This article introduces the main ideas of ‘powerful knowledge’, which have recently been applied to geography education, for example, by Lambert (2011), Maude (2015), and Béneker and Palings (2017). Lambert et al. (2015) have described three levels of geographical knowledge that would enhance young people’s access to powerful geographical knowledge. The first level consists of deep and descriptive world knowledge, the second of relational understanding and geographical thinking, while the third level consists of the propensity to think through alternative social, economic, and environmental futures in specific locations and the ability to think critically. These three levels of knowledge are applied in the analysis of powerful geographical knowledge in the context of Finnish matriculation examinations. The empirical data set consists of 28 geography exams from 2006 to 2019, including 273 questions in total, 63 of which have been published in the form of the digital exams offered since the autumn of 2016. Digital exams have increased the amount of background material included in the questions, but they have also lead to the disappearance of tasks in which students should draw maps. The analysis shows how all three levels of powerful geographical knowledge are present in the matriculation questions. The number of simple first-level questions has been reduced, and the number of questions requesting relational understanding and geographical thinking has increased. However, value-based issues as well as questions requiring the student’s personal reasoning and ability to evaluate certain controversial themes are non-existent in the exams, even though they are described in the framework curriculum.
Oppikirjan merkitys suomalaisessa koulussa on perinteisesti ollut – ja yhä edelleen usein on – suuri: se, millaisia sisältöjä ja millaisia painotuksia oppikirjoissa esitetään, vaikuttaa vahvasti opetuksen etenemiseen. Tästä huolimatta oppikirjojen asiasisältöjä on tutkittu verrattain vähän. Ilmastonmuutoksen vakavuus on tunnustettu viime vuosina kansainvälisesti, ja tämä huoli on välittynyt myös koulutuksen ja kasvatuksen kentälle. On pohdittu sitä, mitä ilmastonmuutoksesta tulisi tietää, ja kenen vastuulla ilmastonmuutokseen liittyvien aiheiden opettaminen on. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastelemme, miten ilmastonmuutosta käsitellään kahdessa suomalaisessa lukion pakollisen maantieteen kurssin oppikirjassa (GEOS ja Manner). Tulosten mukaan oppikirjat eroavat selvästi siinä, millaista tietoa ilmastonmuutoksesta ne sisältävät, millaisia havainnollistamisen keinoja niissä käytetään ja millaisen painoarvon ne antavat yksilölle ja yhteiskunnalle ilmastonmuutoksen hillinnässä ja sopeutumisessa. Oppikirjojen yksi suurimmista puutteista on se, että ne eivät esittele riittävästi helposti toteutettavia ilmastonmuutoksen hillitsemisen keinoja. Tulevissa lukion opetussuunnitelman perusteissa (2019) ilmastonmuutos mainitaan lähes kuusinkertaisesti aiempaan opetussuunnitelmaan (2015) verrattuna. Tämä voi vaikuttaa lukion maantieteen pakollisen kurssin oppikirjojen sisältöihin lähitulevaisuudessa. Climate change in upper secondary school curricula and geography textbooks Abstract The role of textbooks has traditionally been – and still very often is – very important in the Finnish education system: the content of textbooks and the emphasis put on them strongly influence the progress of teaching. Nonetheless, relatively little research has been conducted about the content of Finnish textbooks and especially about how climate change is presented in textbooks. In recent years, the seriousness of climate change has been recognized internationally and this concern has also been transmitted to the field of education. Questions such as what is needed to know about climate change and who is responsible for teaching the topics of climate change have already been asked. In this article, we therefore examine how climate change is presented in two Finnish upper secondary school geography textbooks (GEOS and Manner). According to the results, the textbooks clearly differ in the types of information they contain on climate change, the ways that are used to illustrate climate change, and the importance they place on individuals and society in mitigating and adapting to climate change. One of the major shortcomings of the textbooks is that they do not provide enough easy-to-implement ways of mitigating climate change. On the other hand, climate change is mentioned six times more in the forthcoming upper secondary school curriculum (2019) compared to the previous curriculum (2015). This may affect the content of textbooks for the mandatory upper secondary school geography in the near future. Keywords: climate change, upper secondary school geography, curriculum, textbook
The combination of geography and semiotics seems to be rather rare. Nonetheless, geography as a discipline has always been visually oriented because of the usage of maps. However, geographers tend to be interested in the final meanings of visual representations rather than the processes during which the meanings are being pro duced. To approach these processes, we printed a photo taken in New York City (2008) on an A3-sheet and asked in total 64 Finnish high school students to draw around the photo. Next step of our study is deciding in which ways we are to analyze the drawings in question; during our presentation, we hope to gain new ideas from the audience to approach our data-set. In the 1970s, Roland Barthes stated that connotations are likely to be important in semiology. He continued that connotative phenomena have not yet been systematically studied. In addition, a Finnish researcher, Virpi Blom, has said that the analysis of connotation is in the heart of interpretation. When it comes to the drawings we have collected, we can, for example, focus on what sorts of connotations the students have drawn. In her book, Decoding Advertisements, Judith Williamson approaches advertisements both as signifieds and signifiers. The same division can be used for drawings as follows: when the photograph itself is the signifier, the drawing is dominated by the photo; instead, when the drawing is the signifier, the drawer abandons the ready-made signi fied (the photo), and a semiotic act will take place. The former example is to do with synecdochal signs, the latter with metonymic signs. When it comes to visual literacy and semiotics, iconicity, indexicality, and meto nymic signs are said to be the most important aspects we should concentrate on. It was Barthes who said that there is an abundant literature
As the majority of people in the world now live in cities, it makes sense to question the state of urban environmental education and how it could be developed going forward. In this article, we suggest a way forward based on the essays written by Finnish university students. The students reflected on their relationship with an environment that is meaningful to them. In the essays selected for this case study (n = 25), the built environment of Helsinki—the capital of Finland—and its characteristics are in focus. In this qualitative research, inductive content analysis was used for processing the essays. Many students described the connections between urban nature and built environments, but the results also show that the built environment is especially significant because of its social and cultural aspects. Students described the importance of social bonding and how meeting different sorts of people supports their acceptance of diverse perspectives. Personal experiences and meanings attached to the city, as well as their lack, were mentioned; that is, without these personal bonds, meaningful relations to urban environments cannot be developed. Architecture, aesthetics, and soundscapes were also mentioned. In addition, it was expressed that feeling safe in the built environment is important. In urban environmental education, it is therefore important to pay attention to the social and cultural aspects, too, and not just to the ecological dimension. It is crucial that children and young people have access to the city in order to construct their personal relationships with the built environment.
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