Developing authentic contexts for
topicsAlan Parkinson
Freelance GeographerEducation Director, Explorer HQ
http://livinggeography.blogspot.com
iGCSE
FRGS, CGeog
@GeoBlogs
Background• Worked on textbook for Cambridge iGCSE for Collins
– wrote structure for book and worked on content, and teacher support materials
• Also written substantial IB / iGCSE content for Richard Allaway’s ‘Geography all the Way’ website
• Worked for GA for 3 years, then 2 years freelancing for numerous companies and organisations creating teaching materials and working with teachers across the UK & EU, including courses at Salzburg University
• September 2013: Returning to the classroom at King’s Ely (plus GA CPD/ writing / Mission:Exploring)
Background• Worked on textbook for Cambridge iGCSE for Collins
– wrote structure for book and worked on content, and teacher support materials
• Also written substantial IB / iGCSE content for Richard Allaway’s ‘Geography all the Way’ website
• Worked for GA for 3 years, then 2 years freelancing for numerous companies and organisations creating teaching materials and working with teachers across the UK & EU, including courses at Salzburg University
• September 2013: Returning to the classroom at King’s Ely (plus GA CPD/ writing / Mission:Exploring)
iGCSE involves case studies and place studies… & skills development
authentic
While working for
the GA…
What could the ‘i’ stand for ?
iGCSE
iinternational
Which is obviously important….
Global connectionsInterdependence
InequalityFood securityGeopolitics
Resource issuesClimate Change
But it could also stand for
other things….
iin person
Individual Fieldwork & personal
experiences
Ash collected on a visit to Iceland
iinvestigating
Image: Tom
Morgan Jones / M
ission Explore
Enquiry approach…Margaret Roberts
Apps make new things
possible
NetworksGlobalisation
iindividual
Lived here, here and here....
http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/PARKINSON
a different view
“maps, like notebooks, are the raw materials of my work, constant
companions.”
Michael Palin, April 2013
“Childhood is a branch of cartography”
Michael Chabon
Mission:Explore
Magic Postcodes
S66 1AGHD4 6QQHU5 3ERPE30 2QBPE31 7QJPE32 2NX
7 point classification of vandalism (Wilson and Healey, 1987)
AcquisitiveTo acquire money or property, for example, breaking open telephone boxesTacticalThe damage is a conscious tactic, a means to achieve some other end, such as breaking a window to be arrested and get a bed in prisonIdeologicalSimilar to tactical vandalism, but carried out to further an explicit ideological cause or to deliver a message, for example, chalking slogans on wallsVindictiveDamage in order to obtain revenge, for example, breaking school windows to settle a grudge against the head teacherPlayDamage in the context of a game; for example who can break the most windows of a houseMaliciousAn expression of rage or frustration which is often directed at symbolic middle class property. It is this type that has the vicious and apparently senseless facade which people find so difficult to understandInnocuousDamage done to property defined by youth as unimportant or of no value
iict
Author…Impact on our livesImpact on our jobs
Impact on our educationImpact on our future ?
iimaginative
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Snowdon
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Hey Snowdon, thanks for the add how's things going over there ??
Yeah, I know, I am fed up of seeing that train!
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Llyn Ogwen
I'm Snowdon, a mountain in North Wales. I’m 1,085 metres high. I’ve even got a nature reserve around me!!!
The Snowdon Wildlife Reserve.
By Zoe Liz Smith
Facebook pages for National
Parksfor Rivers
for Aid workersfor ….
