Who thinks what in geography classrooms? Powerful disciplinary knowledge and curriculum futures

There is, at least in the West, a long-standing difficulty with knowledge in education. This may have arisen from a deep distrust of the value of dead or useless, disconnected ‘facts’ such as was parodied by Charles Dickens through his awful caricature of ‘Gradgrind’. But distrust was reinforced by influential scholarly work such as that from Michael Young in 1971 who in Knowledge and Control communicated influential arguments about how the school curriculum, through its selection of knowledge, favoured the elite and alienated the majority of young people. This article opens up a discussion about what kind of school curriculum is appropriate for young people now and in the future – as a pedagogic right. We argue that the distrust of knowledge among progressive educationists has led to what we name as ‘Future2ism’. Such a skills or competence-led curriculum thinking is not, we argue, in the interests of children, especially the disadvantaged. Michael Young, who wrote about the elitist ‘knowledge of the powerful’ in the 1970s has himself revised, or extended, his thinking by pointing out (Young 2008) that such specialist knowledge is also powerful knowledge. Thus, if policy makers, or school leaders, decide that it is better for ‘less academic’ children to receive a differentiated curriculum to suit their ‘needs’ then they are denied access to powerful knowledge. This is unfair on a number of levels; not least it reinforces social and economic divisions. In the article, I describe the rise of Future 2 curriculum thinking as a response to the long-known inadequacies of the ‘traditional’ school curriculum, since at least Gradgrind. But despite its superficial attractions, and its appeals to ‘creativity’ and ‘twenty-first century skills’, the weaknesses of Future 2 thinking are exposed. Following this we then explore what a Future 3 curriculum may look like – one that is knowledge-led but progressive and conscious of the pupils we teach, who are seem as agentive and diverse. The key to Future 3 is to grasp the significance of the discipline expressed as powerful knowledge – in the case of this article, geography. This is challenging, for powerful knowledge cannot easily be expressed on the page – through a list of ‘key concepts’ for example. Rather than a list, it requires specialist understanding of the subject’s goals and purposes expressed more as a system of thought and enquiry, which itself is dynamic being subject to contestation and change. In this sense, pupils (all pupils) are inducted into the discipline of knowledge-making, where the quality of argument matters, where evidence needs to be identified and evaluated and where reliable conclusions drawn (but nevertheless never beyond contestation or challenge). The article draws upon an international project called GeoCapabilities which has explored these ideas with particular reference to their implications for high-quality teaching and the need for teachers to see themselves as curriculum leaders – as professionals with responsibility for enacting a Future 3 curriculum

Geography Education (K-12)

Geography education here means the role and purposes of geography in primary and secondary education (we are not concerned here with the geographies of education). In other words, we are concerned mainly with the educational provision deemed appropriate for the vast majority of children and young people in state-mandated education systems and the contribution geography make to this. From the start, we must acknowledge that it is extremely hazardous to make generalizations regarding these matters across different national and state jurisdictions. Some countries have strong centralized national curriculums with tight controls through state-approved textbooks (e.g., Iran) or high stakes, national inspection systems (e.g., England), while other countries organize education federally (e.g., Germany, United States), often with strong preferences for local control (e.g., Sweden, Finland). In some countries, geography in school is aligned with the sciences (e.g., Finland, where geography teachers usually also teach biology), whereas in others geography is considered to be in the social sciences (as in most of the United States, Japan), and in others it is classified as one of the humanities (as in the United Kingdom). The visibility of geography in schools also varies enormously, with some jurisdictions favoring specialist subject teaching (usually in the secondary phase), while others support more integrated and/or competence-based approaches to the curriculum. We should also note that none of these characteristics is necessarily stable. Education has become highly politicized, as it is often linked closely with economic performance and global competitiveness; thus, for example, countries regularly review curriculum arrangements. Scholarly work and research in geography education is similarly fractured and is, in any case, a relatively small field. International meetings take place under the auspices of the International Geographical Union Commission on Geographical Education (IGU-CGE), regional networks such as Eurogeo and SEAGA, and the annual meetings of learned societies such as the American Association of Geographers and the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). In many countries there are also subject associations (that serve mainly the interests and needs of school teachers) such as the Geographical Association in England, which is one of the oldest (established 1893) and largest (c. 6,000 memberships). In view of these introductory comments, it needs to be acknowledged that although the sources in this article on geography education are international in scope, it is impossible to provide equally for the diversity noted in this introduction. Researchers will find articles, resources, and handbooks in their local jurisdictions to supplement those found here

Rediscovering the Teaching of Geography with the Focus on Quality

This paper arises from the Keynote we codelivered at the 2017 AGTA Conference in Melbourne. In the paper, we outline the main theoretical resources that underpin the GeoCapabilities project. This project has sought to engage teachers and teacher educators in geography with the principles of curriculum leadership in order to realise and release the power of geography as a component of the school curriculum. Critics of the project have argued that it over-claims on geography, and offers little more than preaching to the converted - a means of justifying geography to those already convinced of its value in education. However, in the paper we also advance the case that the capabilities approach may well have potential in helping non-specialist teachers grasp ways of interpreting standards and curriculum guidelines, as it requires that they first contextualise the educational needs of children today, and then reflect on the purposes and value of geographical thought and practice. After exploring these issues, geography teachers will, in theory, be better able to consider what it is they should teach, and then to think carefully about pedagogic techniques that are fully fit for purpose

