Examples of capabilities: being able to imagine, use the senses, think and reason being able to form a conception of the good and to plan one’s life accordingly being able to show concern for others, to empathise and to live successfully with others being able participate effectively in political choices, with free speech and association [after Nussbaum 1993]

Four interconnected ideas Curriculum Futures Powerful knowledge Curriculum making Capabilities GeoCapabilities: teachers as curriculum leaders

Capabilities Derives from Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and their work in human welfare and development economics: What it is to be ‘truly human’? What functionings (the beings and doings) determine a persons ‘capability set’? Anything that prevents fully human functioning is a deprivation of capability

Examples of capabilities: being able to imagine, use the senses, think and reason being able to form a conception of the good and to plan one’s life accordingly being able to show concern for others, to empathise and to live successfully with others being able participate effectively in political choices, with free speech and association [after Nussbaum 1993]

Human capabilities and education In terms of an Aims-based curriculum we may ask how geography contributes to human flourishing? It helps us puts specific geographical content knowledge into the context of its wider educational purposes autonomy and a right to thought choice and reason about how to live creativity and productivity affiliation and diversity

Geography as powerful knowledge A capability approach to ‘curriculum thinking’ in geography asks: How does geographical knowledge in school contribute to the development of human capabilities?

Geography as powerful knowledge A capability approach to ‘curriculum thinking’ in geography asks: How does geographical knowledge in school contribute to the development of human capabilities? Answer: By encouraging: the acquisition and development of deep descriptive and explanatory ‘world knowledge’ the development of the relational thinking that underpins geographical thought a propensity to think about alternative social, economic and environmental futures

Powerful Knowledge (PK) PK refers to the knowledge children and young people are unlikely to acquire at home or in their workplace PK is knowledge they will need if they are to become active citizens and workers in the complex modern world, sometimes called a ‘knowledge society’

Powerful Knowledge [PK]? PK is usually: evidence based abstract and theoretical (conceptual) part of a system of thought dynamic, evolving, changing – but reliable testable and open to challenge sometimes counter-intuitive exists outside the direct experience of the teacher and the learner Discipline based (in domains that are not arbitary or transient) It enables societies to think the ‘unthinkable’ and the ‘yet- to-be-thought’

Powerful Knowledge? Example: ‘Cities’ Many children have a working, everyday knowledge of living in a city... But geography lessons make the city an object of thought, asking for example: – In what circumstances do cities grow? – How are cities organised? – Can cities be regulated, planned and controlled? – What is the ideal city? (‘to enable societies to think the ‘unthinkable’ and the ‘yet-to-be-thought’)

Curriculum Futures F1subject delivery – of knowledge for its own sake; traditional subjects: under-socialised knowledge F2skills and ‘learning to learn’ – knowledge is constructed: over-socialised knowledge; subject divisions are artificial. Themes.Experiential. F3subjects are not given (as in F1), but not arbitrary either (as in F2) – knowledge development led by ‘... the epistemic rules of specialist communities’ to provide ways to understand the world and take pupils beyond their everyday experience. (Young and Muller 2010)

Who ‘owns’ powerful knowledge (PK)? Can the state legislate: i.e. can PK be codified into national standards? What are the roles/responsibilities of teachers in bringing a curriculum into fruition? Some key ‘curriculum’ questions

Curriculum Making in Geography Student Experiences School Geography Teacher Choices Underpinned by Key Concepts Thinking Geographically Which learning activity ? Does this take the learner beyond what they already know ? In the context of the discipline of geography