3rd June 2016

Doukas School, Athens, Greece

Workshop:  GeoCapabilities: teachers as curriculum makers

Chair:  Duncan Hawley (Geographical Association)

Aim:  to introduce participants to the ‘capabilities approach’ to teaching school subjects. The main 'big idea'  is that teachers are ‘curriculum makers’, and that to do this teachers have to be leaders.

Part 1 (Dr Michael Solem)

The capabilities approach

This session introduced the conceptual basis of the 'capabilities approach'. This was an active session focussed on the teaching of climate change.

Part 1 Workshop outline

Part 2 (Professor Karl Donert)

Curriculum leadership

This session explored aspects of leadership. This was an active session focussed on the idea of teachers as curriculum leaders.

9th April 2016

Geographical Association Conference, Manchester, U.K

Research paper: How useful is the concept of geocapability for geography teachers?

Presenter: Richard Bustin

Geocapability can provide a framework for teachers to conceptualise the geography curriculum and link the aims of education withthe powerful knowledge that the discipline of geography can offer young people. It has student outcomes at its heart; it questions what students are able to 'do' and to 'think' and 'to be' as a result of their geography education. Understanding this can aid teachers in their curriculum making, to ensure a rigirius knowledge component is embedded within a broad curricular idealogicl framweork. The session presented the initial results from Doctoral level research into Geocapability. The concept of geocapability was explained and the empirical elements of the research briefly outlined. The main focus was on the initial outcomes of the research: questioning how, and in what ways, the concept of geocapability could be useful fo rgeography teachers. 

9th April 2016

Geographical Association Conference, Manchester, U.K .

GeoCapabilities: active curriculum interpretation

Presenters:

Duncan Hawley

Kelly Butler

Summary

This workshop showcased four online interactive modules designed to develop teachers’ interpretations of the curriculum through powerful knowledge, geographical thinking and use of teaching resources. The modules emerge from the GeoCapablities project that revaluates the role of geographical knowledge and the significance of teachers’ decisions in the process of ‘curriculum making’

29 March - 2 April 2016

Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, San Francisco , U.S.A.

Panel Session:
Appreciating Geography as Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge in Schools
 

Description:

The NSF and EU-funded GeoCapabilities project (Lambert, Solem and Tani, 2015) has attracted widespread international interest. Its core concern has been to theorise progressive, knowledge-led curriculum thinking in school geography and to promote what we call curriculum leadership among teachers of geography. The papers for this session have all arisen through the project and come either from full project partners (Finland, UK, Eurogeo, USA) or from associate partners (including additional European countries such as Germany, Netherlands and Sweden as well as China, Japan and New Zealand). 

One of the key principles of the project was to distinguish knowledge-based human capabilities from generic competences favoured by 'twenty-first century skills' and school programmes oriented by learning-to-learn, where the content of lessons is considered to be arbitrary or of secondary importance. The project has been equally keen to distance itself from traditional 'fact based' school curricula characterised by the delivery of given contents, where the content of lessons is seen as inert, non-negotiable and an end in itself.  

GeoCapabilities is therefore focused on exploring a third alternative, what we call a Future Three [F3] curriculum (after Young and Muller 2010). An F3 curriculum is based upon Michael Young's concept of 'powerful knowledge' - specialized disciplinary knowledge that is enabling and empowering and which cannot easily be acquired through everyday experience: it needs to be taught. The project is interested in the 'pedagogic right' of all young people to be exposed to powerful disciplinary knowledge (PDK) in geography. The contention is that failure to do this denies young people the capability afforded through thinking geographically about Earth as the home of humankind.

How can geographical knowledge be conceptualised as 'powerful'? What are the implications of the F3 heuristic on curriculum organization and development - and on how we prepare teachers of geography? These are some of the questions the papers in the session explored and how they apply in different national contexts.

Session A

Chairs:
Sirpa Tani

Discussant: David Lambert

Presenter: Tine Béneker, 

The development of powerful disciplinary knowledge in Dutch geography education

Presenter:Péter Bagoly-Simó, 

What Geography is made of: An international comparison of subject-specific knowledge in geography curricula

Presenter:Naoyuki ITO, 

Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge in the Japanese Social Studies Lessons

Presenter:Gabriel Bladh, 

Powerful geographical knowledge in practice - exemplary cases for developing geographical thinking

Session B
Chair:

Sirpa Tani

Participants:

Discussant:David Lambert

Presenter:Anke Uhlenwinkel, 

The new Berlin-Brandenburg syllabus and its potential in relation to the GeoCapabilities Approach