SAMRRuben Puentedura
iinequality
Major issue for the UK & the
world in the 21 st Century
Lives on the Linehttp://life.mappinglondon.co.uk/
Personal experiences & passions
iinspiration
Curriculum / specification as music
‘Streaming’ geographyGeography in the cloud
@GeoBlogs
Garageband
Spotify
Playlists
critical
iGCSE involves case studies and place studies…
authentic
What do I mean by ‘authentic’ ?
au·then·tic /ôˈTHentik/AdjectiveOf undisputed origin; genuine: "authentic 14th-century furniture".Made or done in the traditional or original way: "authentic Italian meals".Synonymsgenuine - true - real - veritable - original
What do I mean by ‘authentic’ ?Another definition
au·then·tic /ôˈTHentik/AdjectiveOf undisputed origin; genuine: "authentic 14th-century furniture".Made or done in the traditional or original way: "authentic Italian meals".Synonymsgenuine - true - real - veritable - original
“authentic learning”
• ‘real world relevance’• ill-defined problems – no ‘easy answer’ (Mysteries ??)• sustained investigation – not double page
spreads…• multiple perspectives e.g. migration…• collaboration• reflection• assessment integrated into task
“authentic learning”
• ‘real world relevance’• ill-defined problems – no ‘easy answer’ (Mysteries ??)• sustained investigation – not double page
spreads…• multiple perspectives e.g. migration…• collaboration• reflection• assessment integrated into task
“authentic learning”
• ‘real world relevance’• ill-defined problems – no ‘easy answer’ (Mysteries ??)• sustained investigation – not double page
spreads…• multiple perspectives e.g. migration…• collaboration• reflection• assessment integrated into task
Authentic narrativesSome examples I’ll be using
New York TimesJune 2013China’s plans for 250 million people…
Radio 4
Tue 11th June
Link with GA resource
Clive Myrie speaks to Mike Nowak, a Pole who lived for many years in Britain, but who has now returned home to Warsaw.
Mike came to England long before the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, so witnessed the increase in Polish immigration for himself. Suddenly he was able to speak in his mother-tongue all day, every day, and witnessed Polish shops and businesses starting up around him.
Recently he made the decision to return to Warsaw. Clive asks what changes Mike has seen back in Poland since he first left, and finds out where Polish opinion stands on further EU immigration.
US Migration
http://migrationsmap.net/#/USA/arrivals
http://www.humaneborders.info/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/01/map-us-mexico-migrant-deaths-border
Local inspiration
@SaveHoptonBeach
“They’re called floodplains because
they flood”
Ben Hennig Cartograms
Tasks that students are set relate to the real world
Could be done by those working in jobs in these areas…
Could even be set by real people – in person or via Skype / video
message – challenges to be completed and fed back…
Parental audit…
• Parents with particular skills who may be prepared to lend their expertise..
• Surveys at parents evenings and other events where parents are around
• Work Experience links – reporting on the geographical skills that were used in the workplace
Geography in CareersCareers in Geography
http://geography.org.uk/resources/careers/getstarted
Some examples..• GA website: ‘Geography through Careers’
Academic GeographiesOllie O’ Brien – This Place
http://casa.oobrien.com/thisplace/
71
Mapcrunch.comhttp://www.mapcrunch.com/
GeoGuessr / GeoSettr / LocatePlace
71
T-shirt design on a theme….
Overpopulation
Risk
Gapminder Populationhttp://www.gapminder.org/popreg
New area of the websiteFocus on EDUCATION
79
@GeoBlogs
@pensionerfrank
Google Forms – collect real data and visualise itCollaborate on presentations, documents and graphics
81
Out now - iBooks
102
Image by Jack Davison
Where to go for more ?
References & reading
• Lombardi (2007) – Authentic Learning http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli3009.pdf• Rawding, C (2013) – Effective innovation in the
secondary geography curriculum (Routledge)• Roberts, M (2003) – Learning through Enquiry – new
edition due out Summer 2013• Widdowson, J and Parkinson, A: Fieldwork through
Enquiry – due out in Summer 2013
For more of my ‘stuff’…
• http://www.slideshare.net/geoblogs - 250+ presentations and resources
• http://livinggeography.blogspot.com - over 4500 posts
• Twitter: @GeoBlogs • Back to the classroom:http://geographyteacher2point0.blogspot.co.uk/
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