1. :
Presented by Malcolm McInerney, AGTA Chair

2. http://spatialworlds.blogspot.com

3. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM FOR
GEOGRAPHY IS A ONCE IN A TEACHING LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY TO:
* EVALUATE OUR GEOGRAPHY COURSES
* DEVELOP A 21ST CENTURY GEOGRAPHY
CURRICULUM
* PRESENT GEOGRAPHY AS A
DYNAMIC, RELEVANT and
EXCITING DISCIPLINE FOR STUDENTS
* PROMOTE THE ‘BRAND’ OF GEOGRAPHY IN
THE COMMUNITY

4. What makes modern Geography modern Geography?
“The Australian Curriculum for
geography is an unprecedented
opportunity to ensure that geography in
schools reflects amazing developments in
‘neogeography’.” ( new geography, applied to the usage of geographical
techniques and tools used for personal and community activities.)
Dr Peter Hill, EX-ACARA CEO

5. THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD WITH THE AC:GEOGRAPHY
• May 2009:: ACARA presented with the TNGC Background Paper and
Position Paper.
• October 2009: ACARA Geography Reference Group established to
develop a draft AC: Geography Shape Paper.
• June 2010: Draft AC: Geography Shape Paper released for on-line
consultation.
• July 2010: ACARA Advisory Group appointed to produce the final AC:
Geography shape paper.
• January 2011: AC: Geography shape paper released.
• March – October 2011: A group of writers and Advisors worked on
developing a draft scope and sequence.
• October 2011: Draft scope and sequence released for on-line
consultation.
• March – June 2012: Writer and advisors respond to feedback and draft
a new scope and sequence.
• June-July 2012: Draft goes to jurisdictions and GTA’s for feedback.
• August-September 2012: Final rewrite by writers and advisors.
• December 2012: On-line publication of the Australian Curriculum:
Geography.

6. WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY
The future of geography and the
public perception of what geography
is are critical questions we need to
talk about when working with the
Australian Curriculum: Geography.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=3IIjIQ7t7nM&feature=player_detailpage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Pbgai3dK16Q&feature=player_detailpage

8. What’s this thing called Geography?
“Geography was my favourite subject at
school.”
Then what happened?
Over the past 30 years we have seen a drastic decline in geography.
“Geography lost its way”: Peter Hill ACARA CEO
WHAT DID THEY LIKE ABOUT GEOGRAPHY?

9. GEOGRAPHY AS MANY OF US KNEW IT AT SCHOOL

10. Community perception of what modern geography is …
“I Iike geography. I like to know where places are.” - Tom
Felton
“Geography is just physics slowed
down, with a couple of trees stuck
in” - Terry Prachett
" I get to go to overseas places, like
Canada."
— Britney Spears
“ The global importance of the Middle
East is that it keeps the Far East
and the Near East from encroaching
on each other.”

11. Geography is…..
… a structured way of exploring, analysing
and explaining the characteristics of the places
that make up our world, through perspectives
based on the concepts of place, space and
environment.
From the draft ACARA Scope and sequence for geography, October 2011

12. Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two
main subsidiary fields: human and physical geography.
Human geography focuses on the
built environment and how humans
create, view, manage, and influence
space.
Physical geography examines the
natural environment and how
climate, organisms, soil, water, and
landforms produce and interact..
The difference between these approaches
led to a third field, Environmental
geography, which combines physical and
human geography and looks at the
interactions between the environment and
humans.

13. CONTENT APPROACHES OVER TIME IN GEOGRAPHY
PRE 1970’S GEOGRAPHY: THINGS ABOUT THE REGIONS OF THE EARTH
GEOGRAPHICAL SYSTEMS THINKING IN THE 1970’S
GEOGRAPHICAL CONCEPTUAL THINKING IN THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM

14. Humanity ... is like people packed in
an automobile which is travelling
down hill, without lights, on a dark
night at terrific speed and driven by
a four-year-old child. The signposts
along the way are all marked
"Progress.“ Lord Dunsany (1878 – 1957) Anglo-Irish Writer
The need for a
balanced,
aspirational
sunshine
geography for
the future

15. "If geography itself has
any significance it is that
we are made to lift our eyes
from our small provincial
selves to the whole complex
and magnificent world."
Richard Burton (1821 - 1890) to the Royal
Geographical Society.
British explorer, translator, writer, soldier,
orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist,
fencer and diplomat.

