The geography curriculum: development and planning
Introduction to Geography Education Research into the geography curriculum
The geography curriculum can be thought of in different ways as it is reconstructed from policy documents. It can refer to the curriculum planned and intended by teachers; to the taught curriculum as teachers reconstruct these plans in their classroom practice; to the curriculum the students experience; the assessed curriculum and the hidden curriculum (unintended messages of how the geography curriculum is implemented).
Key sources of Geographical Education Research
Key research articles
- ALCAB (2014) Report of the ALCAB report on Geography
- Kanu, Y. (Ed) Curriculum as cultural practice: postcolonial imaginations. To
- Béneker, T. and van der Vaart, R., (2020). The knowledge curve: combining types of knowledges leads to powerful thinking. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 29, 3, 221-231
- Bennetts, T. (2005). The links between understanding progression and assessment in the secondary geography curriculum, Geography, 90, 2, 152-170.
- Biddulph, M. (2012). Young People’s Geographies and the school curriculum, Geography, 97, 3, 155-162.
- Biddulph, M., (2012).Spotlight On… Young People’s Geographies and the school curriculum. Geography, 97, 3, 155-162.
- Biddulph, M., Bèneker, T., Mitchell, D., Hanus, M., Leininger-Frézal, C., Zwartjes, L. and Donert, K., (2020). Teaching powerful geographical knowledge–a matter of social justice: initial findings from the GeoCapabilities 3 project. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 29, 3, 260-274.
- Bladh, G. (2020).GeoCapabilities, Didaktical analysis and curriculum thinking – furthering the dialogue between Didaktik and curriculum, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 29,3, 206-220.
- Brooks, C., (2006). Geography teachers and making the school geography curriculum. Geography, 91,1, 75-83.
- Bustin, R. (2011). The living city: Thirdspace and the contemporary geography curriculum. Geography, 96, 2, 60–68.
- Catling, S., (2005). Children’s personal geographies and the English primary school geography curriculum. Children’s Geographies, 3, 3, 325-344.
- Dessen Jankell, L., Sandahl, J. and Örbring, D., 2021. Organising concepts in geography education: a model. Geography, 106(2), pp.66-75.
- Evans, M. (2016). Reflections on the changes to A Level Geography, Geography, 101, 3, 156-163.
- Firth, R. (2012).Disordering the coalition government’s “new” approach to curriculum design and knowledge: the matter of the discipline Geography, 97, 2, 86–94.
- Firth, R. and Winter, C., (2007). Constructing education for sustainable development: The secondary school geography curriculum and initial teacher training. Environmental Education Research, 13, 5, 599-619.
- Gleen, J. (2020) Geography’s Intent: developing your curriculum, Teaching Geography, 45 (3), 108 – 110.
- Gong, Q., Brooks, C. and Duan, Y., (2021). A teacher’s role in making a given knowledge curriculum into a powerful knowledge curriculum. Geography, 106(1), pp.39-48.
- Hammond, L., (2019). Utilising the ‘production of space’ to enhance young people’s understanding of the concept of space. Geography, 104(1), pp.28-37.
- Hammond, L., (2021). Recognising and exploring children’s geographies in school geography. Children’s Geographies, pp.1-15.
- Jackson, P. (2006). Thinking Geographically, Geography, 91, 3, 199-204
- H. Kim, R. Yamamoto, N. Ito and T. Shimura. 2020. Development of the GeoCapabilities project in Japan: furthering international debate on the GeoCapabilities approach, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 29, 3, 244-259.
- Lambert, D and Hopkin, J. (2014). A possibilist analysis of the geography national curriculum in England, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 23, 1, 64-78.
- Maude, A. (2016). What might powerful geographical knowledge look like? Geography, 101, 2, 70-76.
- Maude, A. (2018). Geography and powerful knowledge: A contribution to the debate. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 27, 2, 179–190.
- Maude, A., (2020). The role of geography’s concepts and powerful knowledge in a future 3 curriculum. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 29,3, 232-343.
- Mitchell, D. (2013). Who controls the real curriculum, Teaching Geography ,38, 2, 60-62.
- Mitchell, D. (2016). Geography teaching and curriculum making in changing times, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 25, 2, 121-133.
- Mitchell, D., (2017). ‘Curriculum making’, teacher and learner identities in changing times. Geography, 102, 99-103.
- Morgan, J. (2008).Curriculum Development in ‘new times’, Geography, 93 (1), 17 – 24.
