Geography And History In Primary School

Geography And History In Primary School This essay will show an understanding of the subjects geography and history and the links between them. It will then look at the implications of these links for both the teacher and school curriculum. My own examples from school and others experiences will be used throughout the essay to highlight the links and implications discussed. Turner-Bisset (2005) explains that history is a reconstruction of the past using evidence. She argues that evidence enables individuals to prove things, but if there is no evidence then individuals can hypothesise and use others understanding to form interpretations. Fines and Nichol (1997) define history as a process and teachers need to create activities whereby children can act as historians exploring both primary and secondary sources. Like with all National Curriculum (1999) subjects, history in key stages one and two is broken down into knowledge, skills and understanding. The Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) (1999) highlight that history is an important subject because it allows children to consider how the past affects the present world in which they live. Moreover, it enables children to look at how societies in the past were organised and what they were like. They argue through studying the past children begin to develop an awareness of chronology, diversity a nd how their actions can potentially affect others. When considering the subject of geography Scoffham (2004) highlights that geography involves making sense of the world, looking at how it is inter-related and the ways in which it may change. The DfEE (1999) in the Importance of Geography statement confirm that geography allows children to come across new cultures and places whilst developing problem-solving and investigative skills which will equip them for everyday life. Moreover, Scoffham (2004) points out that geography is a subject which promotes a sense of curiosity, but encourages children to develop a sense of responsibility about the world. The National Curriculum (1999) emphasises that in geography children should be taught to use geographical skills when developing their knowledge and understanding. Within the National Curriculum (1999) it is expected that children at key stages one and two acquire knowledge and understanding into places, patterns and processes, environment change and sustainable development. This is furth er emphasised by Catling and Willy (2009) who argues geography is a living and topical discipline (p.15) with a focus on both people and places. Martin (2002a) argues that despite geography and history being two distinct subjects in the National Curriculum (1999), it is useful to look at the subject statements in the National Curriculum (1999) because there are clear links between the two subjects. One such link she highlights is that history involves children finding evidence and drawing conclusions and similarly geography involves answering questions whilst looking at things from different viewpoints. Moreover, Knight (1993) argues that although geography and history can be viewed separately, they also share common ground because they are both human subjects and share many ways of working (p.102). Hoodless et al (2008) argue that children learn holistically and so cross-curricular learning has a positive impact on childrens learning. Similarly Hayes (2010) argues that cross-curricular teaching can improve childrens learning, however children need to be made aware of the links that exist between subjects. Kerry (2011) argues that cross-curricular teaching is important to provide children with the skills for living in a rapidly changing world. The idea of cross-curricular teaching and learning has been evident in recent reviews. Alexander (2009) in the Cambridge Primary Review suggests that a curriculum based upon eight domains of knowledge, skill and enquiry is advantageous. It is interesting to see that geography and history are grouped together as the Place and Time (p.272) domain. Martin (2002a) emphasises the connections between geography and history and confirms there are links between both subjects in terms of skills, knowledge and understanding, key concepts and values and attitudes which will now be explored further. During school experience I was able to explore the links between history and geography knowledge and understanding. In key stage two we looked at ancient Greece which is an expectation of the history National Curriculum (1999) which states children should undertake a European history study. Initially we looked at the geography of Greece which links to the knowledge and understanding of places 3.a/b/c in the geography National Curriculum (1999). We looked at photographs and maps of the islands, hilly terrain and coastal regions and used this geographical understanding to explain how these geographical features enabled city states to develop. It was vital that we looked at ancient Greece from a geographical perspective because this supported th e childrens historical understanding of the city states in ancient Greece. This is supported by Davies and Redmond (1998) who argue that history permeates other subjects and so it cannot be taught exclusively to children if they are to develop a full understanding