Enhancing Powerful Geography with Human-Environment Geography
Date
2020-05
Authors
Larsen, Thomas B.
Harrington, John
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education
Abstract
GeoCapabilities and Powerful Geography are advancing the conversation related to improving the relevance and status of geography within K-12 education during the so-called Third Enlightenment. Credibility and success of geography’s contribution to K-12 education will be increased with the addition of capabilities provided by the human-environment identity, such as adapting to emerging circumstances, thinking in systems, and adopting a sense of timefulness. Traditionally, human-environment geography has encompassed three substantive areas: human impacts on the environment, the environment as hazard, and environmental perception. Each of these areas has implications for Powerful Geography’s fundamental premise: to help teachers generate bottom-up curricula that better align diverse student aspirations with the knowledge, skills, and perspectives employed by professional geographers. Contemporary K-12 teachers are members of teams who attempt to integrate curricular activities across their subject areas, which include science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Human-environment subjects, such as climatic change, environmental pollution, sense of place, drought, or flooding, provide useful interdisciplinary subjects for integrative teaching. Using an understanding of how K-12 geography education has addressed human-environment issues since the introduction of the five themes in the 1980s, this paper discusses how a marginalized aspect of geography can greatly assist Powerful Geography.
Description
Keywords
k-12 education, curriculum, integrative teaching, powerful Geography, GeoCapabilities, environmental issues
Citation
Larsen, T. B., Harrington, J. (2020). Enhancing powerful geography with human-environment geography. Research in Geographic Education, 22(1), pp. 43-62.