian superannuation industry has grown enormously over the past 30 years. Whereas working people are automatically enrolled at their workplaces, the head offices of many industry funds are in Melbourne rather than Sydney. Melbourne’s dominance of the superannuation industry is explained, in part, by happenstance—the location of major unions and employer groups and their initiatives in response to the enabling legislation. Other factors identified include opportunism, cooperation, and the advantages of growth. Government-prompted mergers and acquisitions have also reinforced the dominance of Melbourne, notwithstanding attempts by Sydney-based superannuation funds to out-compete their Melbourne rivals. Whereas the geographical bifurcation of the Australian superannuation industry has been mediated by the formation of a Queensland-based superfund “champion,” it is suggested that it faces numerous challenges. In conclusion, avenues for future research are sketched, focusing upon the future of Melbourne as the centre of the superannuation industry, the role of digital platforms in service delivery, pension adequacy, and the increasing importance of Australian funds in global financial markets.     

Rotten to the core: Against a core curriculum for geography in UK higher education

Abstract

This paper examines some of the main reasons why a core curriculum for UK higher education is seen as being desirable, and challenges these arguments with particular reference to geography. It suggests that a core curriculum would be damaging for six main reasons: that problems exist over the identification of central elements which could provide the basis of a core; that the higher education experience should be enlightening rather than dehumanising; that the strength of geography as a very broad discipline would be damaged by the imposition of a core; that much of the most exciting geographical ‘knowledge’ is created at the research frontier rather than in any potential core; that there are problems over the choice of people who might determine any core; and that there are serious questions over precisely in whose interests a core might be created.