I am an English teacher, with a background in performing arts and humanities. However, I’m also an aspiring teacher-librarian, who wishes to diversify and expand my knowledge base in other curriculum areas. Whilst I have taught geography in the past, it would be the subject that I am the least familiar with, thus thought this project would provide me with a great opportunity for me to devise an inquiry unit plan while framing my own inquiry along the way:
How can I improve my practice when teaching geography?
Hopefully, this project will not only expand my subject repertoire, but will allow me to critically examine and evaluate my own teaching practice – to open my own door and look inside.
I also wanted to devise a unit from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) documents, and hone my skills in curriculum and unit planning and design – a practice that, unfortunately we often don’t have time or opportunity to undertake. Finally, I was interested in exploring inquiry learning in the middle school years, with a view towards preparing some of these young people for programs like the International Baccalaureate in their senior schooling years.
In the brief encounter I have experienced with the Year 7 Geography Unit Place and Liveability, I beared witness to some wonderful candid, unscripted moments in the classroom, when my students have wanted to wonder…
about their community,
about their environment,
about their impact.
Place and Liveability is one of two Year 7 Geography units from the Australian Curriculum, and it provides students with a focussed study on liveability; how we determine the liveability of a place, what people have access to – demonstrating the liveability of a place, how liveability is created by and managed by people, and how liveability can be improved through planning. This unit sits alongside Water in the World, which focuses on water as a renewable environmental resource.
Within this ten-week unit, students should achieve the following intended learning outcomes:
Next Door - The Classroom Door
How can I improve my practice when teaching geography?
Hopefully, this project will not only expand my subject repertoire, but will allow me to critically examine and evaluate my own teaching practice – to open my own door and look inside.
I also wanted to devise a unit from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) documents, and hone my skills in curriculum and unit planning and design – a practice that, unfortunately we often don’t have time or opportunity to undertake. Finally, I was interested in exploring inquiry learning in the middle school years, with a view towards preparing some of these young people for programs like the International Baccalaureate in their senior schooling years.
In the brief encounter I have experienced with the Year 7 Geography Unit Place and Liveability, I beared witness to some wonderful candid, unscripted moments in the classroom, when my students have wanted to wonder…
about their community,
about their environment,
about their impact.
Place and Liveability is one of two Year 7 Geography units from the Australian Curriculum, and it provides students with a focussed study on liveability; how we determine the liveability of a place, what people have access to – demonstrating the liveability of a place, how liveability is created by and managed by people, and how liveability can be improved through planning. This unit sits alongside Water in the World, which focuses on water as a renewable environmental resource.
Within this ten-week unit, students should achieve the following intended learning outcomes:
- Identify and explain the different characteristics and perceptions of liveability
- Discuss the interconnections between liveability and sustainable practices
- Develop an answerable inquiry question that addresses a problem with liveability within the school context
- Collect, interpret and analyse data from a range of primary and secondary sources
- Evaluate accuracy and usefulness of sources
- Record and represent geographical data
- Propose a course of action, informed by research
- Present findings and arguments in an engaging manner
- Reflect on experiences during the inquiry process
Next Door - The Classroom Door