Suppressed phase variations in a high amplitude rapidly oscillating Ap star pulsating in a distorted quadrupole mode

We present the results of a multisite photometric observing campaign on the rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) star 2MASS 16400299-0737293 (J1640; $V=12.7$). We analyse photometric $B$ data to show the star pulsates at a frequency of $151.93$ d$^{-1}$ ($1758.45 \mu$Hz; $P=9.5$ min) with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 20.68 mmag, making it one of the highest amplitude roAp stars. No further pulsation modes are detected. The stellar rotation period is measured at $3.6747\pm0.0005$ d, and we show that rotational modulation due to spots is in anti-phase between broadband and $B$ observations. Analysis and modelling of the pulsation reveals this star to be pulsating in a distorted quadrupole mode, but with a strong spherically symmetric component. The pulsational phase variation in this star is suppressed, leading to the conclusion that the contribution of $\ell>2$ components dictate the shape of phase variations in roAp stars that pulsate in quadrupole modes. This is only the fourth time such a strong pulsation phase suppression has been observed, leading us to question the mechanisms at work in these stars. We classify J1640 as an A7 Vp SrEu(Cr) star through analysis of classification resolution spectra

A Microsoft-Excel-based tool for running and critically appraising network meta-analyses--an overview and application of NetMetaXL.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.BACKGROUND: The use of network meta-analysis has increased dramatically in recent years. WinBUGS, a freely available Bayesian software package, has been the most widely used software package to conduct network meta-analyses. However, the learning curve for WinBUGS can be daunting, especially for new users. Furthermore, critical appraisal of network meta-analyses conducted in WinBUGS can be challenging given its limited data manipulation capabilities and the fact that generation of graphical output from network meta-analyses often relies on different software packages than the analyses themselves. METHODS: We developed a freely available Microsoft-Excel-based tool called NetMetaXL, programmed in Visual Basic for Applications, which provides an interface for conducting a Bayesian network meta-analysis using WinBUGS from within Microsoft Excel. . This tool allows the user to easily prepare and enter data, set model assumptions, and run the network meta-analysis, with results being automatically displayed in an Excel spreadsheet. It also contains macros that use NetMetaXL's interface to generate evidence network diagrams, forest plots, league tables of pairwise comparisons, probability plots (rankograms), and inconsistency plots within Microsoft Excel. All figures generated are publication quality, thereby increasing the efficiency of knowledge transfer and manuscript preparation. RESULTS: We demonstrate the application of NetMetaXL using data from a network meta-analysis published previously which compares combined resynchronization and implantable defibrillator therapy in left ventricular dysfunction. We replicate results from the previous publication while demonstrating result summaries generated by the software. CONCLUSIONS: Use of the freely available NetMetaXL successfully demonstrated its ability to make running network meta-analyses more accessible to novice WinBUGS users by allowing analyses to be conducted entirely within Microsoft Excel. NetMetaXL also allows for more efficient and transparent critical appraisal of network meta-analyses, enhanced standardization of reporting, and integration with health economic evaluations which are frequently Excel-based.CC is a recipient of a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (funding reference number—CGV 121171) and is a trainee on the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network team grant (funding reference number—116573). BH is funded by a New Investigator award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network. This research was partly supported by funding from CADTH as part of a project to develop Excel-based tools to support the conduct of health technology assessments. This research was also supported by Cornerstone Research Group

CtGEM typing: Discrimination of Chlamydia trachomatis ocular and urogenital strains and major evolutionary lineages by high resolution melting analysis of two amplified DNA fragments

© 2018 Giffard et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Chlamydia trachomatis infects the urogenital tract (UGT) and eyes. Anatomical tropism is correlated with variation in the major outer membrane protein encoded by ompA. Strains possessing the ocular ompA variants A, B, Ba and C are typically found within the phyloge-netically coherent “classical ocular lineage”. However, variants B, Ba and C have also been found within three distinct strains in Australia, all associated with ocular disease in children and outside the classical ocular lineage. CtGEM genotyping is a method for detecting and discriminating ocular strains and also the major phylogenetic lineages. The rationale was facilitation of surveillance to inform responses to C. trachomatis detection in UGT specimens from young children. CtGEM typing is based on high resolution melting analysis (HRMA) of two PCR amplified fragments with high combinatorial resolving power, as defined by computerised comparison of 65 whole genomes. One fragment is from the hypothetical gene defined by Jali-1891 in the C. trachomatis B_Jali20 genome, while the other is from ompA. Twenty combinatorial CtGEM types have been shown to exist, and these encompass unique genotypes for all known ocular strains, and also delineate the TI and T2 major phylogenetic lineages, identify LGV strains and provide additional resolution beyond this. CtGEM typing and Sanger sequencing were compared with 42 C. trachomatis positive clinical specimens, and there were no disjunctions. CtGEM typing is a highly efficient method designed and tested using large scale comparative genomics. It divides C. trachomatis into clinically and biologically meaningful groups, and may have broad application in surveillance