of history. Catling (2006) argues that the connections between geography and history are deep and local area studies involve children developing a sense of place within the community whilst considering how the past has had an impact on what the area is like today. Moreover, she explains that when teachers plan local locality studies they should ensure there are elements of both subjects because geography incorporates a historical dimension and there is a geographical element of an areas past (p.14). Martin (2002a) points out that geography and history share similar skills and the skill of enquiry is relevant in both subjects. This is evident in the National Curriculum (1999) whereby both subjects have a section on enquiry; geographical enquiry 1.a/b/c/d/e and historical enquiry 4.a/b whereby children are required to ask and answer questions, use sources and make interpretations. As part of the humanities course I undertook a locality study of the local area and this incorporated the geographical and historical skill of enquiry. When planning the enquiry project I used enquiry questions, some focussing on the geographical aspect such as what is this place like today? but also historical questions including what was this place like inà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦?. I carried out fieldwork which focussed on the present and used a range of sources such as directories to find out what it was like in the past. Similarly, Blyth and Krause (1999) suggest teachers can plan a range of enquiry questions which can be used in cross-curricular geography and history local locality studies. These questions incorporate a geography and history element because they focus on both the then and now. Moreover, Catling (2006) suggests that a local locality study not only links the geographical and historical skills of enquiry but enables links to be drawn between the values and attitudes of the subjects. Catling (2006) explains that a local locality study can enable children to develop the capacity to make informed judgements and the desire to contribute to a just society (p.14). The idea of attitudes and values is also considered by the DfEE (1999) who argue that history can promote education for sustainable development. They argue through studying history children develop an awareness of how past actions and events have affected society today and this links to a childs geographical awareness of sustainable development, because children need to develop values and attitudes to ensure the world is sustainable for future generations. Cooper (2000) points out that history can be integrated with the teaching of geography through carrying out map work which develops both historical understanding and map work skills. Similarly, Boulton (1991) argues that the past can be recreated through the use of maps and children should have the opportunity to explore old maps when learning about places. It is a National Curriculum (1999) expectation for geography that when developing geographical skills, children should have the opportunity to use maps and globes (geographical enquiry and skills 2.c). From my experience of undertaking the enquiry project I was able to look at maps of the area from a given time period and using map skills I was able to identify key features of the time and contrast this with present day maps to identify changes. Turner-Bisset (2005) supports this arguing that comparing a past map with a present day map allows children to examine change and continuity. Moreover, Turner-Bisset (2005) highlights that maps provide a wealth of opportunities for discovering things from the past. One such example she suggests is looking at the areas in which the Anglo-Saxons settled by examining place names on maps and recognising their Anglo-Saxon roots. Knight (1993) and Martin (2002a) argue that when integrating geography and history, there are links between the concepts of the subjects including change and continuity, similarity and difference and cause and effect. The concept of similarity and difference is further emphasised by Scoffham (2004). He points out that when working on local area study there should be opportunities for children to compare the locality with the past. He argues this enables children to develop an understanding of the ways in which it is similar and different and to offer reasons for changes. Apart from the concept of similarity and change being evident in a local area study, Martin (2002a) argues the concept of similarity and difference is further evident in both geography and history. She explains this concept is apparent in geography when comparing two localities (knowledge and understanding of places 2.f) and also in history when comparing historical periods, events and people (knowledge and understan ding of events, people and changes in the past 2.d). A further concept which Martin (2002a) highlights can be found in both subjects is the concept of hierarchy. I have seen teachers addressing the concept of hierarchy through looking at society during the Tudor period. However, Martin (2002a) points out that the concept of hierarchy is also applicable in geography when looking at places and their relationships with one another. Although there are opportunities for geography and history to be integrated there are implications