Enhancing Inclusion in Geography Classrooms

Enhancing Inclusion in Geography Classrooms

5260

Author(s): 

Michael Phillips, Stephen Cranby

Year of publication:

2015

Michael Phillips has a chapter in a book series titled International Perspectives on Inclusive Education. His chapter in the 7th volume – Inclusive Pedagogy Across the Curriculum – draws on his work examining teachers’ knowledge and the way this can be distributed among groups of people, in this case, between teachers and students.

In particular, the chapter addresses the lack of evidence of inclusive educational practices in some Geography classrooms. The chapter begins by providing an overview of literature which outlines how the development and sharing of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) can enhance effective inclusive practices in Geography classrooms. In contrast to many previous considerations of PCK as a teacher-focussed, individual attribute, this chapter presents an argument that the development of communal or distributed PCK in Geography classrooms can not only enhance creative ways for all students to participate in classroom life but also creates a sense of interdependence between teachers and students to create new knowledge, which in turn links to notions of identity development and inclusive practices. Finally, the chapter presents examples of ways in which Geography teachers can use digital technologies to enact inclusive pedagogical approaches in both primary and secondary school contexts.