SD Humanities - GeographyAlison Hales Dec 13

Session 2

Place, Identity and Distant Localities?

Geography

• Focuses on places• Uses enquiry as a vehicle for learning• Should provide opportunities for using

maps and photos• Must include fieldwork (statutory

requirement)• Draws on the personal experiences of

the learner, the teacher and others in the school community

• Has excellent opportunities for X curricular links

Foundation Stage – understanding of the World

EARLY LEARNING GOALS FOR THE WORLD:

• They know about similarities and differences in relation to places…..

• They talk about the features of their own immediate environment, and how environments might vary one from another

The NC: Knowledge, Skills and Understanding in Geography

1. Geographical & enquiry skills– Fieldwork– Using photos– Mapping– Vocabulary– Asking and answering questions (enquiry)

2. Knowledge and understanding of places

- the local area

3. Knowledge and understanding of patterns and processes

4. Knowledge and understanding of environmental change and sustainable development

Places

The National Curriculum requires the study of places

KS1• The locality of the school• A locality in the UK or overseas which has

human or physical features which contrast to the school locality

KS2• A locality in the UK• A locality in a less economically developed

country

Why Teach about Distant Places?

• Relevance;• Reduces ignorance;• Contributes to the development of respect and

tolerance• Gives children from different ethnic groups self-

esteem and status;• Develops values and skills that are relevant to global

citizenship; • Develops specific geographical terminology;• Develops concepts of similarity and difference/

relationships between people and places.'It's not just the geography I get out of it. It's the cross curricular themes, the multicultural education, work on equal opportunities. All sorts of rich curriculum work comes out of it “

Sue Rushfirth, Deighton Gate Primary

Where is this place?

A• They eat frogs and snakes; • There are no pickpockets; • There are no black people; • Guns come from there.B• There are big forests; • They have large roads; • They have beautiful coins;• They have very tall mountainsC• Their policemen wear red and black uniforms;• They live in flats;• There are many factories;• There are lots of churches and hospitals.D• There are lots of old things; • They have a nice climate;• There are many shops;• It has a large population;• The people speak a beautiful language.

Issues to consider when working with photographs

• Children respond more positively when they are familiar with the content;

• Children tend to interpret photos in an oversimplistic way

• Children interpret photos in the light of their existing knowledge and misconceptions.

• Children tend not to see the picture as a whole;

• Children tend to notice large foreground and background objects and ignore the middle ground;

LEARNING ABOUT A DISTANT PLACE

• Use a photograph from a distant locality pack. Discuss with your partner an appropriate title.

• What you can identify in terms of the human and physical features of this place.

• Can you make any deductions about the climate.• Make a list of the questions that could be asked

about this picture.

Sources of visual images

• http://www.geography.org.uk/resources/adifferentview

• http://www.geograph.org.uk • http://www.nationalgeographic.com • http://www.flickr.com• http://www.geographyphotos.com• Don’t forget your own photographs or those

taken by colleagues

What is this place like?

How can children learn what a distant locality is like?

What other resources do we need?

What is the place like?

How far would your resources provide opportunities to develop positive strategies for teaching about distant localities?

Do the resources -stress the similarity of basic need?-focus on everyday events (e.g. shopping, going to school/work etc.) rather than the iconic images of the place?-provide positive and varied images of people/ the place?-Focus on a small locality

Finally-•Are the resources good quality and up to date?

Making resources relevant to a class

Take account of:•Children’s family circumstances•Cultural and religious background of the children•Experiences of teacher / local community etc.

Make sure that teaching and learning activities:

•Start with the local area and children's own knowledge base and build on their personal and local links•Focus on small localities but put them into a wider context

Enquiry

The importance of asking and answering geographical questions:

• What do I know about this place?• Where is it?• Why is it like this?• How is it changing?• What would it feel like to be here?• How is it linked to other places?• How is it similar to and different from

another place