that I must be aware of. Kerry (2011) argues that for cross-curricular work to be successful there needs to be meaningful links between the subjects in order to make the learning relevant for the children. Therefore, he argues that within a lesson there needs to be learning objectives which link to both subjects and opportunities for children to develop transferable skills. Hayes (2010) explains that this ensures that the links between the subjects are not superficial and are considered and planned to enhance learning in both subjects. On school experience when looking at Indian village within geography the teacher thought it would be worthwhile to look at the Indus Valley within history. This was a meaningful link because the children were made aware of the historical context of the country. Knight (2003) argues that integrating subjects can be demanding and teachers need to be secure in their own subject knowledge to be able to do this successfully, however he points out that humanities is an area teachers have less confidence in teaching. Similarly, Cooper (2000) argues that there needs to be opportunities within school for teachers to share their subject expertise with other teachers. However, from my experience no staff meetings have been allocated to either geography and history and when staff meetings focussed on curriculum areas, it was always English and mathematics which took priority. Moreover, Kinght (2003) highlights that a further problem when integrating subjects is there are not always resources available to support the learning, he argues this is the case when finding resources to support local area studies. The lack of resources available is further emphasised by Blyth and Krause (1995) who argue that because local areas are unique, schools have to creat e their own resources for local area studies. They argue this puts great pressure onto teachers, however they do acknowledge that once these resources has been created they can be shared in school. The implications of linking geography and history extend to the school curriculum. Turner-Bisset (2000) argues integration of subjects can be beneficial for schools when trying to deliver the overloaded National Curriculum (1999) and she argues this can be achieved through recognising connections between subjects and drawing upon these links in teaching. On my first school experience the subjects were not taught in a cross-curricular way and each subject had an allocated time slot. Despite efforts to address all subjects, some foundation subjects were not taught due to lack of time. In contrast, my final school placement adopted a cross-curricular approach which meant humanities was covered on a weekly basis ensuring continuity in the childrens learning whilst allowing the children to view the geography and history in a relevant way. Knight (1993) states that Successful integration is a whole-school, not a one-teacher, affair (p.106) whereby there should be organisation and cohesion within the humanities curriculum. OHara and OHara (2005) argue this can be achieved through effective planning which involves a whole school approach to looking at curriculum content that needs to be covered. They highlight that when long term planning is undertaken, usually by the subject co-ordinator, cross-curricular links should be considered and planned for and there needs to be explicit reference to these links in the long term plans. Halocha (1998) argues that geography and history co-ordinators should take an active role exploring how their subject can be integrated with other subjects. He argues this then needs to be made available in long term plans which not only detail cross-curricular links but also the progression in terms of childrens learning. Halocha (1998) argues that it is the responsibility of the geography/history co-ordinator to explore how their subject can be integrated with other subjects and include this in long term plans. From my experience, the use of long term plans ensure there is continuity between key stages whereby all teachers in the school know what they are expected to cover in their subsequent short term plans Furthermore, Scoffham (2004) argues that long term planning is important and other subjects including history, whilst ensuring a balanced curriculum is delivered. because it allows teachers to recognise the links between geography and history in terms of the QCA schemes of work. He argues that careful consideration needs to be given to the specific units which could enhance learning in both geography and history. However, from my experience these links cannot be identified spontaneously, they need careful planning in order for the integration of subjects to work well. This worked well in school when a whole school curriculum map

The Prophet Amos Essay -- social issues

