Exploring different 'perspectives' in secondary geography: Professional development options

Significant changes have occurred in the worlds of geography since 1973, and a substantial literature has emerged about these changes and their effects on the 'divide' between secondary and tertiary geographers. We suggest that while the divide has not had much effect on the content taught in secondary geography in New Zealand and Britain, exposure to a range of perspectives on this content is a neglected area of professional development. Post-Fordism and deep ecology are described as perspectives that are not widely used in delivering secondary geography content. We argue firstly that effective use of different perspectives needs to be based on professional, personal and social change, and secondly that the Internet is a powerful tool in the engineering of such change

The New Zealand social studies curriculum struggle 1993-1997: An "insider" analysis.

The development of Social Studies in the New Zealand Curriculum over the 1993-1997 period was highly contested. The authors were directly involved in the social studies development over this period, and this paper reflects on some of the major events in the development, from our "insiders" viewpoint. The paper argues that the contest was strongly influenced by two major "dominant voice groups with very different views on what a social studies curriculum should be like and by key elements of the political and economic reform agenda of the day. The paper traces the rise and fall in influence of each "dominant voice" group and also examines the way in which the reform agenda changed throughout the development. It argues that in the end the inclusive and liberal-democratic voice was dominant over the neo-liberal and educationally conservative one. It also suggests that a return to a more cooperative, negotiated style of curriculum development, rather than a pure "market-contract model" approach, was needed to bring the development to a satisfactory conclusion

A virtual community of practice approach to teacher professional development and learning

Research over a long period has suggested that professional development and learning for teachers often produces disappointing results. Recent theory suggests that teacher professional learning presented within a situated learning and community of practice framework is likely to be more effective than the more traditional forms of in-service professional development and learning. Further, recent technological developments since the mid 1990s have created increasingly sophisticated means of bringing widely distributed learners together, within flexible timeframe, online (virtual) discussion communities. This study set out to develop a workable approach to teacher professional development and learning (TPDL), using situated learning and community of practice learning theory and the opportunities afforded by Web 2 virtual learning environments. The literatures of learning theory, teacher professional development and communities of practice were reviewed and best practice principles identified. These principles were then used to design a virtual community of practice (VCoP) approach to teacher professional development and learning. The approach was then implemented as the underpinning framework for three virtual professional development modules for secondary school Geography and Social Studies teachers. The study used a grounded theory and action learning action research methodology, which enabled the researcher and the research participants to evaluate and fine tune the approach throughout the study. A mixed method research design resulted in the collection of rich quantitative and qualitative data during each module. Naturalistic data were drawn from the online module record and from semi-structured focus group discussions. More structured and reflective data were collected through a final post-module evaluative questionnaire. The data collected were analysed using a range of techniques, including narrative analysis, structural analysis, semantic analysis, and domain analysis. The results of these analyses are presented from three contrasting perspectives: a structural analysis narrative of each module (Chapter 5), a content and personal case study narrative of selected participants (Chapter 6), and a qualitative and quantitative analysis of a final post module reflective survey (Chapter 7). The main findings of the study were that an ongoing virtual community of practice approach appears to be a viable and effective form of TPDL, under certain conditions. Grounded action learning action research experiences indicated that a meso-scale VCoP experience of between 12 to 15 weeks was an optimal timeframe. Reading and discussion requirements also needed to be carefully judged in order to ensure VCoP modules did enough to be challenging, yet remain manageable for busy classroom teachers. Features of the approach found to be very effective included the mix of activities used including, reading key literature, discussing ideas, sharing activities and experiences, flexible use of time, quality facilitation, and the situated nature of the approach. Features of the approach identified as requiring further refinement included improvements to the module website and maintaining a satisfactory level of contribution across all participants. The concluding discussion found that while 'classic' VCoPs have proven to be effective in business there are very few examples of similar success in the field of TPDL. This study found that VCoPs can be effective for teachers but only when the classic model of VCoP is adapted to ensure VCoPs are manageable for, and tailored to, the nature of teachers' working lives. The study concludes by considering the research in a wider context and considering the implications of the findings for further research and development

Connecting key competencies and social inquiry in primary social studies pedagogy: initial teacher education students' planning decisions and reflections.