Presenter:Chew-Hung Chang, 

Teaching climate change in a Future 3 curriculum: a lesson study on using refutation texts

Presenter:David Örbring, 

Connecting policy and practice: geography education in China and Sweden

Introducer:

Michael N. Solem


Session C
Chair:

Michael N. Solem

Participants:

Presenter:Sirpa Tani, 

Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge in the Finnish Geography Education

Presenter:

Xin Miao, What's the story? Reflections on school geography in China using cases from Shanghai

Presenter:

Jianzhen Zhang, What is powerful knowledge of regional geography——A view from China

Presenter:Michael N. Solem, 

Geography as Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge in U.S. Schools: The Vision and the Reality

Discussant:David Lambert

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23rd January 2016

Geography Teacher Educators' Conference, Manchester, U.K.

Presentation: 

Does the GeoCapabilities approach enable a F3 curriclum?

Presenter: Duncan Hawley (Geographial Association)

Abstract

Geocapabilities takes the intrinsic value of geographical knowledge seriously, but also the notion of capabilities as an extrinsic education goal; that is, it develops children as 'knowledge workers’  - an aspect of Future 3 curriculum thinking. This presentation discussed and evaluated: a) what is involved in a 'curriculum of engagement' for students in the 21st century, b) the challenges of developing F3 curriculum thinking that is part and parcel of teachers’ curriculum making activity.

14th January 2016

Workshop: Introducing GeoCapabilities and teachers as curriculum leader. Manchester Metropolitan University.

Presenter:  

Duncan Hawley (Geographical Association)

Working with initial teacher trainees, the workshop used the recently developed Modules 1 and 2 of the forthcoming training modules to help the trainees to:

•gain an understanding of capabilities and the origins of the capabilities approach

• explore capabilities as a productive and practical way to express educational aims

• consider the idea of 'powerful knowledge' and discuss ways in which powerful knowledge contributes to human capabilities

• explore the significance and value of powerful geographical knowledge in secondary education

• consider the idea of 'curriculum making' in geography (also referred to as subject didactiks)

• define, communicate and use the notion of GeoCapabilities as a framework for curriculum making

• explore the significance of curriculum making in achieving a Future 3 curriculum

8th December 2015

Seminar: GeoCapabilities: curriculum-making and powerful knowledge - an international collaboration

Lund University, Sweden

UFO seminariet

Presenter:

David Örbring,  Institutionen för utbildningsvetenskap, Lunds Universitet,  Campus Helsingborg

Associate partner GeoCapabilities

david.orbring@uvet.lu.se

Summary

The presentation outlined GeoCapabilities approach as a way of highlighting the importance of geographical knowledge in a wider context and how this raises issues about the subject’s  ‘underdog’ position in the curriculum.

The seminar discussion focussed on the following points:

1. A music education specialist referred to the low status of subjects as ‘legitimation sickness’ and considered that music and geography have this in common recognising a similar tendency (necessity?) to defend the discipline, noted within some of the literature in music education e.g. The Wow Factor by Anne Bamford.  This raised the question as to whether ‘defence of a subject’ detracts from from a ‘capability approach’  or is it within its purpose?  Geocapabilities would argue that understanding the value of geographical knowledge through powerful disciplinary knowledge should be embedded in the work of a teacher – and thus help to claim the subject’s value in the curriculum.

2. Many participants registered interested in curriculum-making especially in relation to developing projects in schools and suggested that further investigation into curriculum-making in relation to the Swedish context and subject didactics might prove interesting.

3.  A sociologist remarked that Amartha Sen refers to ‘vital knowledge’– which highlights knowledge as vital in relation to education, suggesting that further investigation into the relation between welfare and capabilities (in the context of geography) would be helpful. 

4. The GeoCapability project is focused on educating teachers and affecting curriculum-making - and participants raised questions as to the extent to which this approach integrates influence from students in the curriculum-making process.

28th October 2015

Workshop: GeoCapabilities project - testing ideas and materials

Viikki Teacher Training School, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland


Presenter:
Elina Särkelä (Viikki Teacher Training School, University of Helsinki)

Workshop Summary
Introducing international GeoCapabilities program. Introducing capabilities approach and powerful disciplinary knowledge. Testing and evaluating materials (Moodle, webpage) planned for teacher education. For geography and biology student teachers from training schools at the University of Helsinki. Event.

