1. Core Knowledge and the Revised Curriculum Geographical Association Annual Conference April 14 th 2012 Dr Stephen Scoffham Canterbury Christ Church University

3. Geography in schools Primary Schools Apart from a few outstanding schools, pupils knowledge of places was exceptionally weak at a national, European and global scale Para 10 Many teachers subject knowledge was weak Para 18 Secondary Schools Core knowledge for the majority of the students surveyed was poor… They were not able to locate countries, key mountain ranges other features with any degree of confidence Para 36 Ofsted (2011) Geography: Learning to make a world of difference, London : Ofsted

4. Understanding Information Knowledge Factual knowledge Applied or powerful knowledge

5. It snowed last night A general statement (information) It was minus two Greater detail and suggesting a more organised framework (knowledge) Temperatures will Appreciation of weather patterns rise soon as the and processes (understanding) wind has veered to the south

6. Factual knowledge is not directly discipline related Consider the following statements: Ants have six legs. Henry VIII is a famous English king. Paris is the capital of France.

7. Useless knowledge? Image of Trivial Pursuit

9. What knowledge is worth knowing? Whose knowledge is worth knowing? Herbert Spencer Michael Apple

10. What knowledge, skills and understanding will children need for the future?

11. It would be well if they could be taught everything that is useful and everything that is ornamental; but art is long and their time is short Benjamin Franklin Useful or ornamental?

12. Map A Key Stage 2 Map D Key Stage 3 DfE (1995) Geography in the National Curriculum Is there a progression in locational knowledge?

14. Much of formal learning is short on threshold experiences, It feels like learning the pieces of a picture puzzle that never gets put together...In contrast getting some version of the whole game close to the beginning makes sense because it gives the enterprise some meaning. (Perkins 2009p9)

15. Emotion Cognition Processes related to the body High reason Emotional thought The platform for learning, decision- making and creativity both in social and non- social contexts After Imordino –Yang and Damasio (2007)

16. Questions to consider What do we think knowledge is and how do we define it? Can knowledge be sequenced or arranged in a progression? Is there something special about geographical knowledge? Who will select core knowledge in geography? What is education for?

17. References Apple, M. (2003) The State and Politics of Knowledge, London: RoutledgeFalmer Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1::The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Bruner, J (1960,1977) The Process of Education, Cambridge, MASS:Harvard University Press Dewey, J (1916,1966) Democracy and Education, New York: Free Press Gardner, H (2006) Five Minds for the Future, Boston, MASS: Harvard Business School Imordino-Yang, M. and Damasio, A. (2007) We Feel Therefore We Learn: The relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education, in Mind, Brain and Education 1:1 pp3-10 Hirsch, E. D. (1996) The Schools We Need and Why We Dont Have Them, New York: Random House Hirst, P. and Peters, R. (1970) The Logic of Education, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Joubert, M. (2001) The Art of Creative Teaching: NACCCE and beyond in Craft, A. (et al.) Creativity in Education, London: Continuum Lambert, D. (2010) A Critique of a Core Knowledge Approach to the National Curriculum. Internal Geographical Association discussion paper Ofsted (2011) Geography: Learning to make a world of difference, London : Ofsted Perkins, D (2008) Making Learning Whole: How Seven Principles of Teaching Can Transform Education, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Scoffham, S. (2006) Modelling the School Geography Curriculum, Research paper presented at the Charney Manor Primary Geography Research Conference 24 th February 2006