Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) Orientation.pptx
Promoting Critical Spatial Thinking in ESD
1. Significant Learning in ESD
guidelines for the use of fieldwork strategies to
promote Critical Spatial Thinking
Experience-based Geography Learning
2012 Symposium, 22-25 August
Freiburg, Germany
Vânia Carlos (University of Aveiro) | vania.carlos@ua.pt
Herculano Cachinho (University of Lisbon) | hc@campus.ul.pt
3. What are the main principles to implement ESD?
What characterizes reference teacher and learning strategies,
on the scope for ESD?
What defines significant learning?
What are the existent significant learning taxonomies?
What are the Critical Spatial Thinking (CST) skills?
Which concepts and reasoning processes are essential in CST?
What are the main difficulties to promote CST skills?
Which student´s CST skills are most relevant to promote, on
the scope for ESD?
Research Questions
5. ESD principles
- collaboration and dialogue
- engaging the ‘whole system’
- developing innovate curriculum as well as teaching and learning
experiences
- improving active and participatory learning (Unesco, 2009)
Lucerne Declaration
- Geographical interdisciplinary competences in SD
- Criteria for the selection of geographical themes
- Criteria for the selection of geographical areas (Lucerne Declaration,
2007)
Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD) Guidelines
6. - “to focus on problems, to evaluate alternatives, to calculate risks
- to perceive complex cause-effect relations and dynamics
- to reflect about side effects and consequences that are to be expected from an action
- to think in systems and complex networks
- to find, evaluate, process and use information with appropriate methods
- to respect other views and opinions
- to think about and evaluate one’s own personal motives
- to give one’s own life sense and an ethical basis
- to contribute to common tasks with one’s own competencies
- to commit to environmental planning and projects
- to evaluate one’s own actions and their results
- to perceive life-long learning as an enrichment of one’s quality of life
- to perceive problems and phenomena from different perspectives
- to flexibly apply different methods to solve problems
- to relate local and regional experiences to global phenomena”
Lucerne Declaration: Interdisciplinary
competencies to enhance SD
Lucerne Declaration, 2007, pp. 245-246
7. Students’ experiences, interests and preconceptions
Significance for the individual, people, culture and the environment
Illustrative examples
Balance
Selection of Geographic Themes
- Major issues in the contemporary world
- Geographical perception of space, place and environment
- Geographical ways of looking at spatial organization
Selection of Geographic Areas
- Variety in spatial extent
- Topographical coverage (Lucerne Declaration, 2007)
Lucerne Declaration:
geographical themes and areas
11. Jo, I. & Bednarz, S.
(2009)
Spatial Thinking
http://www.teachspatial.org/finding-
spatial/6486&docid
12. Spatial Thinking
Janelle, D. G. and M. F.
Goodchild (2011)
- Primary concept
- Subsidiary concepts
- Problems
- Tools and measurements
- Key references
http://www.teachspatial.org/finding-spatial/449&docid
13. Fieldwork
Issue-based fieldwork using the
route to enquiry (Job, 1999)
(factual and values enquiry)
- Observation and perception
- Definition and description
- Analysis and explanation
- Prediction and evaluation
- Decision-making
Personal evaluation and judgement
Personal response
14. Questions/challenge
Geographical competences , CST and ESD?
Focus Group
Difficulties of teaching CST
- Purpose of education (content / skills, competences, values)
- CT is not explicitly worked in schools
- Lack of teacher training
- “Do ‘we’ want students to think?”
- Takes time and effort/practice
- Inferiority of ST
15. Focus Group
CT dispositions
- Try to be well informed
- Having an open mind
- Take a position (and change)
CT abilities
- Focusing on one issue
- Analyze arguments
- Make and evaluate inferences
(generalizing, …)
ST concepts
- scale, space, territory, place
- distance and routes
- location
- spatial dependence
- “thirdspace” or lived places
ST reasoning processes
- scaling and levels of conceptualization
- generalization and relativization,
- spatial perception
- summarizing
16. Focus Group
Geographical competences
- The development of the ability to think geographically
- The correct use of graphic and cartographic techniques
- The predisposition to be geographically well informed
- The relativization of the importance of the place where the individual lives
Geographical learning goals
- The student develops fieldwork for the collection of data needed to
understand places and physical and human phenomena
- The student identifies and uses arguments based on the discussion of
environmental and social issues
- The student evaluates alternative views on interventions in the territory
ESD: Guidelines / Goals / Curricula
I´m Vânia, and I am a PhD student at the University of Aveiro, from the doctoral programme in Multimedia in Education. My background is a graduation in Geography and a masters in GIS…
I would like to say that I´m very pleased to be here, presenting the firts steps of our study…
… which goal is to conceive and implement transdisciplinar and significant T/L strategies supported by geospatial technologies to promote CST skills on ESD.
