What is Geography about?
In conversation with
Louise Richards
Sam Wallace
Rebecca Sweney-McKee
Transcript below:
My hope as a passionate geographer and educator is that assessment is not going to be the priority and the focus for teaching and learning that happens in the classroom.
Yeah, that the significant learning will be the main crux of what's going on in the classroom and the assessment will simply fall out of that.
I like how we're going to be able to go broader, and deeper, and spend longer on things. That we're going to be able to interweave ideas. Out of that falls that aspect of assessment. It's going to take a back seat. It's been disheartening, over the last few years, where our geography is referred to in numbers. We talk about Standards. We talk about 2.1, 1.4. That geography, I feel, has been lost in that approach. Which is not the fault of the teacher by any means, but perhaps more the process and the structure of NCEA.
Those changes that we're looking at, I think are going to make a real difference. I think the students, the ākonga, are going to see a change in that approach as well. That they're going to have a more creative license to show their learning. How they go about their learning, a lot more collaborative, aromatawai sort of concepts coming through. That's going to be a big change for a lot of our ākonga.
I think the mana ōrite mō te mātauranga Māori is going to be totally explicit in the language of the Standards, the language of the significant learning. It is going to be front and centre for people to teach. That is exciting.
It's exciting, we had a meeting yesterday, the ākonga team came in. They said they were able to see themselves in the learning. That was a real defining point for me in the process. When the person said, I can see myself in your learning matrix. For me, that was exactly how we need to approach the teaching and learning that we do from now on.
I'm really excited about it. I think it's time. I can see how it's being embedded in everything that we're doing. Not just in the wording and the tasks. Like the pedagogy that we're looking at.
It's been awesome to think of different ways, being creative with how they can present their work, and talk about their experiences. I think with the way that we're trying to interweave everything as well in our learning matrix really reflects those principles, too.
For me being part of the SEG has been hugely rewarding. I feel it's a real privilege to work alongside some of my geography heroes, who before this I knew in name only, in emails, on publications and things.
But it's also been really rewarding to be part of the whole process. It's been amazing professional development for myself. It has been challenging. I don't think any of us will deny that. But what has been absolutely at the forefront for all of us has been our passion for the subject and for our learners.
For me mostly it's a terrifying experience. Because it's so important that we're representing our sector. We're responsible for getting it right.
The pilot scheme is going to be so important in making sure that it's all correct. It's not just the now. It's also thinking about as we move into the future. Will this stand the test of time. We're not just thinking about learners now in 2021. We're thinking long term, and that can be a challenge, definitely.
Be bold, be brave. Be open.
Yeah. Be willing to change. Look at the changes for the positives that are there. We have to go away from "this is the way I've always done things", "and it's always worked for me in the past". Thinking about, my job is to prepare my students to be good citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand. I think these changes we're making are going to allow that to happen.
Teachers need to be brave and bold enough to take that challenge on themselves. Because they're going to have to take on the challenge, we all have to work. They're not alone. No one is going to be alone, we are going to be well supported. We're going to ensure that teachers feel that support, and that they don't feel alone. That we are all here together as a community to support each other.
Subject-specific terms can be found in the glossary.
Geography is the study of ngā taiao and the interconnections within them. We consider the question "What Is Where, Why There, and Why Care?" (Charles F. Gritzner (2002), Journal of Geography, 101:1, 38-40) so we can make sense of place.
The taiao consists of all things that make up the surrounding environment. This includes features such as rivers, mountains, people, buildings, and infrastructure. The taiao can exist at different scales and can be located wherever we place ourselves.
Features of the taiao are all closely interconnected, including people. We stand in the taiao and are intrinsically part of it. Therefore, in Geography, we attempt to consider geographic issues holistically.
Geographic thinking
Geographic thinking considers where features of ngā taiao are located, how these features interconnect, and how ngā taiao change over time. In Geography, ākonga carry out first-hand investigations of ngā taiao and the human activity within them. To do this, ākonga draw from multiple perspectives, including te ao Māori and Pacific perspectives.
Ākonga learn to think spatially and use maps, visual images, inquiry processes, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to obtain, analyse, and present information. Through geographic thinking they develop understandings related to patterns, processes, relationships, interactions, and change.
Geography kete
Ākonga draw from a Geography kete, which contains the tools for doing Geography. The kete also holds multiple perspectives, knowledge systems, and tikanga, which help ākonga to select the tools for geographic inquiry.
In Geography, there is an intentional effort to ensure that contexts in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific are explored with te ao Māori and Pacific perspectives and knowledge systems.
