Geography Portfolio- EIPT

In recent years, schools have become more aware of the importance of geography, however, it is still heavily overlooked as a subject. Many schools focus too much on formally assessed subjects rather than foundation subjects, such as geography. Geography is the inquiry into places and the link between people and their surroundings (National Geographic, 2024). Not teaching this humanities subject hinders their learning as it prohibits them from learning about the world around them. I think that the curriculum needs to prioritise teaching geography as it can link to many other curriculum subjects as well as teach many skills that will be used within their lives.

For many years, East Durham has been predominantly a white Christian/Atheist area so my school was lacking diversity as a child. However, in the last few years this has started to change. Therefore many parents wil lack understanding of other cultures and religions leading their children ton be the same. It is important, with the growing populatuon in the area, that we teach children to be tolerant and respectful of those who may not have grown up in the same way we have.

The Geographical Association (2024a) favour geography to progress the subject within the curriculum. I completely agree with this, when I was in primary school, geography education was limited and the majority of education was focussed on physical geography rather than social. The current curriculum is lacking focus on the diversity of the world- more specifically in key stage 1. Ofsted research tells us that Primary school geography lessons were the worst taught of any in the education system (2004). This is something that needs to change. In this portfolio, I will be showing how I aim to teach children about the diverse world we live in through the exploration of other country's and religion's traditions that they may not be exposed to otherwise.

Increasing tolerance to diversity and culture through Geography

Diversity in geography has the ability to tackle stereotypes and improve representation of people and places, it can empower students from a variety of different backgrounds (Milner, Robinson & Garcia, 2021). It allows students to learn and appreciate other's backgrounds (Ofsted, 2011). This is particularly important due to the increase of immigration to the UK. It was reported in June 2023, that net migration had increased to "672,000 which was up significantly from pre-pandemic volumes" (Home Office, 2024). This means that classrooms wil include children from more diverse backgrounds than in previous generations (Richards et al., 2007). Educating children about a range of cultures will help the children understand the differences between people and their backgrounds from different parts of the world.

(DfE, 2013)

The National Curriculum (2013) mentions knowledge of places around the world. Children in key stage 2 are expected to be able to compare geographical features, both physical and human geography, including location, culture and economy.

Teaching children georgraphy throughout primary schcool is a vital part of their education. Humanities subjects such as geography are a very important part of a young person's education as it can create an increased understanding of human culture and identity as well as to help develop the standards needed to create a diverse world (Eaude et al., 2017). Geography can also help children make sense of the world (Starrs & Till, 2020). It is important for children to understand and learn about the world they live in to help them navigate the world as they grow.

Intent

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To ensure all children feel they belong in school

To understand that we're all different

To learn to accept people and embrace differences

To increase children's sense of understanding

To expose children to new cultures

To increase tolerance in school

AIMS:

Another popular subject that can be linked to geography is history. History is the reason geography is the way it is today. Also, discussing the history of certain countries can help link well to diversity and the history of religions and peoples backgrounds.

It is also great to include cross-curricular links by introducing the common religions in these countries, some of which may be taught in RE. All schools must teach RE so it is the perfect link. In the Durham Agreed Syllabus (2020), Key Stage 2 students should learn about relious diversity in the area. Fro m this we can look into where these religions originate as well as the traditions and differences from other religions we've looked at.

A good way to implement this is by using a cross-curricular approach. This is when a combination of subjects are used to teach a singular lesson (Hayes, 2012). This is a useful approach that allows children to transfer skills they have learned in one lesson into another (Marzano, 1991). It also gives those who are less academic in one subject the ability to understand a subject by presenting it a different way (Price, 2010). Cross curricular approach allows children to revisit a concept therefore deepening their understanding and helping them retain the information for a longer period as well as helping teachers plan a more imaginative lesson increasing engagement (Kerry, 2015).

Implementation

Correctly implementing this is vital. The National Curriculum (2013) tells us that it is important to ensure that children can identify similarities and differences between certain countries in different parts of the world. This is a perfect time to introduce lifestyle into learning. Teaching children that everyone's lives look different especially those from different backgrounds or those that live in different countries.

• "teaching through music and creative arts
• using local area work for maths, history and ICT
• playful learning opportunities including outdoor learning
• approaching geography and real-world events through picture book stories" (Scoffham, 2013, p. I)

Keeping children engaged when speaking on this topic is important to ensure that they retain the information they are taught (Maranzo et al., 2010). In order to keep them engaged we need to make the topic fun. Ways we can do this include:

(Star Education, N.D.)

(Star Education, N.D.)

There are a lot less opportunities in later key stage 2 years to implement diversity through geography however it can still be done. In year 4, children learn about climates, within this we can learn about the climates in different parts of the world and what a normal day may look like for someone who lives there, how it differs from ours. In year 5, children will learn about the changes in our country, this will heavily include diversity due to the increase of immigration over recent years. In year 6, children will learn about North and South America, life in many South American countries is vastly different to how we live, learning about this will help open their minds to other lifestyles.

