Charles Rawding : Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom

Conceptualising place in a dynamic curriculum.

Keywords: Place, Historical Process, School Curriculum, Geography Education

Abstract:

This paper will investigate how the concept of ‘place’ can be incorporated into the school curriculum. It will argue that place should be seen as an historical process which reflects the dynamic and ever-changing nature of society and the economy. Only by incorporating such a conceptualisation is it possible to ensure that student understanding of the dynamic nature of place will become embedded within their own geographies, enabling them to think geographically and to develop their own spatial framework in a realistic and flexible manner. Drawing on examples from both the United Kingdom and the United States, it is hoped to demonstrate how notions of place as a dynamic and ever-developing process can be readily incorporated into the school Geography curriculum, thereby ensuring that students fully grasp the relevance and topicality of geographical study.

•Place as location – a specific point on the earth’s surface

•A sense of place – feelings people have about a place

•Place as locale – a setting for people’s daily actions and interactions

(Castree:2009:155)

•Place as a process – continually evolving and developing

(Pred 1984)

Why ‘place as a historically contingent process?’

• Change is a key concept – yet school pupils have only limited a limited awareness of change due to their age

• Embedding change into discussions of place provides a dynamic framework for understanding contemporary geographies

3 exemplars;

• Las Vegas• Salford Quays (part of Greater Manchester - UK)• Population structures in north west England

Las Vegas: permanently in transition

The population of Las Vegas 1910-2000

Industrial restructuring

Liverpool

Blackburn with Darwen

Ribble Valley

Blackpool

Map showing locations in Lancashire.

Location within the UK

Conclusions:

Change is the norm and therefore places have to be seen as being in the process of becoming

(or indeed – if they are not changing, then active processes have to be involved in sustaining them in their current state)

The lack of experience of children means that they are unlikely to have experienced significant change in their own lifetime and therefore the teacher must provide an appropriate framework for them to be able to grasp the fundamental nature of change

References

Castree,N.(2009) ‘Place: connections and boundaries in an interdependent world’ in Clifford,N.J. Holloway, S.L. Rice,S.P. and Valentine,G (Eds): Key concepts in Geography London, Sage, pp153-172Cresswell ,T. (2004) Place: a short introduction. Oxford, Blackwell.Pred,A.(1984) 'Place as historically contingent process: structuration theory and the time-geography of becoming places' Annals of the Association of American Geographers 74,2, pp279-297.Pred, A. (1986) Place, Practice and Structure. Cambridge, Polity Press. Rawding,C. (2007) Theory into practice: understanding place as a process. Sheffield, Geographical Association.Rawding,C. (2010) Contemporary approaches to Geography, Volume 1: Human Geography, London, Chris Kington.