So, it´s important to say that this is a transdisciplinar project, developed with teachers from different disciplines, that collaboratively conceive strategies to promote their student´s CST in ESD and that it occurs within a Teacher Training Course…!
Well, we started this study with a several questions that needed to answered, such as…
- What are the main principles to implement ESD?
- What characterizes reference teacher and learning strategies, on the scope for ESD?
- What defines significant learning?
- What are the existent significant learning taxonomies?
- What are the Critical Spatial Thinking (CST) skills?
- Which concepts and reasoning processes are essential in CST?
- What are the main difficulties to promote CST skills?
- Which student´s CST skills are most relevant to promote, on the scope for ESD?
To answer some of this questions we started with a literature review on:
ESD principles and strategies,
Significant learning,
Critical thinking,
Spatial thinking
And fieldwork strategies
This LR was combined with the results from a Focus Group interview, that aimed to discuss the student’s CST in ESD to be developed in order to promote geographically competent citizens, on the scope for ESD…
As ESD guidelines we focused mainly on:
Unesco principles for ESD (2009) of:
collaboration and dialogue (emphasizing the need to share ideas between teachers, students, and all agents that intervene within the T/L process)
engaging the ‘whole system’ (Applying systemic thinking to schools…)
developing innovate curriculum as well as teaching and learning experiences (In which we stress transdisciplinarity)
improving active and participatory learning (Such as fieldwork strategies…)
2. We also based our research on the Lucerne Declaration on Geographical Education for Sustainable Development (2007), in which, among other principles, we based on the listed:
Geographical interdisciplinary competences in SD
Criteria for the selection of geographical themes
Criteria for the selection of geographical areas
Besides specific geographical competencies, interdisciplinary skills crucial for sustainable development to be developed in collaboration with other subjects are:
Considering the criteria defined on Lucerne´s Declaration about the selection of Geographic themes and areas, we noticed that for both of them it was important to start from…
- Students’ experiences, interests and preconceptions
- Significance for the individual, people, culture and the environment
- Illustrative examples
- Balance…
So, we wanted to understand more about what are the ways in which learning can be significant, and how teachers can promote it…
Fink says that “If we have or can develop a language and a conceptual framework for identifying the multiple ways in which learning can be significant, then teachers can decide which of various kinds of significant learning they want to support and promote in a given course or learning experience”.
And that´s exactly what we needed for this study, where teachers need to decide the best strategies in their educational context…
So, Fink defines learning in terms of change… he says that for learning to occur, there has to be some kind of change in the learner. And significant learning requires that there be some kind of lasting change that is important in terms of the learner's life. With this perspective in mind, he created a taxonomy that
includes six kinds of significant learning… Except that they don´t have any order, or hierarchy only, according to Fink, the more dimensions the strategy reaches, the more significant the learning becomes!
So, the previous ESD principles, combined with Fink’s Significant Learning Taxonomy point that, in order to develop an active and participatory learning approach, fieldwork is an adequate methodology, and that the main categories to develop CST, in the scope for ESD, are:
Application, by the critical, creative and practical thinking to solve problems, find new solutions…
Integration, of what students learn in school to different realms of life…
Human Dimension, promote the respect ones opinions, etc…
and Caring, for the engagement to causes…
According to authors like Ennis and Paul, for the citizens to live, work and function efficiently they need to use CT abilities to assess, make decisions and judgments with regard to the information citizens need to obtain, in which they are required to believe and use. Citizens also need to use such abilities to guarantee global socio-economic development, taking into account human wants and the need to protect the environment, guaranteeing the integrity of ecological environments which human beings are dependent on for their survival…
As students, these abilities can be useful when students are requested to:
• react critically to an essay or evidence presented in a text,
• assess the quality of reading or of discourse,
• build an argument,
• write an essay based on previous reading or,
• participate in class.
Ennis defines Critical thinking as “a form of rational, reflective thinking, focused on deciding on what to believe or do” (Ennis, 1985, p. 46).