Looking at Star education's Geography Pathway above, location is a prominent topic throughout Key stage 1 and the early stages of Key stage 2. First, in year 1, children will learn about their local area. They will also revisit this in year 3. This should include teaching children the landmarks and physical aspects of the area as well as the social aspect including population, socioeconomic and sociocultural differences. This will allow children to learn about the world around them. In year 1, children will learn about The 7 Continents and The UK, once again, we can talk about migration into the UK and across continents. This will start the conversation for when they move onto the 'settlements and populations' topic in year 3.

Chinese new year changes date every year

• Create Red Paper Lanterns
• Compare cultures- what's different about how we celebrate our new year
• Try traditional Chinese origami
• Make 'hong bao'- red envelopes that are given to young children- usually with money- children can create their own currency. They can then look into chinese currency and compare it to ours.

Chinese New Year

Activity 2: 29th January 2025

Always ensure to check of any food allergies before bringing it in!

• Can make and decorate Sugar skulls (Calaveras)
• Try some of the famous foods including Pan de Muerto, Sugar skulls, Tamales
• Have a Day of the Dead party
• The film 'Coco' is centred around the celebration

A Mexican Festival

Dia de los Muertos/ Day of the dead

Activity 1: November 1st & 2nd

It is important to ensure that children are taught about the subject correctly. If they have any prejudice opinions they have picked up at home it is important not to tell them their wrong but to encourage them to nlook at it from another perspective

Before planning the lesson, it is important to check that all children are able to take part in RE as well as creating a lesson that talks about culture without including religion. This could be for the whole class or a seperate bit for the people who can't take part.

To improve this, teachers will have to adapt the way they teach to ensure all children are taught in a stress free, effective manneer. they may do this by ensuring their is support such as structure guidance and making clear what the lesson objective is and what will be happening at the beginning of the lesson.

Though there is reasearch into primary geography it is very limited (Catling, 2013). This means that teachers have no support when they are worried about teaching the subject. This will then lead to low quality teaching .

1. Lack of research

Due to a lack of research into geography within the primary curriculum, teachers have restricted support (Catling, 2013).

2. Struggling/ SEND Pupils

Some students may become overwhelmed with the content and struggle to understand due to the grave differences

3. Participation

Parents have the right to remove their children from Religious Education and due to the cross curricular approach may not be able to take part in some of the lessons, therefore missing out on the geography

4. Reverse effect

If the children take the lesson the wrong way or have their parent views embedded this could lead to more issues in bullying or abusive language.

considerations and challenges

Teaching children about differrent cultures helps increase their tolerance and respect. The aim of this ia to reduce bullying and harassment that many people in this country face .

Statistics show that 20.2% of students (12-18) repotred being bullied within 2016-2017 (US DfE, 2019). Though this is a US based statistic, in the UK bullying rates are just as high with 34.9% of children being bullied in person with a further 19.1% being bullied online in 2023 (ONS, 2024). When I was in school, bullying was often due to people who were seen different. Those who do not typically 'fit in' were more likely to get bullied, this was due to the way they looked, what they believed or interests they had. By educating children and exposing them to different cultures they will start to respect those who have a different background and beliefs.

Impact

This will positively impact children as it will show them although they are the same, they may have different backgrounds. You may have a mixture of cultures within your classroom, this is something you could explore as a class. Often innocent comments are taken negatively due to a lack of knowledge and a level of ignorance surrounding cultures (Delpit, 2006). By implementing this in lessons, children will grasp the sense of culture and community.

Another type of formative assessment is a quiz, these are super helpful for more experienced teachers as they can identify common misconceptions and ask questions to figure out if they are correct. A fun way to introduce a quiz is using technology, making the quiz online is known to increase engagement and make it feel less like a test (Zainuddin et al., 2020). Websites such as kahoot.com will allow children to take part by joining on the school IPads or Laptops.

There are many types of formative assessment and the evidence can be collected in many ways including through speaking and writing (Ruiz-Primo, 2011). Asking questiuons throughout the lesson is a good way to grasp if a child understands the work (Kordes et al., 2014). This allows teachers to catch misconceptions and address them in the moment before they become ingrained in the child's mind. It also gives teachers enough time to adapt the way they are teaching to ensure all children understand the information being given.

Formative assessment is crucial within education as it allows teachers to track the progress of a student in each tpic (Yorke, 2010). It helps improve their lerning (Stobart, 2006) as teachers can revisit topics if multiple children have struggled with them or do small group sessions to help those struggling with the same topic.

Formative Assessment:

Though Summative Assessments are most commonly seen as tests, they can be put into other formats such as a project. This could be individually as homework or in a group within the classroom. Research Projects are a great idea for geography as it allows children to be creative with the format as well as providing a lot of information. A project like this could be worked on throughout the whole module to encourage them to look at the topic more.

Many people believe that summative assessments are only state assessment however they are any test that is given to determine a child's learning at. a certain point (Garrison & Ehringhaus, 2007). In primary school these are usually known as 'End of Module' tests or 'End of Topic' tests.

