Introduction to Geography Education Research in classroom resources and practice

Geography classroom practice has ebbed and flowed in response to changing national priorities and ‘fads’ in wider education policy and approaches. It’s thought that the concept of ‘evidence based practice’ in educational contexts was first used in 1996 by David Hargreaves (Roberts, 2010), and more recently, there have been growing calls for teachers to be evidence based practitioners. 

However, as Roberts also points out, “evidence from research is not the only evidence which informs the practice of geography teachers; practitioners will always learn from the evidence of their own experiences” (2010, 94). Thus, it is within this context that this resource sets out some sources of research into geography classroom resources and practice.

There is a wealth of literature and research that exists on classroom resources and practice in general. Similarly, there is much writing and research available on geography curriculum thinking and geographical specific pedagogy. One of the aims of a Geography education is to ensure students are able to ‘think geographically’; therefore the resources used and the practices employed by teachers in the classroom must be distinct from that of other subject disciplines.

Gaps in geography classroom resources and practice and future possibilities

Much research exists on cognitive science and the principles of building students’ memory, knowledge retention, developing better understanding, reducing cognitive load etc. However, little of this research is specific to Geographical Education or has been carried out within the context of Geographical Studies. A significant gap in the research is critical perspectives on the theory and practice of applying the principles of cognitive science to the geography classroom.