Our tikanga includes manaakitanga, whakawhanaungatanga, partnership, and participation. Bringing tikanga into geographic inquiry means that there is a focus on stakeholder engagement. The skills developed by undertaking inquiry in this way strengthen career pathways into many sectors.
These perspectives, knowledge systems, and tikanga inform a collaborative approach to using geographic tools (eg graphs and maps) through wānanga and talanoa. These collaborative approaches help ākonga to develop robust geographic inquiry skills that include:
- asking questions about the taiao
- collecting data using relevant methods
- visualising and analysing data using technology
- thinking critically and conceptually to make meaning about the taiao
- sharing understandings about the taiao.
Big Ideas and Significant Learning
This section outlines the meaning of, and connection between, the Big Ideas and Significant Learning, which together form the Learning Matrix. It then explains each Geography Big Idea.
The Social Sciences Learning Area, including its whakatauākī, inform this subject’s Significant Learning — learning that is critical for students to know, understand, and do in a subject by the end of each Curriculum Level. This covers knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitudes.
The Learning Area's whakatauākī is:
Unuhia te rito o te harakeke kei whea te kōmako e kō?
Whakatairangitia – rere ki uta, rere ki tai;
ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao.
Māku e kī atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata!
Remove the heart of the flax bush and where will the kōmako sing?
Proclaim it to the land, proclaim it to the sea;
ask me, “What is the greatest thing in the world?”
I will reply, “It is people, people, people!”
For Geography, the whakatauākī means that our understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our cultures is inextricably connected to the whenua through whakapapa. In te ao Māori, tangata whenua are part of the taiao, and key features of the whenua are considered to be living beings. This philosophy informs our geographic knowledge and understanding of places.
The subject's Big Ideas and Significant Learning are collated into a Learning Matrix for Curriculum Level 6, 7 [and indicative learning for Level 8]. Teachers can use the Learning Matrix as a tool to construct learning programmes that cover all the not-to-be-missed learning in Geography.
There is no prescribed order to the Learning Matrix within each Level. A programme of learning might begin with a context that is relevant to the local area of the school or an idea that students are particularly interested in. This context must relate to at least one Big Idea and may also link to other Big Ideas.
There are four Big Ideas in Geography. The nature of this subject as a discipline means aspects of Significant Learning often cross over multiple Big Ideas, and vice versa. This means that there are multiple opportunities to engage with the Significant Learning throughout the year. Ākonga can approach the same piece of Significant Learning with different tools to gain deeper understanding.
At Level 7, the Significant Learning can be selected and grouped to explore local and global geographic issues such as climate change, hazard management, urbanisation, development, and inequality.
The taiao connects people and people connect to the taiao
Ākonga of Geography investigate connections between people and place at local, regional, national, and global scales.
Relationships and interconnections within the taiao are dynamic and reciprocal — the taiao shapes people as we shape the taiao. Different taiao may present opportunities or obstacles for people. It is the geographer’s role to know, understand, and map the relationships and interconnections between phenomena.
Through geographic investigation we can make sense of the differences in how people use and interact with the taiao. We can also understand the effects and consequences of these interactions. After conducting a geographic inquiry we have a better understanding of the causes and consequences of environmental change. This understanding can then be applied to problem solving.
The taiao is shaped by natural processes
Understanding how natural processes shape ngā taiao deepens our understanding of, and connection to, the whenua. Investigating natural processes helps ākonga to know what phenomena are, how they occur, and the impacts they have on people in different places. Ākonga also investigate how ngā taiao have evolved spatially and temporally.
Tikanga informs the relationships between the tangata and the taiao
Tikanga is a te ao Māori concept that can refer to Indigenous best practice around the protection and regeneration of the taiao. The relationship that ngā tāngata have with other parts of the taiao can be informed by tikanga. Following tikanga helps to maintain balance within the taiao.
In Geography, tikanga includes kaitiakitanga. Kaitiakitanga ensures sustainable use and regeneration of the taiao. Mana whenua may bestow the kaitiaki title on others to protect the mauri and mana of the whenua.
By understanding how the taiao can be protected and regenerated through a te ao Māori approach, ākonga can appreciate and consider different solutions that can be brought to geographic issues.
Perspectives and power influence the taiao
In Geography, ākonga explore how differences in perspectives and power influence decision making, which has consequences for the taiao. Perspectives are the way people interpret ngā taiao based on their values, beliefs, and experiences, and this influences their actions and responses to geographic issues. Power differences mean that groups have varying levels of ability to exert their perspective.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, a Geography teaching and learning programme recognises the impact of colonialism and the actions and inactions stemming from Te Tiriti o Waitangi. These factors continue to affect people’s relationship with place through power differences.
