Curriculum Online - Curriculum planning

Some of the issues which may need to be discussed as part of the school's planning for geography include the following:

The purpose and nature of geography in the school

Geography should involve the simultaneous acquisition of knowledge about the natural and human elements of local and wider environments, the development of geographical skills and concepts, and the fostering of important attitudes. Exploring and discussing the nature of geography, its associated skills and the development of concepts and attitudes can clarify for the school staff the role which geography may play in the curriculum and is a prerequisite for the evaluation of teaching resources and approaches.

The exploration of the locality of the school

One of the most important aspects of the geography curriculum and the wider SESE programme is the emphasis placed on the exploration of the local environment of the child and school. The planning process should involve teachers in becoming familiar with the locality of the school, the people and communities in the area and the human and natural geographical features to be found there. Some suggestions as to where advice and support for this process may be found are included in these guidelines on pp. 34-38 and in the Teacher Guidelines for History.

As the school staff becomes familiar with the locality they may then be enabled to identify a range of environments and features suitable for inclusion in the geography programme. The pattern underlying the curriculum recommends that children's geographical learning and investigations should develop in the first instance in small-scale areas in the locality and that the study of the local environment should become progressively more detailed and cover a widening area. An important task within the planning process will be to delineate clearly the extent of the local area on which work will be based at each level in the school. The section The contexts for geographical study (see p. 9 above) will provide some guidance but the advice it contains will have to be interpreted to suit local circumstances. Planning should also help to co-ordinate local studies in the school, so as to ensure that children visit and explore the environment thoroughly throughout their primary school years.

Integrated theme teaching and more subject-centred approaches

An integrated curriculum is particularly suited to younger children because they view the world and their experiences in a holistic way. Many schools may, therefore, choose to organise work for the infant and junior classes within SESE and other areas of learning using a number of themes.

As children grow older, appropriate teaching strategies can vary; they may include a holistic (or theme-based) approach, some cross-curricular integration and a subject-centred focus. Theme teaching and the use of subject integration will remain important at all levels, but these approaches rely on careful planning by the staff to ensure that the role and distinctive contribution of each subject are realised.

The amount of time to be devoted to the subject

Given that an integrated approach will be commonly used at all levels of the primary school, it is probably more helpful if schools look at the amount of time to be devoted to subject areas over a term or year, rather than attempt to allocate a specific weekly amount of time to each subject. Schools should also discuss the general amounts of time to be devoted to areas within the curriculum, having regard to the circumstances of the school, the needs of pupils and particular priorities that have been identified by the staff.

Teachers may find it more useful to concentrate available periods on one aspect of SESE at a time. Time allocations should remain flexible as work in each area should complement learning in other subjects, and individual teachers should be free to use their professional judgement to adjust the guidelines to suit individual pupil needs and the class circumstances.

A broad and balanced geography curriculum

Planning should help teachers to ensure that the geography programme

includes a broad range of local studies at all levels. Two major concerns should be addressed in these studies.
Firstly, local studies should answer the child's need to understand the world which he/she encounters and they should make a major contribution to the development of the child's sense of place and his/her cognitive mapping ability.
Secondly, the curriculum stresses that as far as possible the study of the features and processes of natural and human environments should begin in the locality at all levels.
The identification of a range of suitable natural and human features for inclusion in the programme will be important in ensuring a broad and balanced curriculum in the primary years
gradually extends children's awareness of environments in the county, in Ireland, Europe and the wider world. While the curriculum places a great emphasis on local studies, it should be remembered that the recognition of similarities and differences between environments can enrich children's understanding.
Opportunities to extend elements of local studies to include examples from national and wider contexts should be identified at all levels. In the middle and senior classes, in particular, the curriculum provides for the exploration of geographical themes (people and communities, inter-relationships with the natural environment, settlement, people at work and transport and communications) in a number of varying contexts. At both levels, the environments chosen should include an Irish environment which contrasts with the home area of the children, a European location and a non-European area. Careful selection of the areas to be included in these studies will ensure that children have opportunities to study the peoples and features in a number of areas in Ireland, in developing countries and in developed countries.
ensures that children acquire a balanced and accurate understanding of the lives and environments of people in other countries. A balanced and informed awareness of the diversity of environments and peoples is an important aspect of children's developing understanding of the world and a contributory factor in their personal and social development as citizens of a global community. This matter is discussed further in the section Learning about other places, pp. 116-119.
provides adequate opportunities for the development and application of scientific investigative skills in geography, especially in the study of local environments. A close affinity exists between the geography and science curricula, and this should be exploited as far as possible. In many cases, the study of a natural or human environment will involve the simultaneous investigation of natural or built features, the flora, fauna and materials to be found there, and the activities of people. All of these will provide instances in which the children may observe, collect data, recognise patterns, make predictions, experiment and analyse findings
identifies how the reading, use and construction of maps may be developed through the units of work on natural, human and environmental themes. Children should have access to a wide range of maps of a variety of scales. Map work activities should also reflect the diversity of purposes for which maps may be used: to enhance children's understanding of an area, to help them find and follow routes and to enable them to record and present information
provides for the systematic development of graphical skills. Using graphs, charts, globes, atlases, photographs, electronic images and other graphical sources to obtain and present geographical information about people, their activities and the features found in natural and human environments will be an important aspect of the curriculum. Using models to convey environmental information will involve the application of the Designing and making skills outlined in the science curriculum and will complement work from the Construction strand in the visual arts curriculum
provides for continuity and progression. Efficient use of the flexibility provided within the curriculum in the selection of strand units and the environments studied, particularly in the middle and senior classes, should ensure that children acquire an understanding of a variety of natural and human environments and that significant gaps and undue repetition are avoided. Similarly, there should be continuity and progression in the methods and approaches used with pupils
fosters the child's sense of local, national and European identity. A balanced programme of geographical studies incorporating local and national elements should help the child to develop a critical appreciation of the peoples, landscapes and way of life of the locality and Ireland. Similarly, the study of elements of European geography should awaken his/her interest in the landscape, peoples and culture of the EU, while some knowledge of the story of European co-operation will make an important contribution to the child's awareness of his/her sense of European citizenship.