The Prophet Amos Amos is recognized as the first of the Israelite prophets whose words were recorded on a scroll. He was not a prophet all his life and never prophesied professionally. Amos earned his living as a â€Å"herdsman and dresser of sycamore figs.† (Amos 7:14) Since he already had an occupation he did not have to prophesy for money. He prophesied because God had called him to do so. Amos was not a poor sheep herdsman. The word herdsman, used to describe his occupation, was not the common Hebrew word used to refer to shepherds. The Hebrew word used described the vocation of a Moabite king, King Mesha. The Hebrew word means sheep-master, and refers to the owners of a special breed of sheep, famous for their wool. Amos may have been one of the more important men in his region, Tekoa. Tekoa was a village about ten miles south of Jerusalem. It was situated atop a large hill some 2800 feet above sea level. Therefore, Tekoa was strategically located. It was fortified and walled. â€Å"Tekoa is mentioned elsewhere, in 2 Chronicles 11:6, as one of several cities that King Rehoboam (Solomon’s son and successor) rebuilt and fortified after the breaking away of the ten northern tribes and founding of the northern kingdom of Israel (in 931).† (Miller p.45) Like many other prophets Amos was called directly by Yahweh through some divine intervention. Yahweh â€Å"took† him from his flocks and said, â€Å"Go and prophesy to my people Israel.†(Amos 7:15) He also saw five visions. Throughout the third and fourth visions God’s voice claimed, â€Å"I will forgive them no longer.† (Amos 7:8; 8:1) He was referring to the people of Israel. The Book of the Prophet Amos begins with a short description of the prophet. This is followed by his words. He begins by condemning several nations, Israel’s neighbors. Finally, and most importantly, he goes on to condemn Israel. This condemnation of Israel would come as a surprise to listeners in Amos’ time, because the people of Israel were the chosen people. Amos goes on to list some of the sins of Israel. The underlying theme behind many of the sins was that the wealthy and powerful were alienating the poor and the weak. Amos lived during the long and prosperous reign of Jeroboam II. During this time many people became very wealthy. There were, however, some who remained poor. The wealthy exploited the weakness and vulnerability of the poor.... ...ust society. In our interactions with our families we should avoid unkind words and insults. We must treat family members with respect and caring. In school and in our community one can use his or her talents to tutor a friend so that he can achieve success. Community service at a local school or hospital can be a way to help those in our community who need help or are less fortunate. In these acts of compassion and caring we live the word of God. The Book of Amos, the teachings of Jesus through the Gospels and the Church’s Constitution all make one thing very clear. Our actions and social institutions should all benefit the human person and respect human dignity. These actions and institutions should be â€Å"founded on truth, built on justice, and animated by love.† (Huebsch p. 144) Bibliography Heubsch, Bill, and Paul Thurmes. The Constitutions. Allen: Thomas More Publishing, 1997. Mays, James Luther. Amos. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1969. Miller, John W. Meet the Prophets: A Beginner’s Guide to the Books of the Biblical Prophets. Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1987. Rad, Gerhard von. The Message of the Prophets. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1962.

Epic of Beowulf - Christian Morals in Beowulf :: Epic Beowulf christbeo

Christian Morals in Beowulf Beowulf is an epic tale that has been changed over time to try and express a christian moral. While this transformation over time has added a new variable to the plot, it is still impossible to try and erase the original pagan plot completely. It has become evident that the original epic was pagan and had no mention of the biblical references or the christian morality that it contains now. However, it is also evident that the original story dealt with the concept of a higher being or beings. The overriding christian view has many facets and deals with them all as a new way of proposing christianity into the theme of the story. The reason that Grendel becomes outraged is that the bard in the mead hall is singing a song that has to do with creation. This shows Grendel's apparent disregard for God and he proceeds to go to the hall and capture men and eat them while they are asleep. As we progress into the story, we learn that Grendel carries the curse of Cain with him. "He bore the curse of the seed of Cain/ Whereby God punished the grievous guilt of Abel's murder." Cain was the son of Adam and Eve and was the one who murdered Abel, his brother, out of a jealous rage for God's favor to Abel. This shows us that Grendel had more than just a dislike for the men, the song was showing Grendel that his ancestor was looked upon as the bad person and was therefore the underlying concept for Grendel's rage. This was the constant reminder to Grendel of his evil past and thus his reasoning for his actions. We learn to see Grendel as a less than human being, but in actuality, he is a monster who has a degree of humanity in him and that is the reason that he is so hard for Beowulf to kill. He has the human emotion of pride which ultimately is the cause of his downfall. While this seems to be a major part of the story line, it can be removed and the story will only lose the background of Grendel's evil side. This could have been where the real story of Grendel originally was. As with many of the classic medieval stories there is a sense of a higher being and fate is a major factor in Beowulf.