We focused on Ennis´taxonomy of critical thinking, because on his taxonomy, he distinguishing dispositions and abilities. In fact, his taxonomy involves as many abilities (that refer to the more cognitive aspects), as dispositions (that are more affective), and is relevant when we want to promote significant learning, as we have seen with Fink´s taxonomy…
Dispositions, such as:
1. Look for a clear proposition of the topic or thesis
2. Look for reasons
3. Try to be well informed
4. Use and mention credible sources
5. Take into account the situation from a global perspective
6. Try not to deviate from the core of the issue
7. Bear in mind the original and/or basic concern
And Abilities (5 areas)
elementary clarification,
basic support,
inference,
elaborated clarification,
and strategies and tactics
So, we argue that critical thinking involves a set of intellectual tools to be well mobilized in the context of problem solving, decision making and in the context of interacting with others. This includes abilities, like arguing and analyzing arguments, judging the credibility of a source, making inferences (reaching conclusions based on sound evidence and reasons) and deciding on action, as well as dispositions which define critical spirit (that which motivates critical thinkers to use critical thinking abilities in their own and others thinking).
So we researched on ESD principles, on significant learning, on CT, and what about ST?
Of course, Taxonomies of Spatial Thinking were also reviewed…
First, it was analysed the National Research Council´s principles to learn to think spatially through GIS, considering:
the concepts of space: primitives of identity or primitive of spatial relations
tools of representation: internal or external
and process of reasoning: extracting spatial structures, performing spatial transformations and drawing functional inferences…
Jo and Bednarz´s “Taxonomy of Spatial Thinking”, follows this elements of spatial thinking, combining concepts, cognitive process and ways of representation…
I´m not sure if you all are familiar with this taxonomy, if you are we can move on, if you don´t we can review it…
The three components of spatial thinking: (1) concepts of space, (2) using tools of representation, and (3) processes of reasoning, constitute the three primary categories of the taxonomy, and all three components are explicitly featured in the three-dimensional structure of the taxonomy.
The categories for the concepts of space are based on Golledge’s categories: non-spatial, primitives, simple-spatial and complex-spatial.
The cognitive process is based on Costa´s (2001) model: input (cognitive processes at this level may not account for reasoning but they do provide the basis to acquire the knowledge necessary for reasoning to occur), processing (this type of cognition is associated with reasoning because it requires making sense of collected information, and, therefore, goes beyond input thinking processes), output (refers to generating new knowledge or products from
the information obtained from the first two levels through the processes of evaluation, generalization, and creation, which are considered the highest level in difficulty as well as in complexity).
As ways of representation, it´s classified in non-use or use…
The three components of spatial thinking are represented in the three-dimensional structure of the taxonomy, which consists of 24 cells, each of them unique in terms of the components of spatial thinking involved.
Examples:
- Cell 1 represents a non-spatial concept, non-use of a representation, and the input level of cognitive
Processing (has nothing to do with spatial thinking)
Cell 24, represents a complex-spatial concept, the use of a representation, and an output level cognitive process; it definitely is associated with higher-level spatial thinking (like critical thinking…)
So, the gray cells of the taxonomy represent incomplete spatial thinking since they involve only one or two components of this powerful way of thinking. The colored cells, on the other hand, represent spatial thinking questions which engage all three components.
Since it classifies the level of complexity in spatial thinking, it can be very useful for teachers to design questions as well as learning goals, when they are conceiving T/L strategies…
It was also considered Janelle and Goodchild´s concepts and analysis tools for spatiotemporal reasoning in the social sciences, published last year…
For the 9 concepts considered as most relevant to the authors, is presented
- a definition,
- some related concepts,
- problems to which it can be applied,
- tools and measurements that can be associated to the concept,
- and key references used…
The concepts presented can be combined in different ways to assist any of these applications in a broad range of investigations.
It seemed to us am interesting tool for teachers to design the strategies integrating GIS, since it relates the concepts and examples of tools and measurements!
Finally, to complete this conceptual framework, as the chosen strategy was fieldwork, instead of PBL, we selected Job´s issue-based fieldwork using the route to enquiry…
First, at both factual and values enquiry, the route and key questions are:
Observation and perception
Definition and description (What and where?)
Analysis and explanation (How and why?)
Prediction and evaluation (What might…? What will…? With what impact…?)
