Institute of Education Seminar

The latest in the Engaging Geography series, which was originated by the late Duncan Fuller, and now organised by his great friend and colleague (and fellow Geography Collective member) Kye Askins is being held on Wednesday of this week at the Institute of Education.

Here are the details.
I shall be 'recording' as much of the events as I can to help with my nascent MA studies, and own professional development....
If there is phone reception, I shall be tweeting from the event too... some amazing speakers...

Date: 13th October 2010
Venue: Room 836, Institute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1 H 0AL 
Convenors: David Lambert (Geographical Association / Institute of Education) and John Morgan (Institute of Education)

Programme:

10.30: tea/coffee

11.00: Introduction to the day.

• Introductions [10 mins]
• David Lambert: Do we have to say what geography is? To whom? [10 mins]

11.20: Session one. ‘Setting the scene and whetting the appetite.’

• Professor Alastair Bonnett: Geography in public. Geography as one of humanity’s big projects? [20 mins]
• Dr Jessica Pykett: The public in geography. Can the public(s) be identified? (20 mins]
• Discussion: [10 mins]

12.15: Lunch & informal discussion [Room 802: 30-40 mins]

1.00: Session two. ‘Particular settings and perspectives’.

Key elements and participants (10-15 minutes each, including questions) are as follows. Contributors are encouraged to provide specific instances, examples or case studies to illustrate or exemplify the points they wish to make.

• Geography and young people – does geography matter to me? With school students from Charters School, with teacher Dan Cowling;
• School geography – stuff to be delivered or a resource to be used? With the Geographical Association’s ‘community geographer’ Bob Digby;
• Communicating geography in policy environments – what works? Royal Geographical Society (with IBG);
• Communicating geography within education. With Jenny Hill (University of the West of England), newly appointed to the Editorial Collective of Geography.
• Communicating geographical perspectives in the public media? With Joe Smith (Open University),Interdependence Day and co-author of Do Good Lives have to Cost the Earth?
• Imagining a post-progress – a ‘real post-modern’ – geography. With John Morgan, author of Teaching secondary geography as if the planet matters, and member of the Geography Editorial Collective

2.30 pm Discussion: Michael Young: what is a Powerful Knowledge?

Michael Young is a distinguished Professor of Education at the Institute of Education. The disciplinary basis for his research is the sociology of knowledge, represented by two career spanning and important books:

Young, M. (1971) Knowledge and Control. London: Collier Macmillan.

Young, M. (2007) Bringing Knowledge Back In: From social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education. London: Routledge.

Michael will provide a 20 minute input, possibly picking up on matters arising from the above, plus further time for questions.

3.15: Tea break

3.30: Session 3. ‘In what ways is geography a powerful knowledge to communicate, and to whom?’

1. Pairs or threes [40 mins]

Write down (in a form that can be left with the seminar organisers):

• specific ways in which geography is a ‘powerful knowledge’
• particular ‘publics’ who need access to geography as a powerful knowledge (and why)

2. Feedback-discussion, based on a ‘one-minute headlines’ from each group [30 mins]

4.40: Brief round-up and short break

5.00: Session 4. School Textbook Archive (with wine and nibbles)

Launch of the Geography School Textbook archive: a fully catalogued collection at the Institute of Education, assembled by donation and financial assistance from the Frederick Soddy Trust.

Opening up opportunities to study the ‘knowledge of the powerful’ and ‘powerful school curriculum knowledge’ in the context of school geography. With Ashley Kent, Emeritus Professor of geography Education and leader of the archive project.

6.00: Depart