Developing an assessment policy

Assessment is an integral part of the teaching and learning process in geography as in other areas of the curriculum. The school plan for geography should help teachers to come to a shared understanding of the way in which the progress of children in geography can be assessed, documented and reported. Discussions between teachers should also foster a sense of how an approach to assessment that is closely linked to teaching and learning can enhance the learning experience for the child, facilitate the exchange of accurate information about pupils' learning among the staff and promote informed debate about pupil progress and teaching approaches. The arrangements arrived at for the assessment of pupil progress in geography will be informed by the school's overall policy for assessment, recording and reporting.

Some of the assessment issues which may need to be discussed as part of the school's planning for geography include the following:

The purposes of assessment

Discussion of the many ways in which assessment can help to enrich teaching and learning can foster an appreciation of its role in the implementation of the geography curriculum. Assessment can

help to identify what pupils know, understand and can do
show the different rates of progress that children are making
help to check learning outcomes against teaching objectives
help to plan future learning experiences
identify areas of difficulty in order to respond to the learning needs of the child
facilitate communication between teachers about pupils
provide the basis for reporting to and communicating with parents and others
provide information for the transfer of pupils between primary and postprimary schools
help teachers and schools to make decisions about the development and implementation of the curriculum.

A range of assessment tools

In order to achieve a broad and balanced picture of the child's progress in the acquisition of knowledge and skills and in the development of important attitudes, the curriculum advocates that a diversity of assessment methods be utilised. Among the tools recommended are:

teacher observation: the details of children's learning which teachers notice as the units of the geography programme are explored and taught
teacher-designed tasks and tests: the wide range of activities in which children will be engaged while studying geographical topics
work samples, portfolios and projects: in which samples of the children's work completed during some of the tasks above will be compiled
curriculum profiles: a means of assessing and recording the child's progress using indicators that would include a summary description of the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be expected at various levels in the curriculum.

While assessment will help teachers to clarify the learning achieved by their pupils and so assist them in planning future learning, it should not distort the educational experience. The close integration of assessment with teaching and learning is essential and ways in which this might be achieved should be considered by teachers in planning for geography.

In particular, assessment should be an on-going process. For example, asking a child to complete a simple plan or map of the types of shop to be found along a street will be an important teaching tool in raising the child's awareness of the different economic activities which take place in the local area. However, the completed map will also indicate the extent of the child's ability to categorise different types of shops and may provide evidence of the development of his/her mapping skills.

Assessment and the aims and objectives of the curriculum

Teachers will be guided in the selection of assessment tools by the need for assessment to reflect the aims and objectives of the curriculum, particularly the importance attached to the development of geographical skills and concepts as well as knowledge and attitudes.

Manageability of assessment

By placing an emphasis on assessment information that can be obtained from normal teaching and learning activities, the time devoted to assessment can be minimised. Arrangements for the assessment and recording of pupil progress should not detract unduly from teaching time.

A common understanding of assessment

Sharing teaching experience and discussing how judgements may be made about children's work and progress can improve the quality and usefulness of information gleaned from assessment. A range of items of children's work arising from teacher tasks and tests, samples included in portfolios and curriculum profiles might be discussed by a group of co-operating teachers and these discussions could lead to the sharing of teaching experience and the moderation of assessment in the school.

Recording and reporting: continuity and progression

The range of assessment tools recommended in the curriculum provides the school and teachers with a system of assessing and recording each child's progress in geography. The assessment information collected in this way may be further enriched through teacher-parent discussions and through noting aspects of the child's learning observed by the parent. All the information observed and collected about the child's learning will be crucial in determining future educational experiences for the child and it should provide the basis for reporting to and discussion with teachers, parents and others about the child's progress.

The communication of information about the child's learning to parents and others will be facilitated by the use of a pupil profile card, i.e. a means of recording the results of the child's learning and assessment each year. SESE and geography would form one section of this evaluation of the child's progress.

The flexibility offered to schools by the geography curriculum (and the other SESE curricula) will mean that the keeping of records of work completed by pupils (for example in the form of portfolio assessment) will be an important factor in ensuring continuity and progression. For example, recording the range of environments encountered by the child at each stage of the geography programme will be essential in ensuring a broad and balanced curriculum. Within the context of the general school policy for assessment provision should be made for common forms of curriculum profiles and class records and these should be available in the school for the use of successive class teachers. The records should help in the planning of work in subsequent years, both in the selection of strand units and in maintaining the balance of skills development and content.