Decision-making (What decision? With what impact?)
Personal evaluation and judgement (What do I think? Why?)
Personal response (What next? What shall I do?)
This instrument has two main aspects that we value, on the conception of significant learning strategies for ESD, that are considering both factual and values enquiry, and the end of the route being a personal implication of the student (personal evaluation and the personal response…)!
So, the conceptual framework is established, but we needed to go further, and discuss this questions related to the portuguese curricula and with specialists in education (both teachers and researchers).
We decided to create a Focus Group where we wanted to discuss:
- In which geographical competences is ST most relevant?
- In which geographical competences is CT most relevant?
- In which geographical competences one should focus to promote CST for ESD?
Among other topics, the main categories that emerged from 1 hour and a half of discussion, were, for instance, the difficulties of developing student´s CST skills…
The main purpose of education is still not clarified, at least in Portugal (content / skills, competences, values)
CT is not explicitly worked in schools
In part because of lack of teacher training in this issue (teachers will not value what they don’t know)
In fact, the question arised in the discussion Do “we” want students to think?...
Because it takes time and needs effort and practice (sometimes it´s even anoying having students questioning everything that you say…)
It was also mentioned the inferiority of ST, compared to other types of thinking, like linguistic or mathematical… And again, if its not valued, teachers won´t teach it…!
Also, it were discussed the most relevant CT Dispositions and Abilities, considering CST in ESD, and what emerged was:
For CT dispositions:
3. Try to be well informed.
9. Having an open mind:
Consider seriously other points of view other than your own;
Reasoning from premises that others disagree without letting the disagreement interfere with your own reasoning,
Suspend judgment when the evidence and the reasons are not sufficient.
10. Take a position (and change it) where the evidence and reasons are sufficient to do so;
And as CT abilities:
Focusing on one issue:
Identify or formulate a question,
Identify or formulate criteria to assess possible responses.
2. Analyze arguments:
Identify conclusions
Identify the reasons stated,
Identify the reasons not listed,
Find similarities and differences,
Identify and deal with irrelevancies,
Find the structure of an argument,
Summarize .
7. Make and evaluate inferences:
Specially generalizing - concerns regarding the characterization data, restriction of the field-coverage, of the sample, tables and graphs,
But also explain and formulate hypotheses - criteria - explain the evidence, be consistent with the known facts eliminate alternative conclusions to be plausible,
And investigate, design investigations, including the planning of effective control of variables, looking for evidence and counter-evidence, look for other possible conclusions.
Also, the main concepts in ST discussed were:
scale, space, territory, place
distance and routes
location
spatial dependence
“thirdspace” or lived places
And, as ST most relevant reasoning processes, the:
scaling and levels of conceptualization
generalization and relativization,
spatial perception
summarizing
Who stands for ST???
And this discussion led us to select, from the portuguese curricula, the major geographical competences and learning goals to promote CST in ESD, as being:
…as geographical competences:
1 The development of the ability to think geographically, integrating in a spatial context the various elements of the place, region, World
6 The correct use of graphic and cartographic techniques of representation of space in order to understand and explain the distribution of geographical phenomena
11 The predisposition to be geographically well informed and have a critical attitude to information
13 The relativization of the importance of the place where the individual lives in relation to the world, to develop awareness of world citizenship
…and as geographical learning goals:
11 The student develops fieldwork for the collection of data needed to understand places and physical and human phenomena, developing and applying observation guidelines.
12 The student identifies and uses arguments based on the discussion of environmental and social issues, developing their critical thinking about the impacts of human action in the territory.
17 The student evaluates alternative views on interventions in the territory, from concrete cases, reflecting on the importance of decision making in the future of the places, regions and the world.
Based on the previous work, combined, it was created an instrument for the characterization of pedagogical practice towards CST in ESD using fieldwork strategies, precisely to characterize the implementation of the strategies designed by the teachers…
This is a synthesized version of the instrument, and I will just present the main structure…
There are two main categories: the conceptual one, abou the perspective of the T/L process, considering:
The role of the teacher in this process
The role of the student
And the conception about fieldwork strategies
Each category has 3 levels of indicators:
A Tacit indicator – considering thought Spaces or to Know how to think space
A more Explicit – considering physical spaces or to Show how to think the space
And a Interventive or action indicator – focused on the lived Spaces or to be able to intervene in the middle
So, considering the Teaching dimension, we have as indicators:
A1 - Teaching based on fundamental concepts of CST (such as Location, Space, Place, Territory, Distance, Border, Scale, Spatial Heterogeneity and Dependence), with intentional recovery of student´s errors
A2 - Education that includes discussion of issues arising from inter-and transdisciplinary need to understand the world in its completiveness and complexity, promoting the relativisation of the importance of the place where the individual lives in relation to the world
A3 - Education centered on issues of space-oriented problems, and a contextualized learning, contributing to promote CST on the scope for EDS, emphasizing the differentiation of geographic areas as a result of interaction between man and the environment and promoting concrete problem analysis in the world to reflect on possible solutions.
