This book informs an international audience of teachers, scholars and policymakers about the development of learning progressions for primary and secondary geography education in various countries and regions of the world. The book represents an important contribution to learning progressions research and practice. The different chapters explore how curriculum standards and frameworks in different countries portray progress and sophistication in the learning of geography. The book compares educational systems and how teachers and curriculum developers use the concept of “learning progression” to guide educational practices. As an approach to educational research, learning progressions offer considerable potential for understanding how children develop understanding of geographic concepts and practices across grade bands and in relation to national geography standards. The book analyzes the general conditions of learning progressions within the context of a globalized world. Important themes are addressed such as: knowledge acquisition in formal education; measuring learning progressions in informal settings; learning progressions for one curriculum standard or several standards; conditions to assess progression in the learning of facts, concepts, and skills; and multiple pathways for understanding or learning geography. The contributing authors are experienced scientists in the field from all around the world giving specific insights into the practices of their countries. The book appeals to K-12 teachers, school administrators, policymakers, researchers in geography education, professors and lecturers at universities around the world.

As an approach to educational research, learning progressions offer considerable potential for investigating how children develop an understanding of geographic concepts and practices across grade bands and in relation to national geography standards. With funding support from the US National Science Foundation, this book was created as a resource for researching learning progressions for maps, geospatial technology and spatial thinking. Featuring contributions from experts in geography, math and science education, the book's chapters offer advice, examples and guidance on the following topics: · Definitions of learning progressions with examples from geography, math and science education; · Discussion of relevant research on spatial cognition, map learning and GIS education; · Approaches to constructing samples and assessment items for quantitative studies; · Demonstration of how to perform validity tests of research instruments; · Demonstration and practice of qualitative methods, including clinical interviews; · How to interpret quantitative and qualitative data; · Common errors, pitfalls and obstacles in learning progressions research; · Strategies for working with teachers and students in K-12 classrooms. The interdisciplinary nature of the book will appeal to graduate students, higher education faculty and school teachers in several subject areas.

This book presents the distinctive theoretical and methodological approaches in geography education in South America and more specifically in Brazil, Chile and Colombia. It highlights cartography and maps as essential tools and provides a meaningful approach to learning in geographical education, thereby giving children and young people the opportunity to better understand their situations, contexts and social conditions. The book describes how South American countries organize their scholar curriculum and the ways in which they deal with geography vocabulary and developing fundamental concepts, methodologies, epistemological comprehension on categories, keywords and themes in geography. It also describes its use in teachers’ practices and learning progressions, the use of spatial representations as a potent mean to visualize and solve questions, and harnesses spatial thinking and geographical reasoning development. The book helps to improve teaching and learning practices in primary and secondary education and as such it provides an interesting read for researchers, students, and teachers of geography and social studies.

This book provides a clear overview of current thinking on the teaching and learning of geography. It is an ideal companion to all students beginning a career in teaching the subject in secondary schools. The chapters are written by experienced teacher educators and bridge both theory and practice. The writers focus on the continuities, whilst setting them in the context of the changing curriculum. The book is divided into four parts. Part One examines the historical context of geography teaching. Part Two looks at issues of course planning, design, syllabuses and programmes of study. Underlying this section is the assumption that geography should not be considered in isolation from other subjects, but rather as part of a whole curriculum. Part Three concentrates on teaching and learning, and includes chapters on the use of maps, field work, IT and first hand experience within a community. The final section covers the issues associated with assessment, across the whole school age range.

In recent years there has been increased attention paid to the importance of assessment in Geographical Education, the chosen subject for this book. Assessment is an important tool for collecting information about student learning and for providing timely data to inform key stakeholders including students, teachers, parents and policymakers. To be effective, assessment needs to be valid, reliable and fair. Validity is about ensuring that we assess what we claim we are assessing. Reliability is about measuring performance and understanding in a consistent way. Without validity and reliability, assessment is unlikely to provide equitable opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and can do. As geography educators it is therefore important that we identify the core concepts and skills in geography that we want students to master. We need a clear understanding of what the progression of learning looks like for each concept and skill so we can develop fit for purpose assessments that track and improve student learning. While there is a substantial literature on evidence-based assessment in secondary school contexts, research exploring best-practice assessment in geography is rare. This is a concern given the distinctive nature of geography and the important role of assessment in the learning process. This scholarly collection seeks to address this issue by connecting research in educational assessment with the domain of geography. The chapters are written by leading researchers in Geographical Education from across the globe. These chapters provide examples of innovation through the collective voices of geography teacher educator scholars from across Australia, USA, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland and Singapore. What unifies the work in this book, is that each chapter focuses on a key feature of the discipline of geography, providing scholarly examples of evidence-based practices for assessing student’s knowledge and skills.

The advent of the National Primary Strategy has produced a welcome reminder to teachers of the importance of geography within the primary curriculum. This book aims to encourage this renewed awareness and to support teachers in teaching primary geography in different and exciting ways. It will show that children have an entitlement to learn about geography and this can be achieved in a lively, creative fashion uplifting for both teachers and children. It covers: planning for and assessing progression in learning inclusion ICT and drama indoors, outdoors and beyond. Written in association with the Geographical Association, this book will help both trainee and experienced teachers to integrate geography as an essential part of the primary curriculum.

"This is a must read for all 11-18 geography educators. It argues for a new geography curriculum founded on a set of major concepts that are profoundly relevant to 21st century life. For years, books on 11-18 geography education have focussed on classroom techniques, new pedagogic technologies and alternative modes of student assessment. Not this one. 'Teaching Geography 11-18' digs deep. It asks not only what geography is for, but bases its answer on a set of key concepts able to sustain an exciting and relevant curriculum. It also grounds its many arguments in the latest geographical research, thus re-establishing the broken connection between geography teaching in schools and that in higher education". Professor Noel Castree, University of Manchester, UK This engaging and stimulating book aims to radically re-shape and sharpen debates in geography education by taking an entirely fresh approach to both the subject and its place in secondary education.Key questions addressed in this book include: What is the place of geography within the secondary school curriculum? To what extent does school geography reflect and engage with contemporary issues and theories from the wider subject? What are the issues, challenges and opportunities of a concept-led approach to teaching geography? What are the implications of ICT, media and technology for the future of geography teaching in schools? Influenced by the revised national curriculum for geography which has reduced the prescribed content to be covered, this book offers an objective view of the concept-led approach. The new focus on concepts represents a significant shift in how geography is to be taught in schools, yet there has been little extended discussion of what a 'concept-led' approach to teaching and learning would entail. This book fills that void by examining geography's key concepts, and providing teachers with a theoretically robust and practical approach to curriculum planning using a concept-led approach. This is essential reading for all secondary geography teachers, trainee teachers and anyone involved with education and curriculum planning.