16. VIEWING THE DRAFT AC: GEOGRAPHY
THROUGH THE LENS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

17. What does a 21st Century curriculum in Geography look like?
Informs
What Why How
geography to
study the geography to teach the
teach
geography
The What, How and Why of a modern Geography curriculum in schools.

18. Geography aims to … dr a
ft
• a sense of wonder and curiosity about places, people,
cultures and environments throughout the world
• a deep geographical knowledge of their own place,
Australia, our region and the world
• the ability to think geographically, based on an
understanding of the concepts of place, space,
environment, interconnection, sustainability, scale and
change
• the capacity to be competent, critical and creative users
of geographical inquiry methods and skills
• as informed, responsible and active citizens who can
contribute to the development of a sustainable world.
ACARA Australian Curriculum: Geography draft scope and sequence

19. CONCEPTS: THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY

20. The
geographical Location
concept meaning human
wheel diversity sustainability
pattern distribution
uniqueness natural
identity interconnection
local-global trends
density
processes characteristics proximity
futures
Human- intangible virtual
environment relative sustainability
links
Impact of change time consistency
association pace
system dynamic
flow
movement
interdependence
system equilibrium
zoom
interconnection
futures directions measurement
change
Triple bottom line
system distance
hierarchies
change ecology
biosphere local-global
Generational biodiversity space
equity Non-living
living
interconnection maps
justice
Human-physical
processes
sustainability

21. THE STRUCTURE OF AC: GEOGRAPHY
Geographical Geographical Inquiry
Knowledge and and Skills
understandings
Content descriptions with elaborations Content descriptions with elaborations
for each year F-10 over 2 years, commencing with
Foundation but then 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8,
9-10,
dr a
ft

22. GEOGRAPHICAL INQUIRY IN AC: GEOGRAPHY
• Observing, questioning and planning
• Collecting, recording, evaluating and
representing data
• Analysing and concluding
• Communicating
• Reflecting and responding
Trying to develop a
unique geographical
inquiry process

23. THE CURRICULUM FORMAT
Skills and Inquiry Strand
Inquiry stage
Elaborations
Content Description

24. THE CURRICULUM FORMAT
Knowledge and Understanding Strand

25. CONTENT FOR THE AC: GEOGRAPHY
• What should be in and what should be out?
• What is important?
• What is imperative?
• What is engaging?
• What is useful (socially, vocationally, personally,
environmentally, nationally …)?
• What content is achievable for schools (teacher
expertise and resources)
• Should we push outside of what is happening know?
• What should be in a 21st Century curriculum?

26. PRIMARY STAGES OF LEARNING IN GEOGRAPHY
Foundation Year: People live in places
Year 1: Places have distinctive features
Year 2: People are connected to many places
Year 3: Places are both similar and different
Year 4: People have a relationship with the environment
Year 5: Human and environmental processes shape
places
Year 6: People belong to a diverse world
a ft
dr

27. 7 – 10 Year Level Units
dra
• Water in the world (7)
ft
• Places in which to live (7)
• Landforms and landscapes (8)
• Shaping the Nation (8)
• Biomes and food security (9)
• People experiencing and making geography (9)
• Environmental challenges and geography (10)
• Global geographies of human well-being (10)

28. Senior Secondary AC: Geography contains four units
Unit 1: The changing biophysical cover of the earth
… focussing on the changing biophysical cover of the earth’s
surface.
ft
Unit 2: Sustaining places
ra
… focussing on the economic, social and environmental
sustainability of places.
Unit 3: Environmental Risk Management
d
… focussing on identifying risks and managing those risks to
eliminate or minimise harm to the environment whilst benefitting
from economic activities.
Unit 4: A world in the making
… focussing on the widening, deepening and speeding up of
global interconnections … to consider how changes in connections
affect specific localities and groups of people.

29. FEEDBACK IN A NUTSHELL
• Generally happy with the rationale and aims.
• Accepting of the strands (two strands).
• Ambivalent to primary years (primary geographers?)
• Disturbed physical geographers.
• Thought too much economics.
• Fractured views on Year 8 Personal. Geographers
(hate and love) – that’s not geography!!
• Bemused views on Year 9 geography (Biomes and
globalisation!)
• Applause for Year 7 and 10.
• Generally happy with Year 7 and 8 physical geography
units but wanted switch.
• Rejection of Unit 4 of senior secondary.
• Confusion on Skills and Inquiry strand.
• We thought it was about 80% cooked but others not as
generous.