The learning dimension:
B1 - Learning focused on internal thought processes (distinguishing elements and codifying space) and external (geometric and mathematical models, perspectives, language) leading to the development of CST skills so that through the correct use of graphic techniques and cartographic representation of space, they can understand and explain the distribution of geographic phenomena (namely thinking about space).
B2 - Learning focused on solving everyday problem situations to enable the student to build solidly concepts of CST, verbalizing previous ideas, appropriating problem issues in a spatial context and integrating the various elements of Place, Region, World (show to know how to think about space).
B3 - Learning that becomes relevant and usable in day-to-day, where student is not seen in a purely instrumental perspective but in a perspective of action, to make him be able to intervene in the middle.
And considering the conception of fieldwork dimension:
C1 – Enquiry and geographical research as guides for fieldwork as a promoter of the CST skills (focusing on an issue, analyzing arguments, evaluating the credibility of geographic information, making and evaluating inferences such as generalizing, explaining, formulating hypotheses and investigating, and deciding on a subject).
C2 - Using the methodology of Field Work considering the principle of methodological pluralism.
C3 – Conception on Fieldwork aimed at questioning and gathering departure information (factual and evaluative) to identify problem situations and the subsequent search for solutions, according to the following steps: observation and perception, definition and description (What? where?) analysis and explanation (How and why?), prediction and evaluation (what can ...? ... what are you going? ... With what impact?) decision making (what decision? With what impact?) assessment and personal judgments (what I think about ... why?); personal response (And then ...? ... what should I do?).
The second category is more procedural, considering the elements of the T/L process:
For the T/L strategies dimension, were designed the indicators:
D1 - Systematic use of activities / strategies of questioning and Geographic Research-oriented abilities appeal to the promotion of CST, with an appropriate waiting time, going through the steps: formulation of a geographical issue, acquisition of geographic features, data mining and analysis of geographic information.
D2 - Use of activities / strategies embedded in real environments as "mobile learning" or field work.
D3 - Use varied activities / strategies for simulation of reality, such as role playing, simulations, problem solving, panel discussions, debates, inquiry / research, individual projects or group work with interventional goals.
Considering the T/L resources, the indicators are:
E1 - Use of Geographic Information Technologies geared to support the process of CST, as cognitive tools of representation through which to extract spatial structures, make spatial transformations and develop functional inferences
E2 - Exploring materials integrated into programs or projects designed in a transdisciplinary perspective
E3 - Application of materials intentionally selected or (re)produced as practical guidelines for an approach to problem-oriented issues in the geographical area of EDS.
Finally, considering the T/L environment, the indicators that emerged are:
F1 - An environment that fosters a predisposition to be well informed geographically, taking into account the situation as a whole, have an open mind, and to take a stand (and modify it) whenever the evidence and reasons are sufficient to do so.
F2 - Setting of reflection and questioning, in which students are encouraged, for example:
to verbalize their thoughts, formulating questions,
develop meaningful understanding of concepts and spatial phenomena,
and apply these concepts in solving real problems.
F3 - Environment with opportunity to explore, understand and evaluate the interrelationships between Environment-Economy-Society, in particular the ones that may come to interfere with options for more sustainable lifestyles of students.
So, this instrument is now being tested in the 1st cycle of this action research project (we have the preliminary results being analysed…), along with other instruments that assess students CST skills, and that assess the development of the cycle…
But, as we stress the lack of research on identifying and systematizing Critical Spatial Thinking skills, in general, and specifically related to ESD, we intend to, and point as further development f this study, that at the end of this action/research process we can be able to design a taxonomy of CST that helps to design T/L significant strategies on the scope for ESD…
Thank you for your attention…
I´m available to answer any questions that might came up…