27 - 29 October 2015

Geocapabilities Workshop, University of Gdansk, Poland

Teaching for Human GeoCapabilities

This workshop will introduce participants to an online teacher professional development course created for the GeoCapabilities project. The project emphasizes the value of geographical knowledge for life, work, autonomy, citizenship and environmental responsibility in a highly complex and interdependent world – and the essential role of schools in providing access to that knowledge.

Teachers are central in the GeoCapabilities approach, as they can exercise some influence and choice over what is taught and how it is taught.  

Teachers need to think how specialist knowledge can be reconceptualised in the form of geography as a school subject. 

GeoCapabilities argues that geography teachers can provide access to specialist ‘world knowledge’ and ways of thinking geographically that enable young people to think the ‘yet-to-be-thought’.  Through taking professional responsibility for interpreting the curriculum, all teachers are curriculum leaders.

GeoCapabilities offers geography teachers a framework for developing their professional responsibility as subject teachers and curriculum leaders.  It provides a means of thinking about what they teach that is enabling and adaptable for creating a curriculum of engagement. 

Participants will learn strategies for using the GeoCapabilites course to enhance their thinking about teaching geography.  Four course modules will be demonstrated: 1) Defining and developing disciplinary capabilities, 2) Curriculum making by teachers, 3) Connecting capabilities with curriculum making, 4) Communicating capabilities in the classroom. Each module is enriched with multimedia and web technologies to support collaborations and dialogue among teachers and teacher educators in different countries.

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3rd October, 2015

Deutschen Kongress für Geographie / German Congress of Geography ( DKG ), Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

A Capabilities Approach to German Geography Education

Session chaired by:

Michael Solem (Association of American Geographers) 

Anke Uhlenwinke (Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany)

The session explores the potential of a capabilities approach to curriculum making in German geography education. It draws on the current EU-funded GeoCapabilities transatlantic project to develop geography teachers as curriculum leaders in schools.

Conceptualising GeoCapabilities: appreciating the power of thinking geographically

Presenter

David Lambert  (UCL Institute of Education, London)

What role does geography education play in preparing the children we teach in this day and age (and their futures)? This is one of the key questions that concerns the GeoCapabilities project and the presentation addresses it at a theoretical level.

GeoCapabilities in the context of curriculum making in Germany (Panel Session)

Presenters

Sirpa Tani (University of Helsinki, Finland)

Anke Uhlenwinkel (Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany)

In this panel session we will discuss opportunities and challenges of using GeoCapabilities in curriculum making in Germany and compare them to other national contexts.

Teaching for Human GeoCapabilities (Workshop)

Presenter

Michael Solem (Association of American Geographers)

This workshop will introduce participants to an online teacher education platform based on the capabilities approach and created for the GeoCapabilities project, funded by the  EU Comenius Programme.

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17-21 August, 2015

International Geographical Union (IGU) Regional Conference 2015, Lomonosov Moscow State University (LMSU), Moscow, Russia

Presentation:  Geographical education for life.  Geography Teacher Education: the need for a well-prepared professional body of knowledge

Presenter

Karl Donert  (EUROGEO)

Session C12.11  

Abstract

GeoCapabilities is an EU-funded project which aims to improve the quality of teacher education and training by providing teacher support for dealing with complex issues in geography. Quality learning and teaching implies sound content knowledge, pedagogic awareness and knowledge of the students being taught. To be successful, teachers need to be effective ‘curriculum makers’ and therefore leaders in curriculum development. The project will produce materials and a conceptual framework for curriculum thinking in geography. This is different from and yet complementary to ‘competence-based’ curricula. The capabilities approach ensures educational aims are clearly in sight. Geo-capabilities ensures that geographical knowledge underpins curriculum making efforts. In short, the project will support and helps develop progressive knowledge-led curriculum making in geography. This presentation will examine the developments taking place in the project, the plans to support teachers and review progress made with the teacher support platform and GeoCapabilities course. 

31st August 2015

5th EUGEO Congress on the Geography of Europe, Budapest, Hungary

Thematic Workshop T05

Teaching for human GeoCapabilities

Presenters

Duncan Hawley (Geographical Association, U.K.)

Sirpa Tani (University of Helsinki, Finland)

Abstract

This workshop introduced participants to an online teacher professional development course created for the GeoCapabilities project, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and EU Comenius Programme. GeoCapabilities is an international collaboration to develop materials that illustrate for teachers how the acquisition and engagement with geographical knowledge and perspectives contribute to the growth of human capabilities. The project emphasizes the value of geographical knowledge for life, work, autonomy, citizenship and environmental responsibility in a highly complex and interdependent world – and the essential role of schools in providing access to that knowledge. The goal is to create more effective participation and contribution towards a better world by using a ‘capabilities’ approach to geography education that develops geography subject knowledge, curriculum planning and curriculum making. 