Key Competencies in Geography
Learning in Geography provides meaningful contexts for developing Key Competencies from The New Zealand Curriculum. These Key Competencies are woven through, and embedded in, the Big Ideas and Significant Learning. Each discipline has its own processes, practices, and ways of knowing and interpreting meaning.
Geography provides learners with opportunities to develop critical and relational thinking, and temporal and spatial awareness. Students of Geography will develop understanding of geographic skills, and will explore different environmental perspectives and worldviews.
Thinking
Students of Geography will:
- use critical thinking to make informed decisions, judgements, and evaluations of land usage
- consider possible, probable, and preferred geographic futures
- make connections between natural and cultural environments, and the way environments relate to each other
- tease out cause and effect connections in physical and human environments
- view and reflect on environments through a tikanga and kaitiakitanga lens
- understand the relationship between geography and indigenous knowledges
- acknowledge global geographic practices and processes, and consider these within the idea that environments shape people and people shape environments
- use relational thinking to analyse how places are shaped, often producing unequal resource distribution
- consider differences in decision-making within the framework of place and space
- understand differences in development and progress, and how people use and interact with the physical world
- learn to collaborate with others and develop self-management skills, such as during fieldwork
- think creatively to consider the future of environments and natural features
- consider differing courses of action to solve geographic challenges facing people.
Using language, symbols, and texts
Students of Geography will:
- use language, symbols, and text to create, read, and understand maps including Geographic Information Systems (GIS), graphs, visuals, tables, and texts
- develop spatial and temporal awareness
- communicate ideas using geographic terminology
- use maps to process information
- use data to draw conclusions about processes that shape natural and cultural environments.
Relating to others
Students of Geography will:
- use inquiry processes and collect data in groups
- work with others to identify geographic solutions and possibilities
- follow and work with communities at the frontline of climate change
- understand and respect Māori relationships with place and space as fundamental to the discipline of geography in Aotearoa New Zealand
- develop an awareness of different geographical imaginations
- understand their own biases and those of others
- expand their worldview through knowledge of local to global geography
- question geographic perspectives and decision-making and how these impact people, place, and environments.
Managing self
Students of Geography will:
- use fieldwork and research to manage themselves effectively while collecting, analysing, presenting, concluding, and evaluating data and geographic information
- reflect on skills and knowledge systems to add to their geography kete
- collect primary data through group work to learn from other students and engage with other worldviews
- understand that individuals, communities, and groups have differing views of land management, sustainability, and regeneration.
Participating and contributing
Students of Geography will:
- engage in debate and discussion on geographic questions and problems
- endeavour to make partnerships, relationships, and connections to explore differing geographic understandings
- lead or be part of climate activism and environmental advocacy movements
- raise awareness of natural and cultural geographic changes through presentations, publications, and other platforms for discussion
- understand practices of kaitiakitanga as an inextricable part of their discipline as they contribute to the world around them.
This section of The New Zealand Curriculum Online offers specific guidance to school leaders and teachers on integrating the Key Competencies into the daily activities of the school and its Teaching and Learning Programmes.
Connections
Geography connects naturally with a wide variety of Learning Areas and individual subjects. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of Geography, kaiako can easily form bridges across and between subjects. This means that ākonga can transfer their learning from Geography to other subjects, as well as draw on their other subjects to support learning in Geography. Examples are:
Sciences: Science, Agricultural and Horticultural Science, Physics Earth and Space Science, Biology
Technology: Materials and Processing Technology, Design and Visual Communication, Digital Technologies
Mathematics: Mathematics and Statistics
Social Sciences: Economics, Business Studies, Social Studies, Environment and Societies, Tourism, History, English.
Learning Pathway
Geography offers students the opportunity to learn and develop a range of skills and knowledge which they can apply in their everyday lives, no matter what Level ākonga begin their Geography studies.
Beyond school, Geography can be a pathway to further education and training related to a range of sectors such as:
- primary industries
- services
- social and community
- manufacturing and technology
- construction and infrastructure
- creative industries.
At university level, pathways are available in a range of areas. Ākonga might concentrate on Physical Geography, Social and Political Sciences, Development Studies, Migration Studies, Resource and Environmental Management, Geographic Information Systems, Geology, or Urban Planning. Ākonga with a base in Geography can use their knowledge to enrich a career in engineering, science, law, management, commerce, or technology.
Geography is a foundation for any work that focuses on connections in the taiao.
Geographers work in a wide range of fields, from:
- urban and regional planning
- land management
- industrial location and marketing
- environmental monitoring and resource management
- community development at home and abroad.
