Geography Teaching Today

'The global dimension is about developing critical thinking and gaining a better understanding of how the world works. It involves challenging racist, stereotyped and discriminatory views and promoting greater understanding and appreciation of different issues, places and people in the world'
Young (2004) p.217

Extract from the Primary Geography Handbook Chapter 16 'Geography and the Global Dimension' by Mary Young.

Another useful read is Chapter 20 'Environmental Geography' by Liz Essex-Cater and Steve Rawlinson pp.273-299.

Getting started

• Use an ICT-based mind mapping tool, such as 2Connect, to draw out pupils' ideas about China.
  
  
• Find out pupils' starting knowledge and misconceptions: what general knowledge do they have and what particular locational knowledge do they have? China is very much in the news in 2008 because of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and because of the recent catastrophic earthquake in Shichuan - pupils may well have picked up on quite a lot of information because of these events. Do you know anyone who has visited China who might talk to pupils and / or share resources? Are there some books that link to China that might engage pupils and provide a strong 'hook' for learning?

Children's issues and misconceptions

• China is vast and encompasses a great number of different ethnic groups, many local languages and religions and an enormous variety of landscapes. You cannot hope to study it completely but an understanding of the bigger picture sets the scene for perhaps one or two contrasting locality studies between urban and rural areas and gives pupils a chance to relate ideas of everyday life to their own experiences.
• There are also many disputed areas. Tibet and other western provinces have significant independence movements. Taiwan has been a separate country since the communists gained control of mainland China in 1949. Hong Kong, which the UK returned to China in 1997, is a centre of urban commerce and contrasts sharply with rural living.
• A popular misconception is that China compares unfavourably with the UK because of their programme of building coal-fired power stations, leading to a rapid growth in their carbon emissions. In fact per capita, China's contribution to carbon dioxide emissions is far less than that of the UK. One useful enquiry might focus on what goods we receive from China and why - this might help pupils to think about rising carbon emissions in terms of shared responsibility. At a local level, there are some useful examples of community-led sustainable energy projects in China from The Ashden Awards website accompanied by five-minute films e.g. the Shaanxi Mothers' Project in rural areas of Shaanxi Province or the Daxu Stoves Project where new industry in Beijing is helping to support rural farmers in rural Yanqing County north west of the city.

Using and making maps

www.openstreetmap.org

Ask pupils to draw a map of China from their mind. Use some prompt questions before pupils carry out what could well be a useful activity to measure their starting knowledge.

• Where in the world is it?
• What countries and seas or oceans border it?
• What cities, towns and regions do they know?
• What kind of landscape features might be found there?
• What kind of land use patterns might be found?
• What shape do they think it is?
• What features and / or tourist attractions does it have?
• How big is the region (in terms of distance from one border east to west/ north to south? In comparision with the UK?)

Ask pupils to make their maps as detailed as possible. This starting map could be used to identify areas of missing and uncertain knowledge and help pupils to think about questions they would like to ask. It can also be used as a baseline to measure pupils' progress.

Using pupils' maps as a stimulus ask pupils to share what they have put and then use an internet mapping programme such as Google to zoom in and check. This can be very revealing and quite amusing for pupils because it uses their own starting points to challenge ideas.

Use Quikmaps to create class and personal maps of China and localities within it as learning progresses. You can open text boxes to write information, use a range of symbols such as emoticons to click and drag onto your map, draw routes and export finished maps to Google Earth. It is a very simple and straightforward programme to use with the whole class on an IWB and gives instant results.

Fieldwork opportunities

• Many museums have exhibitions relating to China and there are sometimes special displays focusing on a theme such as the Terracotta Army. Visit 24 Hour Museum for listings.

• Visit the locality and look for connection to China - obvious examples may include the local Chinese restaurant here you may be able to talk to the staff about their connections with and / or experiences of China, or visits to ‘China towns' or quarters. But there may be less obvious connections which it could be fun to investigate: one starting point that is very simple is to visit your nearest supermarket / superstore and see what items originate from China. Perhaps you could interview the manager and find out more about the kinds of goods that are most likely to be imported and why.

Primary framework opportunities

Literacy: Introduce pupils to some traditional Chinese stories and folktales. They might be interested to learn that the story of Cinderella originated in China to celebrate the beauty of tiny feet (linked to foot-binding).

Numeracy: Get the pupils to investigate and create tangram shapes (See also tygh.co.uk).

Activity ideas

• Get the pupils to play some Chinese games and activities such as Chinese Hopscotch, Tai Chi and other traditional games.
• Create a fact file for a major city such as Beijing or Shanghai.
• Set up a small display of pottery with Chinese designs.
• Tell the pupils the story of willow pattern with the help of The Willow Pattern Story by Alan Drammond (North-South Books, 1992, ISBN 1-5585-413-7)
• Investigate festivals and celebrations such as Chinese New Year, Lantern or Dragon Boat festivals. PowerPoint Presentations or projects could be created.
• Set up a display about the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• Plan a journey to China by air, rail and sea. What routes could you take? Are there transport links available? How long would it take?
• The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze is the largest dam in the world but is environmentally damaging. Find out more for a class debate (see lesson plan).
• Investigate and compare sustainable energy projects in China at a local community level and consider what impacts these are having on the environment and people's lives. What are the local level improvements? How does this link to the global picture?
• Use the GA's 'Our Wonderful World' series as a stimulus to investigate place - the website includes photos and activities for a market place on the edge of the town of Xinha in the Xingjang province of western China. Questions and activities related to this image could focus on comparing this market with one in the local area and the production of materials and economic activities.

Children's Voices

Use pupils' starting points and prior knowledge to build on by finding out what they want to know and how they would like to do this. Encourage pupils to become active learners and work with you to devise what lessons you will do and how you will measure what you have learnt.

Explore the possibility of an email link with a school in China.

ICT

Get the pupils to devise a web quest exploring different aspects of China - maps, landscape, cities, people and sites. (A good example that requires Hyperstudio can be found at the Ecole Whitehorse Elementary School website).

In addition to ICT based activities already mentioned, virtual tours of tourist attractions and well known areas of China are also readily available on the internet and really allow the pupils a clear picture of China.

Also use internet mapping software as described above.

Assessment for learning

Start by finding out what pupils know and what they would like to find out in the chosen area of focus. Pupils of this age could set their own learning outcomes i.e. what they want to have learnt by the end of a short focused unit of work. Develop and support processes of peer evaluation to enable pupils to take responsibility for their learning. Provide example statements for pupils to refer to that map to the level descriptions and which relate to the work they are doing.

Displays

Festivals and celebrations make attractive display bases but try not to focus solely on Chinese New Year.

Additional resources

GA website - two study tours to China provide lots of images
Growing Up Global! Helen Garforth et al, RISC, 2006, ISBN 1874709041
Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter, Adeline Yen Mah, Puffin Books, 1999, ISBN 9780141304878)

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