Participants learned strategies for using the GeoCapabilites course to enhance teacher preparation programs and support international collaborative projects involving pre-service and in-service teachers. Four course modules were demonstrated: 1) Defining and developing disciplinary capabilities, 2) Curriculum making by teachers, 3) Connecting capabilities with curriculum making, 4) Communicating capabilities in the classroom. Each module is enriched with multimedia and web technologies to support collaborations and dialogue among teachers and teacher educators in different countries.

17-21 August, 2015

Presentation:  Geographical education for life.  Geography Teacher Education: the need for a well-prepared professional body of knowledge

Presenters

Karl Donert  (EUROGEO)

Michael Solem (AAG)

Session C12.11

GeoCapabilities is an EU-funded project which aims to improve the quality of teacher education and training by providing teacher support for dealing with complex issues in geography. Quality learning and teaching implies sound content knowledge, pedagogic awareness and knowledge of the students being taught. To be successful, teachers need to be effective ‘curriculum makers’ and therefore leaders in curriculum development. The project will produce materials and a conceptual framework for curriculum thinking in geography. This is different from and yet complementary to ‘competence-based’ curricula. The capabilities approach ensures educational aims are clearly in sight. Geo-capabilities ensures that geographical knowledge underpins curriculum making efforts. In short, the project will support and helps develop progressive knowledge-led curriculum making in geography. This presentation will examine the developments taking place in the project, the plans to support teachers and review progress made with the teacher support platform and GeoCapabilities course.

29 May 2015

NoFa5 Nordisk fagdidaktisk konferens (Nordic conference on subject education research), University of Helsinki, Finland.

Geocapabilities Discussion Panel

Presenters

Chair

Sirpa Tani (University of Helsinki)

Panellists

Anke Uhlenwinkel (Humboldt Universität-zu-Berlin, Germany)

Gabriel Bladh, (University of Karlstad , Sweden)

Michael Solem (American Association of Geographers, U.S.A)

Discussant

David Lambert (UCL Institute of Education, London)

Panellists outlined the challenges and potential of the theoretical approach adopted for the 'Geocapabilities: Teachers as Curriculum Leaders’ project and how it might applied  to their respective curricula,  the aim of which is to investigate the role of geography education in cultivating the development of human capabilities.  The key objective of the project is to create teacher training materials to develop teachers as curriculum leaders through the capabilities approach. The project embraces diversity in culture and language and in how geography is understood and expressed in national school standards. Some differences and commonalties between countries (England, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the US) were discussed by participants in the session, especially the use of 'Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge' to embrace the 'big values' demanded by individual national curricula whilst enhancing and deepening knowledge of the subject

21-22 May 2015

Eurogeo Annual Meeting and Conference 2015, Ankara, Turkey

GeoCapabilities: leadership in teaching Geography 

Presenter

Karl Donert (Eurogeo)

Abstract

The presentation outlined the main elements of the project in seeking to examine the role of powerful geographical knowledge and teachers as leaders for curriculum development within schools, gave an overview of the research undertaken and the plans to develop an interactive online training course for teachers and teacher educators

April 13-15 2015

UCL-IOE and IGU Biennial Conference (The Power of Thinking Geographically), University College London Institute of Education, London, U.K.

Conceptualising GeoCapabilities: appreciating the power of thinking geographically

Presentation

David Lambert (presenting author) (UCL-IOE)

Michael Solem (AAG)

Session Description

The presentation asked three key questions:

• Who are the children we teach?

• What role does education play in preparing them for this day and age (and their futures)?

• As geography teachers, how are we able to contribute to their education?

The presentation provided a rationale for adopting a capabilities approach to geography in schools. It outlined the main goals of the Gecapability project, to create a teacher training on-line platform, which we hope will have international resonance. Finally, the paper critically reprised some of the literature-based and empirical research undertaken by the project partners to underpin the platform design.

21st April 2015

Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.

Teaching for Human GeoCapabilities

Presenters

Michael Solem (AAG) and Sirpa Tani (University of Helsinki)

Session Description

This workshop introduced participants to a prototype online teacher professional development platform. The GeoCapabilities platform is designed to engage teachers in thinking about curriculum making for human welfare development. Participants learned strategies for using the GeoCapabilities platform to enhance teacher preparation programs and support international collaborative projects involving pre-service and in-service teachers. One of the platform's modules (Module 1) was demonstrated, which features an activity based on international vignettes of powerful disciplinary knowledge.