SUMMativeAssessment:

Catling, S. (2013). The need to develop research into primary children's and schools’ geography. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 22(3), pp. 177-182https://doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2013.818187 Delpit, L (2006) Other People's Children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. The New Press. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Other_People_s_Children/YbLmpbFtvgUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=teaching+children+about+other+cultures&pg=PR5&printsec=frontcover Department for education (2013) National curriculum in England geography programmes of study. GOV.uk Retrieved on January 21st 2024 from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-geography-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-geography-programmes-of-study Eaude, S., Butt, G., Catling, S., Vass, P. (2017) The future of the humanitites in primary school- reflections in troubled times. International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, 45(3), pp. 386-395.Garrison, C., Ehringhaus, M. (2007). Formative and summative assessments in the classroom. Amle.org. Retrieved on April 29th 2024 from http://ccti.colfinder.org/sites/default/files/formative_and_summative_assessment_in_the_classroom.pdf Geographical Association. (2024a). What we do. Retrieved on April 25th 2024 from https://geography.org.uk/what-we-do/ Hayes, D. (2010). The seductive charms of a cross-curricular approach. Education 3–13, 38(4), pp. 381-387. Home Office news team (2024) Reducing Net Migration Fact Sheeet- February 2024. GOV.uk. Retrieved on March 25th 2024 from https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/01/reducing-net-migration-factsheet-december-2023/Kerry, T. (2015). Cross- Curricular Teaching in the Primary School (2nd ed.). Routledge.Kordes, U., Kafol, B. S., & Brunauer, A. H. (2014). A Model of Formative Assessment in Music Education. Athens Journal of Education 1(4), pp.295-308. Marzano, R. J. (1991). Fostering thinking across the curriculum through knowledge restructuring. Journal of Reading, 34(7), pp. 518–525 Maranzo, R. J., Pickering, D. J., Heflebower, T. (2010). The highly engaged classroom: The classroom strategies series. Solution Tree Press. Milner, C., Robinson, H., Garcia, H. (2021). How to start a conversation about diversity in education. Teaching Geography, 46(2), pp. 59-60. National Geographic. (2024). Geography. Retrieved on April 24th from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/geography-article/

References

North East Humanists. (2020). Agreed Syllabus for Education in Durham 2020: Additional Guidance for Humanism. durham.gov.uk. Retrieved on 23rd April 2024 fromhttps://democracy.durham.gov.uk/documents/s120855/Additional%20Guidance%20for%20Humanism%20NE%20V2.pdf Ofsted (2004) Geography in schools: Changing practice.https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/8167/1/Geography%20in%20schools%20changing%20practice%20(PDF%20format).pdf Ofsted (2011) Geography: Learning to make a world of difference.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f5c90e5274a2e8ab4bb79/Geography_-_learning_to_make_a_world_of_difference.pdf Office for National Staticstics (ONS). (2024). Bullying and online experiences among children in England and Wales: year ending March 2023. GOV.uk. Retrieved 29th April 2024 from https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/bullyingandonlineexperiencesamongchildreninenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023#:~:text=Prevalence%20of%20bullying,-The%2010%2D%20to&text=home%20or%20online.-,An%20estimated%201%2C544%2C000%20children%20aged%2010%20to%2015%20years%20(34.9,the%20year%20ending%20March%202020. Price, A. (2010). What are the benefits for teaching and learning of cross-curricular work using thinking skills, techniques and language? National Teacher Research Panel. Curee.http://www.curee.co.uk/files/RMHolyRosary/Resources/What_are_the_benefits_for_teaching_and_learning_of_cross_curricular_work.pdf Richards, H. V., Brown, A. F., Forde, T. B. (2007) Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. TEACHING Exceptional Children 39(3) pp. 64-68.https://doi.org/10.1177/004005990703900310Ruiz-Primo, M.A. (2011). Informal formative assessment: The role of instructional dialogues in assessing students’ learning. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 37(1), pp.15-24.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2011.04.003 Scoffham, S. (2013). Teaching Geography Creatively. Routledge.https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203125779 Star Education. (N.D.). Geography Primary Curriculum Progression Map. Olive Hackney. Retrieved on April 19th 2024 from https://www.olivehackney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Geography-Primary-Curriculum-Progression-Map-FINAL-21.02.22.pdf Starrs, P. F., Till, K. E. (2020). The AAG Review of Books 8(1), pp. 1-62 Stobart, G. (2006). The validity of formative assessment. Assessment and learning, pp. 133-146. US Department of Education. (2019) Student Reports of Bullying: Results from the 2001 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/e428692005-001. Yorke, M. (2010). Formative Assessment and its Relevance to Retention. Higher Education Research & Development, 20(2), pp. 115–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/758483462 Zainuddin, Z., Shujahat, M., Haruna, H., Chu, S.K.W. (2020). The role of gamified e-quizzes on student learning and engagement: An interactive gamification solution for a formative assessment system. Computers and Education, 145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103729 Icons from GoodwareIcons from Genially