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Organising a Key Stage 3 Geography Curriculum
Organising a Key Stage 3 Geography Curriculum
Organising a Key Stage 3 Geography Curriculum
The aim of this CPD course is to aid you in thinking about why you teach what you do.
- In a discipline as broad as geography we cannot teach everything so what to teach is a hugely important decision.
- Carefully thinking about what is included in a curriculum is essential if we are to ensure that pupils’ geographical understanding progresses over time.
This course
This course
- This CPD course discusses two different ways of coherently organising a Key 3 Stage Geography curriculum:
- Thinking about the distinction between regional and systematic geography.
- Thinking about key concepts in geography.
Approach
Approach
- By using these approaches for curriculum thinking, we can avoid the risk of a curriculum that is made up of distinct topics with little to link them together.
- We can use these approaches to connect the silos of information and ensure coherence across our curriculum.
Geography: a horizontal discipline
Geography: a horizontal discipline
- Geography is a horizontal subject unlike, for example, Science, which is more vertical or hierarchical.
Horizontal subjects
Horizontal subjects
- This means that new segments of knowledge are added to existing knowledge.
- The knowledge is distinct but it is related. Key concepts are revisited periodically and restudied numerous times in different contexts.
- For example, the concept of development will be revisited and restudied lots of times in different contexts throughout Key Stage 3.
Hierarchial subjects
Hierarchial subjects
- In a hierarchical subject, the knowledge becomes increasingly abstract as you progress in your studies.
- This increasingly abstract knowledge helps understand relationships and helps establish generalisations and laws within the subject.
Why does this matter for teaching?
Why does this matter for teaching?
- The horizontal knowledge of geography matters because it means that effective sequencing of content is incredibly important.
Organising a Key Stage 3 Geography Curriculum
Organising a Key Stage 3 Geography Curriculum
There are a number of different ways of thinking about the organisation and sequencing of a KS3 geography curriculum.
Sequence
Sequence
- There may not be an obvious sequence for teaching and depending on the order of content that you choose, different links can be drawn between topics and concepts.
- It is essential that students are able to see, and draw, these links frequently as this is what sets geography apart from other subjects (Enser, 2019).
Abstract concepts
Abstract concepts
- What is key is that throughout the curriculum, the key concepts are revisited to broaden and deepen pupils’ understanding.
- Within segments of geography, the knowledge may be hierarchical and become increasingly abstract (Standish, 2017) so this requires consideration too.
- For example, understanding the concept of ‘place’ is hierarchical in nature.
Changeability
Changeability
- It’s also critical to remember that geography as a discipline and as a school subject is ‘in a constant state of becoming’ (Lambert & Morgan, 2010).
- Thus, our curriculum will need to be constantly reflected upon, tweaked, and changed.
- The concepts within our curriculum will also need to change as geography creates concepts in response to changes in the nature of the world (Lambert & Morgan, 2010).
- So, our curriculum planning and thinking are never finished.
Building understanding
Building understanding
- Careful sequencing of content helps to build students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in geography over time.
Points of assessment
Points of assessment
- It helps to add clarity and align expectations around what students will know and what geographical skills they can display at certain ‘end’ points.
- E.g. the end of Year 9 or Year 11.
Regional vs Systematic geography
Regional vs Systematic geography
- One useful way to think about a KS3 geography curriculum is to consider the balance between regional and systematic geography.
1Organising a KS3 Geography Curriculum
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