Richard's PhD was based on his involvement in the work of the GeoCapabilities project.
I am proud to have been part of phase 2 of this project, which has had three phases to date. My involvement came when the project developed the ideas of curriculum making and connected it with the idea of vignette and the use of artefacts. All of these are referenced in the book.
GeoCapabilities began in 2012 with a pilot project led by the American Association of Geographers. This work is summarised in the online journal RIGEO. The first phase was funded by the AAG.At the GA Conference in 2012, I co-presented a session on the digitalearth ERASMUS+ funded project which I had been part of - a multi-million pound project, and I helped to lead one of the sub-groups which took me to various European locations including Klagenfurt. This was with Michael Solem and John Lyon, and was an interesting experience, and led to me getting involved ultimately with Michael Solem's work.
In 2013, GeoCapabilities became an EU funded programme as a 3 year Comenius project (539079-LLP-1-2013-1-UK-COMENIUS-CMP).
GeoCapabilities is international in scope. It embraces in how geography is understood and expressed in national school standards. The capabilities approach helps geography educators everywhere to articulate the importance of children learning how to think geographically. This is part of what is called curriculum leadership.
I joined the project team, working on behalf of University College London. I also co-presented at several events with the legend that is Duncan Hawley.
In the 2nd phase I attended meetings in Sheffield, Bruges, Brussels and Helsinki.
In Brussels we discussed the way that we might share the work of teachers who we were working with the ideas we had developed. These included the idea of 'curriculum artefacts' which went along with David Lambert's previous development of 'curriculum making' as an important activity for teacher to engage in. I suggested the relatively new (at the time) technology of ESRI StoryMaps.
Richard has looked to extend the ideas from the project across the curriculum. Inevitably there are quite a few references to geography, but he also develops some thoughts on how this could be applied to other curriculum areas. There is something here for teachers of most subject areas.
Richard's book is not only about geography but attempts to apply the geocapabilities framework to all the major curriculum subjects. An introduction sets out the journey that Richard has been on since his first involvement in the project. This is an important section as it sets the scene but also outlines the development of the approach he advocates. It is research-informed but also practical in nature.
Part 1 of the book is called Theory.
It provides some wider reading and also develops some conclusions. Some of the wider reading was not to my taste when I read it, but it all counts in helping to develop a personal 'philosophy' on the complex nature of the job teachers do, and why we do what we (choose to) do.
The first section considers which knowledge is the most important, with the story of a Māori story recounting the formation of glaciers which would not be viewed as significant as the more 'scientific' explanation but nonetheless is 'a different form of truth' and helps get away from the 'single story' that some schools would have - focussing on the particular story that the awarding body wants them to tell to meet a bullet point on a specification. He moves through the previous 'Trad vs. Progressive' binary which was always unhelpful, and introduces those who are not geographers (and have probably heard David Lambert's work before) to the idea of Futures 1, 2 and 3 (alternative curriculum models).
A reference point for this is Michael Gove's 'infamous' and deluded claim from 2016 that people had 'had enough of experts' though a recent visit to a private dentist for complex root canal treatment confirmed that I'd rather have asked him than a local plumber. We need to counter the tide of fake news, which is lifted by AI and the actions of governments in more than one country... USA 2025-2028 is not a serial I am looking forward to.
As Richard says on p.22, "Teachers need to be the experts in the classroom. They need to be experts in the subjects they are teaching."
Sadly, in many schools, teacher recruitment and retention and an ageing workforce (of which I am definitely one) means that many pupils are not taught by someone who not only completed a geography degree but has also avidly maintained their knowledge of the discipline since they paraded across a stage in a gown and mortar board.
On p.29, the idea of expert knowledge is then applied to the students too. Richard talks about showing a picture of James Hutton: 'the father of modern geology" who lived in the 18th century. Which means of course he was ignorant of the basics of plate tectonics which even Year 4 students can now confidently talk about... they have more knowledge than the founding father of the entire subject. So what knowledge we teach now will retain its power during the students' life time - let alone beyond.
Geography is a rapidly changing discipline, with GIS and geospatial technology - supported by AI - developing at pace. This section also outlines differences between curriculum choices made in England, Scotland and Wales.
He outlines some of the other thinkers who have worked in the field of capabilities in education, which is useful, and includes the curriculum making diagram which geographers will again be very familiar with (I hope). This points out the importance of teacher choices, and includes a sentence that most teachers will relate to:
"A lesson at the end of the day on a Friday afternoon might look very different to the same lesson with the same class on a Monday morning..."
Part 2 of the book is called Theory into Practice.
This is where Richard looks at other curriculum areas. Each of these is called 'What might make.... <insert subject here> a powerful knowledge?'
This returns the thinking to the idea of knowledge(s) and the implication that to unlock this requires what Margaret Roberts has called "powerful pedagogy" which is where we come in...
Richard looks at the following curriculum areas:
- Mathematics
- English literature and language
- Science
- Humanities
- Creative Arts
- Languages
- Physical education
The book is also in some ways a CPD handbook for a department (or even an SLT team) to use to engage with the capabilities approach. There are discussion questions at the end of each section, which could be used by teachers working together to develop their practice. This would take a while to work through, but it would be interesting to see the outcomes, particularly if the approach was taken across a whole school.
Richard has drawn on a wide range of sources and worked hard to show how the capabilities approach can work across a range of subject areas... particularly in PE... and ends with a reminder that we have the power in our own classrooms, and should be the curriculum makers. As I said when I worked for the Geographical Association and led sessions for young teachers, every teacher is a Head of Geography, because if they're not actually holding that post... they're teaching particular students rather than that person...
It is very well written, and easy to digest as Richard unpicks the threads of how we have arrived at the current position we find ourselves in. With the deadline for the 'call for evidence' for the Government's Curriculum and Assessment Review coming at the end of the week, and the next stages when subjects will be looked at in detail, this book has arrived at the perfect time for schools who want to take a fresh look at why they do what they do.
Recommended for a departmental CPD library or as a book to hand to someone who has expressed an interest in taking on extra responsibilities or particularly enjoys the act of curriculum making.
Disclosure:
My copy was a review copy provided by the publisher, but I have also purchased a copy for my department's CPD library.
Published by Crownhouse in 2024
Paperback, 212pp
ISBN: 9-781785-837-180
Other resources:
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