Vol. 13 No. 5 (2022):
Research Article

Using “Spontaneous Geography” to reason about environmental problems

Cédric Naudet
Paris-Cité University, France
Categories

Published 2022-11-18

Keywords

  • didactics,
  • environmental problems,
  • spontaneous geography,
  • abstraction,
  • experiential learning

How to Cite

Naudet, Cédric. 2022. “Using ‘Spontaneous Geography’ to Reason about Environmental Problems”. European Journal of Geography 13 (5). https://doi.org/10.48088/ejg.c.nau.271.

Abstract

Climate change is a major challenge for societies, especially for future generations. Since 2018 and the large protests initiated by Greta Thunberg, an international youth protest movement has emerged in favour of action against climate change. Yet recent surveys have shown that, despite being aware of these issues, young people’s level of analysis of climate phenomena and their capacity for abstraction to understand environmental issues remain low. Consequently, developing didactic scenarios which enable students to understand this complexity appears to be a significant challenge in teaching curricula. Our hypothesis is that drawing on concrete situations presenting the actions of geographical agents would make it possible to overcome the barriers of abstraction. The "Spatial Thinking" group of the Paris-Cité University has formalized an experiential geography based on learning theories which show that learning is a process that can only take place by going back and forth between what the student knows and what they learn. This article first presents a teaching scenario designed to facilitate the teaching of environmental issues. It then examines the results obtained by the students and the new abstraction capacities offered to them.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. APED (2019). École, savoirs, climat, Enquête sur les connaissances et la conscientisation des élèves de fin d’enseignement secondaire, à propos du dérèglement climatique. APED. https://www.skolo.org/CM/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Ecole-savoirs-climat-Aped-2019.pdf.
  2. Barth, B-M. (2019). "Chapitre 8. Jerome Seymour Bruner et l’orientation culturelle de la psychologie cognitive" in Ph. Carré éd., Psychologies pour la Formation. Dunod, 139-155. https://doi.org/10.3917/dunod.carre.2019.02.0139
  3. Barth, B-M. (1987). L’apprentissage de l’abstraction. Retz.
  4. Bhattacharya, D., Carroll Steward, K. & Forbes, C. T. (2021). Empirical research on K-16 climate education: A systematic review of the literature, Journal of Geoscience Education, 69:3, 223-247, https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2020.1838848
  5. Bobbit, L.M., Inks, S.A., Kemp, K.J. & Mayo, D.T. (2000). Integrating marketing courses to enhance team-based experiential learning. Journal of Marketing Education, 22(1), 15-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475300221003
  6. Brooks, Cl. (2017). Understanding conceptual development in school geography in Jones, M. & Lambert, D. (ed.), Debates in geography education, Routledge, 103-114. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315562452-8
  7. Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of meaning. Harvard University Press.
  8. Cailly, L. (2004). Pratiques spatiales, identités sociales et processus d’individualisation. Etude sur la constitution des identités spatiales individuelles au sein des classes moyennes salariées du secteur public hospitalier dans une ville intermédiaire : L’exemple de Tours [Thèse de doctorat, sous la direction de M. Lussault]. François Rabelais - Tours.
  9. CREDOC (2019). Environnement, les jeunes ont de fortes inquiétudes pour le climat mail leurs comportement restent consuméristes, CREDOC. https://www.credoc.fr/publications/environnement-les-jeunes-ont-de-fortes-inquietudes-mais-leurs-comportements-restent-consumeristes.
  10. Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. Collier.
  11. Gerin-Grataloup, A.-M., Solonel, M., & Tutiaux-Guillon, N. (1994). Situations-problèmes et situations scolaires en histoire-géographie. Revue française de pédagogie, 106(1), 25 37. https://doi.org/10.3406/rfp.1994.1270
  12. Goody, J. (1979). La Raison graphique : La domestication de la pensée sauvage. Les Editions de Minuit.
  13. Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, F.P. (1997). Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills, 6th ed.Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
  14. Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning. Prentice-Hall.
  15. Leininger-Frézal, C. (2019). Apprendre la géographie par l’expérience : La géographie expérientielle [Habilitation à diriger des recherches]. Caen Normandie.
  16. Leininger-Frézal, C. (2018). Training Primary Teachers through Experiential Geography, European Journal of Geography, 9:2. https://eurogeojournal.eu/showPaper.php?id=1342
  17. Mochizuki, Y., & Bryan, A. (2015). Climate Change Education in the Context of Education for Sustainable Development: Rationale and Principles. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 9(1), 4–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408215569109
  18. Molin, L., Grubbström, A., Bladh, G., Westermark, Å., Ojanne, K., Gottfridsson, H.-O., & Karlsson, S. (2015). Do personal experiences have an impact on teaching and didactic choices in geography?, European Journal of Geography, 6:4,6-20. https://eurogeojournal.eu/showPaper.php?id=688
  19. Piaget, J. (1937). La construction du réel chez l’enfant. Delachaux & Niestlé.
  20. REFEDD (2020). Les étudiants face aux enjeux environnementaux, Synthèse des résultats de la CNE2020, REFEDD. https://le-reses.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2-SYNTHESE_CNE2020_REFEDD-1.pdf
  21. Retaillé, D. (1997). Le monde du géographe. Presses de Sciences Po.
  22. Rao, D. & Stupans, I. (2012). Exploring the potential of role play in higher education: development of a typology and teacher guidelines. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 49(4), 427-436. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728879
  23. Rosa, J.A. (2012). Marketing education for the next four billion: Challenges and innovations. Journal of Marketing Education, 34(1), 44-54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475311430802
  24. Sogunro, O.A. (2004). Efficacy of role-playing pedagogy in training leaders: Some reflections. Journal of Management Development, 23(4), 355-371. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710410529802
  25. Vygotski, L. S. (1962). Thinking and Speech. The M.I.T. Press.
  26. Westrup, U. & Planander, A. (2013). Role-play as a pedagogical method to prepare students for practice: The students’ voice. Ogre utbildning, 3(3), 199-210.