Over 2007-2009 we have worked with the national curriculum's key competencies to establish their place and purpose in the social sciences learning area. As a result, our initial teacher education (ITE) primary social studies programmes involve pedagogy that conceives key competencies as analogous to social inquiry thinking and skills processes. Our team was keen to research ways ITE students identify and embed key competencies in their social inquiry planning decisions. The research also sought student reflection of how engagement with key competencies might influence their future social studies teaching and learning. The article offers a storying of ways the curriculum element of key competencies has been developed, implemented, researched and reflected upon within ITE primary social studies curriculum

The role of professional development and learning in the early adoption of the New Zealand curriculum by schools.

This paper is set in the context of Phase One of the Ministry of Education Curriculum Implementation Exploratory Studies (CIES) project. The schools selected for this study were considered early adopters of the revised New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) (Ministry of Education, 2007). The paper provides theoretical insights and research evidence related to the role of professional development and learning in the early stages of implementation of the revised curriculum. A key finding common to most schools was the progressive development of a professional learning culture led by the principal that focused on pedagogy and student achievement prior to the introduction of the curriculum. The establishment of this culture involved processes that were task-oriented, reflective, consultative and collaborative. While there are strong parallels between the experiences of primary and secondary schools in the study, some important differences have also been noted

Curriculum implementation exploratory studies: Final report

Throughout the history of schooling in New Zealand the national curriculum has been revised at fairly regular intervals. Consequently, schools are periodically faced with having to accommodate to new curriculum. In between major changes other specifically-focused changes may arise; for example, the increased recent emphasis upon numeracy and literacy

The tale of two virtual teacher professional development modules

Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) have been advocated for some time as a promising means of taking professional development to teachers in widely distributed locations. However, geography, and indeed education literature as a whole, contains very few examples where this has been achieved. This paper reports on two VCoP professional development modules for New Zealand geography and social studies teachers. The first module focused on perspectives in geography and the second on values in social studies. The paper describes the design of the modules and tells the story of each module in practice as two “tales” or narratives. The second tale tells a much happier story than the first, and the reasons for this are explored. The paper concludes by discussing what can be learned about implementing successful professional development for geography teachers through VCoPs as indicated by the results reported through the two tales

Geographical education in New Zealand during the last decade

The restructuring of the national economy of New Zealand in the last decade of the 20th century left its mark on education generally, with some quite specific consequences for geographical education in the secondary sector. This review of commentaries and research on geographical education considers debates about curriculum development, the changing assessment regime and the influence of geography educators on contemporary pedagogy

Communities of practice and professional development

The Internet has had a transformative effect on many aspects of contemporary living. While there may be a tendency to overstate the impacts of this technology, workplaces and work practices in many societies have been greatly affected by almost instant access to massive amounts of information, delivered through broadening bandwidth. This paper embeds a discussion of professional development in this technological context, and comments on the emergence of a range of Internet‐based tools designed to assist with the delivery of professional development programs for secondary teachers. We argue that the tools by themselves are not enough to guarantee effective professional development and that building ‘communities of practice’ will become significant in lifelong learning models. We discuss some work undertaken in a professional development project with secondary school teachers distributed at a distance from the host institution

The shape of curriculum change: A short discussion of key findings from the Curriculum Implementation Studies (CIES) project

This short report discusses the overall shape of curriculum change as experienced by the schools we tracked over a period of several years as part of the Curriculum Implementation Exploratory Studies (CIES) project. Some interesting change dynamics appear over this longer time frame. We would not have found these dynamics if we had stopped at the end of the first round of CIES, at which point we had visited some “early adopter” schools twice in a period of 18 months or so