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Applying the Concept of Powerful Knowledge to School Geography

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The Power of Geographical Thinking

Part of the book series: International Perspectives on Geographical Education ((IPGE))

Abstract

This chapter seeks to address the theme of The Power of Geographical Thinking by investigating the concept of powerful knowledge, and how it can be used to identify geographical knowledge and thinking that could be considered powerful. The debate about powerful knowledge within geography education is advanced in two ways: first, by creating a typology of powerful geographical knowledge and second, by illustrating each type with examples that may make the concept clearer to geography educators. Five types of powerful knowledge in geography are identified. The strength of the argument developed here is in part tested by conducting a review of some of the criticisms of the concept of powerful knowledge advanced by geography educators.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The extent to which some young people are deprived of access to this knowledge is illustrated by a recent study of Year 12 subject offerings in Perth [Australia] schools, disaggregated according to the socio-economic status of the school population. The study found that while all but one of the 48 schools in the top 40% by socio-economic status offered advanced maths, chemistry, physics and English literature (the subjects needed for admission to some professional university courses), only three of the 24 schools in the bottom 20% by socio-economic status offered all these subjects (Perry and Southwell 2014).

  2. 2.

    The statements of powerful geographical knowledge in this chapter were developed by the author, and therefore are not referenced.

  3. 3.

    Adapted from Davie 2008, p. 11.

  4. 4.

    For discussions of these arguments see Firth 2013, 2015; Moore 2014.

  5. 5.

    On the role of teachers in curriculum making see Lambert 2014b.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Alaric Maude

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  1. Alaric Maude
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Correspondence to Alaric Maude .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UCL Institute of Education , London, United Kingdom

    Clare Brooks

  2. School of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom

    Graham Butt

  3. UCL Institute of Education , London, United Kingdom

    Mary Fargher

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Maude, A. (2017). Applying the Concept of Powerful Knowledge to School Geography. In: Brooks, C., Butt, G., Fargher, M. (eds) The Power of Geographical Thinking. International Perspectives on Geographical Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49986-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49986-4_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49985-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49986-4

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