30. Knowledge is important, but because of time constraints it
must be chunks of deep learning, not vast swathes of
shallow learning.”
http://wiki.bath.ac.uk/display/charlescornelius/A+Curriculum+for+the+21
st+Century
THE CONTENT VERSUS PROCESS DEBATE!

31. Still discussion points
* What is geography? What is physical and human geography versus science
and social studies?
* The nature of place and space.
* The nature of sustainability in geography.
* The importance of the spatial perspective.
* Geography and citizenship capacity.
* The mandating of fieldwork.
* Social justice aims and “left wing” thinking?
* The aim of engagement versus essential coverage.
* The physical/human geography balance.
* How do we integrate the key concepts into the curriculum content?
* How much economic geography is too much?
* Spatial technology and it’s use as a core issue to be mandated in some way
or not in the skills strand.
• The need for the language and terminology of the document to be
understandable to non-geographers.
• Is there a place for personal geographies
* Geography in the primary setting – suitability and achievability.

32. If we are concentrating
on geographical
conceptual thinking in
a 21st Century
curriculum, does it
matter what the
content is?

33. The 21st Century world is highly interconnected and
interdependent, media saturated, culturally diverse,
technology driven, rapidly changing, information
overloaded, cynical, environmentally degraded, mobile,
spatial technology enabled and increasingly homogeneous.

35. What does a 21st Century curriculum in Geography look like?
Informs
What Why How
geography to
study the geography to teach the
teach
geography
The What, How and Why of a modern Geography curriculum in schools.

36. THROUGH THE GEOGRAPHICAL LENS

38. GEOGRAPHICAL CONCEPTUAL THINKING IN THE AUSTRALIAN
CURRICULUM: GEOGRAPHY: 21ST CENTURY GEOGRAPHY?
The geographical lens

39. The deconstruction and subsequent construction of
knowledge/content using the key concepts when
studying geography = geographical thinking
Developing geographical understanding

40. THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY JIGSAW
Australian Profession
Curriculum: al Learning
Geography for AC:
Geography
ACARA
2009-2012 2013
2013
?
GEOGSPACE
on-line resources
?
for Implementation in
AC :Geography the States: who is
developed by AGTA responsible to say … ?
with ESA
The role of geography teachers
2012 associations in implementation

41. PUTTING THE NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHY JIGSAW TOGETHER
Australian Professional
Curriculum: Learning for AC:
Geography 2013 Geography
ACARA
2009-2012
GEOGSPACE
on-line
? ?
Implementation in 2013
resources for the States: who is
AC :Geography responsible to say … ?
developed by
AGTA with ESA The role of geography teachers
associations in implementation
2012
How do we make it happen?

42. RESOURCES
* Keys to Geography
Written by AGTA and published
by MacMillan
Exploring 21st Century Geography DVD
A resource available for purchase via PayPal via AGTA website
AITSL and AGTA
Contracted by AITSL in 2012 to develop examples of good practice in geography aligned to
Australian Professional Teaching Standards and AC: Geography.
ESA and AGTA GEOGSPACE
Contracted by ESA in 2012 to develop on-line resources for AC: Geography.

43. GeogSpace
• A resource to support the teaching of the Australian
Curriculum: Geography
• A joint AGTA / ESA project (funded by ESA and
developed by AGTA)
• A free website (open to all) containing over 60
Illustrations of practice and professional learning objects
• Written and developed by Australian geography
teachers from every state of Australia – a first ever
resource for Australian Geography teaching
• Will be available in March 2013
• A 21st Century Geography resource dedicated to the
Australian Curriculum: Geography

44. The challenge is to produce a geography curriculum
that is academically, professionally and publically
popular but not loathed in the classroom.
“If they'd lower the taxes and get
rid of the smog and clean up the
traffic mess, I really believe I'd
settle here until the next

45. Keeping in touch with AGTA
http://www.agta.asn.au/

46. Feedback on the ACARA and the TNGC websites
http://www.acara.edu.au/
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/home/
www.ngc.org.au

47. REGISTER ON THE GTASA WEBSITE
www.gtasa.asn.au

48. http://spatialworlds.blogspot.com/

49. 21st Century Geography in Australian Schools Google Group
http://groups.google.com/group/21st-century-geography-in-australian-schools/