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

Airportshttp://planefinder.net/route/

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

How many of you use Facebook ?

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Tony Cassidy

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I'm being walked on again

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Snowdon

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I’m feeling on top of the world!!! 10hrs ago

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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!

Ads

Groups

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/