They work as researchers, analysts, consultants, technologists, and planners.
The ability to work with data is becoming increasingly important in Geography, due, in large part, to technological advances. For example, much of our information about where things are located comes from satellites that continuously beam coordinates to global positioning devices on Earth.
Government and commercial satellites greatly increase the accuracy and amount of geographic data available. At the same time, new Geographic Information System (GIS) software can process that data with greater speed and flexibility. This technology creates new career possibilities for people who understand Geography and who can process and use geographic information.
A few geographic jobs are based almost entirely on the study of location. Remote sensing specialists, photogrammetrists, and surveyors gather data about where things are on Earth. GIS analysts review this data and sometimes use it to make maps. Planners help to determine where buildings and roads should be located.
Many maps rely on photographs or other data taken from airplanes, jets, and satellites. Remote sensing specialists oversee the collection of this information and interpret satellite images. Photogrammetrists interpret the more detailed data from jets and planes.
Skills developed in Geography that employers are looking for are:
- adaptability
- communication
- critical thinking
- digital literacy
- leadership
- collaboration
- problem solving
- engagement with others
- developing relationships.
Introduction to Sample Course Outlines
The Sample Course Outlines provide a clear overview of learning across one year and link to the Learning and Assessment Matrices. They are indicative only and do not mandate any particular context or approach. Course Outlines should be developed using the appropriate template.
Detailed sample Teaching and Learning Programmes will be developed during piloting.
Assessment Matrix
Conditions of Assessment for internally assessed standards
This section provides guidelines for assessment against internally assessed Standards. Guidance is provided on:
- appropriate ways of, and conditions for, gathering evidence
- ensuring that evidence is authentic
- any other relevant advice specific to an Achievement Standard.
NB: Information on additional generic guidance on assessment practice in schools is published on the NZQA website. It would be useful to read in conjunction with these Conditions of Assessment.
The school's Assessment Policy and Conditions of Assessment must be consistent with the Assessment Rules for Schools With Consent to Assess. These rules will be updated during the NCEA review. This link includes guidance for managing internal moderation and the collection of evidence.
For all Achievement Standards
Internal assessment provides considerable flexibility in the collection of evidence. Evidence can be collected in different ways to suit a range of teaching and learning styles, and a range of contexts. Care needs to be taken to offer students opportunities to present their best evidence against the Standard(s) that are free from unnecessary constraints.
It is recommended that the design of assessment reflects and reinforces the ways students have been learning. Collection of evidence for the internally assessed Standards could include, but is not restricted to, an extended task, an investigation, digital evidence (such as recorded interviews, blogs, photographs or film), or a portfolio of evidence.
It is also recommended that the collection of evidence for internally assessed Standards should not use the same method that is used for any external Standards in a course, particularly if that method is using a time-bound written examination. This could unfairly disadvantage students who do not perform well under these conditions.
A separate assessment event is not needed for each Standard. Often assessment can be integrated into one activity that collects evidence towards two or three different Standards from a programme of learning. Evidence can also be collected over time from a range of linked activities (for example, in a portfolio). This approach can also ease the assessment workload for both students and teachers.
Effective assessment should suit the nature of the learning being assessed, provide opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students, and be valid and fair.
Authenticity of student evidence needs to be assured regardless of the method of collecting evidence. This needs to be in line with school policy. For example: an investigation carried out over several sessions could include teacher observations or the use of milestones such as a meeting with the student, a journal, or photographic entries recording progress etc.
Teachers may:
- determine the timing of the assessment period. This should be based on the anticipated length of time the assessment task should take to be completed in class time
- provide a geographic environment for ākonga, and
- provide some assessment resources with ākonga being encouraged to provide additional resource material or use evidence gathered during learning. This resource material may include specific examples from alternative contexts.
Ākonga may:
- work on their assessment in and out of class time, over the assessment period specified by the teacher
- present their evidence for assessment in any medium that allows them to demonstrate their understanding of the spatial distribution of phenomena in the studied environment
- work collaboratively in groups with planning, gathering, and sharing of additional resource material and in the discussion of spatial distribution, however their submitted response must represent own work.
If providing a written response, it should be between 750-800 words, while oral responses should be between 3-4 minutes in length.
Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence
If students present their evidence digitally, through a website, video, or blog, it is best to disable access to this after marking and moderation have occurred. This helps to ensure that students across the country cannot plagiarise the work or ideas of those who have already completed the assessment for this Achievement Standard.
Teachers should:
- have students sign authenticity forms to verify it is their own work
- monitor student progress closely and familiarise themselves with their evolving work. This might be carried out using checkpoints.