Riots: Manuscript and Blog

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. I am †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. , a politically active student. The Mayor of London has invited me, to give a speech about riots in London. I would also talk about what we can do to prevent a similar incident. As mentioned, my speech today will mainly be about riots and some several reasons for that. Moreover, I will give some suggestions about what we can do to prevent the riots. I will focus on what the society can do to solve this situation. I will also speech about what the parents and the teachers’ can do for keep the children out of the riots.If some of you don’t know what riots are. I can tell you that it is a form of civil disorder which is characterized by groups how lashing out in a rash of violence against authority, property or people. The riots start on August the 4th, because a policeman killed an Afro-Caribbean man. His family has decided to stage a peaceful protest but it ended out of control. The traffic was diverted and people start ed crashing, smashing and looting. For many people, it was a staggering situations and completely unrealistic. The big question is:† What are the reasons for riots?†The protest for the Afro-Caribbean man was just an opportunity to show their dissatisfaction for the society. Big parts of the population are talking about how the policemen were not able to stop the criminality from vandalising and stealing. The word about riots was spread to South London. Due to this change of area, it is clearly that they have entirely different motives from here on. People all over London have begun to make different sorts of riots. The motive for many of the criminals became â€Å"making money, pure terror, havoc and free stuff†.We can conclude that these different episodes with riots have nothing to do with each other. Experts are discussing what the motives are. They have formed some theories about the motives and the most mentioned arguments are: unemployment, poverty and gang related crime. There are kids down to an age of 9 how robbed homes, stores and businesses. Among the youngest riots are kids who are looking for a rush. The main argument for riots is that it has something to do with unemployment. Unemployment results in poverty.Many people have tendencies to compare themselves with the community and therefore want the lower class to keep up with the middle and higher class. By use of riots has the lower class seen an opportunity to make money to gain a position in the middleclass. The lower classes are blaming the high class for their criminality, because the poor are unhappy with the balance between themselves and the rich part of their country. The youth unemployment rate is low, which result in that 1 out of 5 are not in work.The university are more expensive than ever, and that is the reasons why some of the young people lose hope for the higher education. The young people are unhappy with their present situation. They are getting more disenfra nchised, so they have to be heard. In previous times was it the black people who were victimized, but today it is the young people. The young people make riots, as an excuse to show their dissatisfaction with the society. The motive for the young people to make riots is to be a part of something bigger.Many have seen that the majority of the spotted participants in the riots are between the age of 14 and 18. Most of the people in London, who participate in the riots, are doing it because everybody else is doing it. They persuade each other by means of text message. Many of the riots have occurred as a result of the extreme use of the social media. A new problem is that they also use a Blackberry to spread the word, which involve that the communication is hidden from the police. We have to stop this young people and help them to behave in a better way.If they are old enough to make the crime, they are old enough to face the consequents. There are no correct answers to prevent new rio ts, but we know the reasons for these riots and the problems in the society. We cannot eliminate the inequality, it is impossible, but we can try to reduce it. We have to keep together and try to save our society. We have to protect the children from the criminality and help the family’s how have problem at home. The parents have to take a responsibility and be role models. The police have to take effect immediately and show that this behaviour will not be tolerated.They have to arrest the people how make riots, so they not keep on with the crime. More than 1200 of the rioters have already been arrested. Due to the modern technology, many of the participants have had their image caught, which means that they will be arrested later. In the future need the police a system, so they can find out what the people are encouraging encourage each other and make plans for illegal actions. The government have reduced the charge for the university so the young people have money enough fo r going in school and don’t make crime.A man called David Cameron promised that everyone would survive the current situation. He has 4 importing areas of focus: Rewards hard work Get more discipline in schools. A criminal justice system. Take care of the disrupted families. There are multiple reasons for riots, and we have to stop the riots trend. It is not only the parents, schools, police and sociality how should fight for a better country. We have to stick together and all try to stop the riots. If you know someone with problems, then try to bring them to senses. A society with out riots is a better place for all.