10th April 2015

Geocapabilities: making an impact through curriculum making and leading future geography teaching.

Presentation

Duncan Hawley (GA) and David Lambert (UCL Institute of Education)

Session Description

Geocapabilities tackles the ‘next chapter’ in curriculum making. This interactive session demonstrated and discussed with participants how the Geocapabilities project is empowering teachers to re-establish and reclaim the future of geography teaching using powerful knowledge and pedagogies that have impact on young people’s (geo)capabilities.

30th January - 1st February 2015

Geography Teacher Educators' Conference, Oxford, U.K.

GeoCapabilities: Helping teachers connect geographical knowledge and educational aims.

Presentation

Duncan Hawley (GA) & Alan Parkinson (EUROGEO)

Abstract 

This session briefly outlined the purpose and value of the capabilities approach to geography education and teaching. It revealed initial findings of a small-scale international research study, which outlined some implications for teacher education and the potential to develop a capabilities approach in geography education. It outlined the next stage of the project which aims to connect with teachers and engage them through analysis of their understanding about the purpose of geography education, via self-analysis of their current planning and teaching practices, by engaging in a capabilities approach through curriculum making and by engendering stronger curriculum advocacy and leadership for geography education. The proposed interactive platform and tools to be used in this teacher development process were ‘showcased’ and GTE delegates  invited to discuss and comment on the merits, possible pitfalls and potential use (for initial teacher educators) of this approach, methodology and project.

27th January 2015

Viikki Teacher Training School, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Workshop: Curriculum making & geography teaching & the new curriculum

Presenter:

Elina Särkelä (Viikki Teacher Training School, University of Helsinki)

Workshop Summary

Curriculum making, geography teaching & the new curriculum (Finland) - for geography teachers from training schools at the University of Helsinki.

21st January 2015

Viikki Teacher Training School, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Presenter:

Elina Särkelä (Viikki Teacher Training School, University of Helsinki)

Workshop Summary

Curriculum making & geography teaching  - for geography teachers at Viikki Teacher Training School, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Presentation

Sirpa Tani

A presentation on "Geography Teacher Education and GeoCapabilities" outlined the results of a small scale survey into the status of geography education in seven countries -  England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Sweden and the USA.  A small group of geography educators and classroom practitioners in each country were invited to express their understanding about the purpose(s)  and value of geography education, prompted by a series of questions, and preliminary  findings were presented. Delegates were invited to offer comments on the findings.

Wednesday 16th April 2014

Geographical Association Annual Conference, Guildford, U.K.

Workshop

David Lambert, Michael Solem, Sirpa Tani

A workshop that explored  the meaning of powerful knowledge and how it relates to GeoCapabilities, attended by practising teachers and teacher educators.

Thursday 10 April 2014

GeoCapabilities Panel session Association of American Geographers, Tampa, Florida, USA

During this session several questions were discussed with an audience of around 20 geography educators.

Panelists: Tine Béneker, David Lambert, Daniel Van Middelkoop, Sirpa Tani, Anke Uhlenwinkel. The Panel was chaired by Michael Solem.

Questions explored included:

What are capabilities and how are they different from competencies? What is the relationship between geography, capabilities and “powerful knowledge”? What evidence is there for the potential of capabilities to understand the purposes and values of geography education and how aims are shared internationally? Are there limitations to a capabilities approach for interpreting educational aims in different countries?

Video clip excerpts of the panel session can be viewed in the Research section of the website on the Video Clips-Discussion page

Thursday 10th April 2014

Association of American Geographers, Tampa, Florida, USA

Paper Session

Tine Béneker and Daniel Van Middelkoop

The authors presented findings from a capabilities analysis of the geography curriculum in Dutch secondary education.

Thursday 10th April 2014

Paper Session

David Lambert 

‘In what ways in geography 'powerful knowledge' and why does this question matter?'

The main part of the paper explored Michael Young’s conception of ‘powerful knowledge’ as a right and the means by which education can be transformational, especially for the  disadvantaged in society. 

Thursday 10 April 2014

Workshop

David Lambert, Michael Solem, Sirpa Tani

This workshop introduced the “capabilities approach” to teacher preparation and curriculum making in geography. Participants reviewed a definition of capabilities. Participants reviewed the findings of collaborative research between the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the Institute of Education in London and the University of Helsinki. They studied a case study of human capability deprivation.  Participants also posed ideas for case studies illustrating relationships between capabilities and geographical knowledge and skills.