- use oral questioning to confirm a student's understanding if doubts over the authenticity of the student's work arise.
Collection of Evidence
This Achievement Standard focuses on the use of data rather than the collection of it. In the case of fieldwork collection, strict teacher supervision is required to ensure a degree of consistency and then this data may therefore be shared. It is important that all students use the same data set.
Teachers may:
- provide a set of data for students to use for assessment purposes
- determine the timing of the assessment period. This should be based on the anticipated length of time the assessment task should take to be able to be completed in class time.
Ākonga may:
- work on their assessment in and out of class time, over the assessment period specified by the teacher
- present their evidence for assessment in any medium that allows them to demonstrate their understanding of an environment using data
- work collaboratively in groups with planning, collection of evidence (if fieldwork) and in the discussion of data interpretation however their submitted response must represent own work.
If providing a written responses it should be between 750-800 words, while oral responses should be between 3-4 minutes in length.
Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence
If students present their evidence digitally, through a website, video, or blog, it is best to disable access to this after marking and moderation have occurred. This helps to ensure that students across the country cannot plagiarise the work or ideas of other those who have already completed the assessment for this Achievement Standard.
Teachers should:
- have students sign authenticity forms to verify it is their own work
- monitor student progress closely
- use oral questioning to confirm a student's understanding, if doubts over the authenticity of the student's work arise.
Conditions of Assessment
This section provides guidelines for assessment against internally assessed Standards. Guidance is provided on:
- appropriate ways of, and conditions for, gathering evidence
- ensuring that evidence is authentic
- any other relevant advice specific to an Achievement Standard.
NB: Information on additional generic guidance on assessment practice in schools is published on the NZQA website. It would be useful to read in conjunction with these Conditions of Assessment.
Collection of evidence
Teachers may:
- provide sufficient assessment resources for ākonga to achieve at all levels
- determine when the assessment will be conducted in class and the submission date
- allocate 4 hours of class time for the assessment.
Ākonga may:
- work on assessment responses in class for four hours
- present their evidence for assessment in any medium that allows them to demonstrate their understanding of Indigenous participation in geographic planning and decision making in the Pacific.
If providing a written response, ākonga may write between 900–1000 words. Oral responses should be between 4-5 minutes in length.
Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence
Evidence for this Standard should be collected in class over a period of 4 hours.
Teachers should have ākonga sign authenticity forms to verify their work.
Teachers may monitor the progress of ākonga closely.
Teachers may use oral questioning to confirm understanding, if doubts over the authenticity arise.
If ākonga present their evidence digitally, by video, or by blog, it is best to disable access to this after marking and moderation have occurred. This helps to ensure that ākonga cannot plagiarise the work or ideas of those who have already completed the assessment for this Achievement Standard.
Conditions of Assessment
This section provides guidelines for assessment against internally assessed Standards. Guidance is provided on:
- appropriate ways of, and conditions for, gathering evidence
- ensuring that evidence is authentic
- any other relevant advice specific to an Achievement Standard.
NB: Information on additional generic guidance on assessment practice in schools is published on the NZQA website. It would be useful to read in conjunction with these Conditions of Assessment.
Collection of evidence
Teachers may:
- decide to use a single taiao or nga taiao to demonstrate mitigation methods that build resilience to the same natural process
- provide guidance to ākonga if they choose a different context
- provide sufficient assessment resources for ākonga to achieve at all Levels
- determine when the assessment will be conducted in class
- determine the timing of the assessment period. This should be based on the anticipated length of time the assessment task should take to be completed in class time.
- provide a list of suitable methods and platforms, where appropriate, that allow the student to suitably demonstrate their understanding.
Ākonga may:
- decide to use a single taiao or nga taiao to demonstrate mitigation methods that build resilience to the same natural process, if selecting their own context
- work collaboratively in groups to plan, gather, and share additional resource material and discuss mitigation methods prior to working on their response. Their submitted response must represent their own work.
- present their evidence for assessment in any medium that allows them to demonstrate their understanding of a method taken to mitigate the impacts of a natural process
- if providing a written response, write between 900–1000 words. Oral responses should be between 4-5 minutes in length.
Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence
- Teachers may have ākonga sign authenticity forms to verify their work.
- Teachers may monitor the progress of ākonga closely.
- Teachers can use oral questioning to confirm understanding, if doubts over the authenticity arise.
- If ākonga present their evidence digitally, by video, or by blog, it is best to disable access to this after marking and moderation have occurred. This helps to ensure that ākonga cannot plagiarise the work or ideas of those who have already completed the assessment for this Achievement Standard.