- Puttick, S. (2013). Looking at and looking along: a conceptual framework for teaching different perspectives in geography. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 22, 4, 353-366
- Puttick, S. and Cullinane, A., (2021). Towards the Nature of Geography for geography education: an exploratory account, learning from work on the Nature of Science. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, pp.1-17.
- Puttick, S. and Murrey, A., (2020). Confronting the deafening silence on race in geography education in England: Learning from anti-racist, decolonial and Black geographies. Geography, 105(3), pp.126-134.
- Rawding, C. (2010). What are the connections between subject developments in academic and school geography? International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 19, 2, 119-125.
- Rawding, C. (2013). Challenging Assumptions: The importance of holistic geographies. Geography, 98, 3, 157-159.
- Rawling, E. (2015). Spotlight on Curriculum change and examination reform for geography 14 -19. Geography, 100, 3, 164-168
- Rawling, E. (2016). The geography curriculum 5-19: What does it all mean? Teaching Geography, 41, 1, 6-9.
- Rawling, E. (2020). How and why national curriculum frameworks are failing geography, Geography, 105, 2, 69-77.
- Roberts, M. (2018). Do the new GCSEs promote ‘sound enquiry and investigative approaches’ to learning geography?Geography, 103, 1, 27-37.
- Spurná, M., Knecht, P. and Svobodová, H., (2021). Perspectives on geography education in the Czech National Curriculum. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 30(2), pp.164-180.
- Standish, A., (2014). Some important distinctions for geography educators. Geography, 99, 83 – 89
- Standish. A. (2018). Teaching about development in a post-development society: the case of geography, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 27, 3, 199-215.
- Suárez-López, R. and Eugenio-Gozalbo, M., (2021). How is sustainability addressed in primary and secondary education curricula? Assessing the cases of Spain and Portugal. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, pp.1-17.
- Taylor, L. (2008). Key concepts and medium-term planning. Teaching Geography, 33, 2, 50-54.
- Uhlenwinkel,A., Béneker, T., Bladh, G., Tani, S. and Lambert, D. (2017). GeoCapabilities and curriculum leadership: balancing the priorities of aim-based and knowledge-led curriculum thinking in schools, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 26,4, pp. 327-341, DOI: 10.1080/10382046.2016.1262603
- Bladh, G., Stolare, M. and Kristiansson, M. (2018). ‘Curriculum principles, didactic practice and social issues: Thinking through teachers’ knowledge practices in collaborative work, London Review of Education, 16, 3, 398-413
- Bouwmans, M., and Béneker, T., (2018). Identifying powerful geographical knowledge in integrated curricula in Dutch schools. London Review of Education, 16, 3, 445-459.
- Brooks, C., Butt, G., and Fargher, M. (2017). The Power of Geographical Thinking. London: Springer.
- Bustin, R., (2019). Geography Education’s Potential and the Capability Approach: GeoCapabilities and Schools. Springer.
- Butt, G. (Ed.). (2011). Geography, education and the future. London: A&C Black.
- Butt, G. (2011). Globalisation, geography education and the curriculum; what are the challenges for curriculum makers in geography? The Curriculum Journal, 22, 3, 423-438.
- Cary, L.J. (2007). Curriculum Spaces. Oxford: Peter Lang
- Catlin, S. (2013). Teachers Perspectives on curriculum making in Primary Geography in England, The Curriculum Journal, 2, 7, 422-453.
- Catling, S. and Martin, F., (2011). Contesting powerful knowledge: The primary geography curriculum as an articulation between academic and children’s (ethno-) geographies. Curriculum Journal, 22, 3, 317-335.
- Fargher, M, Mitchell, D. and Till. E (2021) (Eds.).Recontextualising Geography for Education. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
- Finn, M., Hammond, L., Healy, G., Todd, J.D., Marvell, A., McKendrick, J.H. and Yorke, L., (2021). Looking ahead to the future of GeogEd: Creating spaces of exchange between communities of practice. Area.
- Firth, R. (2011). Making geography visible as an object of study in the secondary school curriculum. The Curriculum Journal, 22, 3, 289–316.
- Firth, R. (2011). Debates about knowledge and the curriculum: some implications for geography education . In G Butt (Ed). Geography, education and the future. (pp.141-164). New York: Continuum.
- Firth, R. (2015). Constructing geographical knowledge. In G. Butt (Ed.). MasterClass in Geography Education: Transforming Teaching and Learning. (pp. 53-66). London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Firth, R. (2017). Recontextualising geography as a school subject. In M. Jones, and D. Lambert (Eds.) Debates in Geography Education. Second edition. (pp. 275-286). Abingdon: Routledge.
- Hakala, Juha T., Uusikyla, K., Jarvinen, E-M. (2015). Neoliberalism, curriculum development and manifestations of ‘creativity’. Improving Schools, 18 (3), 250 – 262.
- Lambert, D., (2011). Reviewing the case for geography, and the ‘knowledge turn’ in the English National Curriculum. Curriculum Journal, 22(2), pp.243-264.
- Lambert, D. (2016). Geography, In Wyse, D., Hayward, L. and Pandya, J. (Eds). The Sage Handbook of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment. (pp 391-408). London: Sage Publications.
- Lambert, D. and Biddulph, M. (2014). The dialogic space offered by curriculum-making in the process of learning to teach, and the creation of a progressive knowledge-led curriculum. Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education. 43, 3, 210-224.
- Lambert, D. and Morgan, J., (2010). Teaching Geography 11-18: A Conceptual Approach London: McGraw-Hill Education.
- Lambert, D. and Solem, M. (2017). Rediscovering the teaching of geography with the focus on quality. Geographical Education, 30, 8-15.
- Lambert, D., Solem, M. and Tani, S., (2015). Achieving human potential through geography education: A capabilities approach to curriculum making in schools. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 105, 4, 723-735.
- Lambert, D, and Walshe, N. (2018). How Geography Curricula Tackle Global Issues, in Demirci, A., de Miguel, R. and Bednarz, S. (Eds) Geography Education for Global Understanding, (Chapter 7). Springer Press
- Maude, A. (2021). Recontextualisation: Selecting and expressing geography’s ‘big ideas’. In M, Fargher, D, Mitchell and E. Till (Eds.). Recontextualising Geography for Education. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
- Mitchell, D., (2019). Hyper-socialised: How Teachers Enact the Geography Curriculum in Late Capitalism. Routledge.
- Puttick S. (2015). Chief examiners as Prophet and Priest: relations between examination boards and school subjects, and possible implications for knowledge, The Curriculum Journal, 26, 3, 468-487.
- Puttick, S., (2021). Digital technologies and their roles in knowledge recontextualisation and curriculum making. In N. Walshe and G. Healy. (Eds). Geography Education in the Digital World. London: Routledge, pp.17-25
- Rawding, C. (2013). Effective Innovation in the Secondary Geography Curriculum: A Practical Guide. London: Routledge.
- Rawding, C. (2015). Constructing the geographical curriculum. In G. Butt (Ed.), MasterClass in Geography Education: Transforming Teaching and Learning. (pp. 67-80). London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Rawling, E. (2001). Changing the Subject: The impact of national policy on school geography 1980–2000. Sheffield: Geographical Association.
- Renshaw, S., & Wood, P. (2011). Holistic Understanding in Geography Education (HUGE)– an alternative approach to curriculum development and learning at Key Stage 3. Curriculum Journal, 22, 3, 365-379.
- Roberts, M. (1995).. Interpretations of the Geography National Curriculum: a common curriculum for all? Journal of Curriculum Studies, 27, 2, 187-20.
- Solem, M Huynh, N.T. and Bohem, R.G. (2015). Learning progressions for maps, geospatial technology and spatial thinking. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Solem, M., Lambert, D. and Tani, S. (2013). Geocapabilities: towards am international framework for researching the purpose and values of geography education, Review of International Geographical Education Online, 3, 2, 14-229.
- Taylor, L. (2014). Diversity between and within: approaches to teaching about distant place in the secondary school curriculum, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 46:2, 276-299.
- Vernon, E., (2019). Teaching to the epistemic self: ascending and descending the ladder of knowledge. The Curriculum Journal, 31,1, 27-47.
- Vernon, E. (2021). Could Legitimation Code Theory offer practical insight for teaching disciplinary knowledge? A case study in geography. The Curriculum Journal.
- Winter, C. (2011). Curriculum knowledge and justice: content, competency and concept. The Curriculum Journal, 22,3: 337-364.
- Winter C (2012). Enframing geography: Subject, curriculum, knowledge, responsibility, Ethics and Education, 7, 3, 277-290
- Winter C (2018). Disrupting colonial discourses in the Geography curriculum during the introduction of British Values policy, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 50, 4, 456-475.
- Wood, P. and Puttick, S., (2019). A Plexus Curriculum in School Geography—A Holistic Approach to School Geography for an Endangered Planet. In Climate Change and the Role of Education (pp. 385-399). Springer, Cham.
Research networks
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