What does development mean?
Give your first impressions
in ten words.
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2012
17525
Page 1 of 7
What does development mean?
Consider the following two questions:
1. What does development mean?
2. How do we measure development?
Now do the following tasks:
1. Write a one-sentence definition of development.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. In pairs, construct a list of 12 ways you could order countries based on their
development, e.g. access to safe drinking water.
Write your list on a separate sheet of paper.
3. Swap your list with another pair.
4. With the new list, try and place the ways of ordering a country’s development
into four categories.
5. Share your four chosen categories with the class.
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2012
17525
Page 2 of 7
What does development mean?
Costa Rica
Norway
UK
USA
China
Iceland
Haiti
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2012
17525
Page 3 of 7
What does development mean?
Kenya
El Salvador
Serbia
Nepal
Philippines
Zimbabwe
Indonesia
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2012
17525
Page 4 of 7
What does development mean?
Teaching notes
Starter
1. First impressions count! Ask the students to use the image to generate ten words
describing their first impressions.
The image is of a slum built on swamp land near a garbage dump in East Cipinang,
Jakarta, in Indonesia.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Jakarta_slumhome_2.jpg
2. Consider the two questions: What does development mean? How do we measure
development?
Main activity
Aim: to understand that development is a multifaceted concept.



The students (or the teacher) decide from the starter activity which categories
are to be used. It would be helpful if economic/political/social categories etc.
were included, but this can vary.
Each category chosen is written on a separate piece of paper.
Each group of students is then given a set of countries on cards, along with one
piece of paper with a category on.
Each group of students is then asked:
1. to rank the cards from the ‘most developed’ to the ‘least developed’, using their
own knowledge
2. to use the internet to research data in about different countries based on the
given category.
(e.g. http://www.indexmundi.com/ is one website for the economic category)
3. to rank the cards again according to the outcome of their internet research
4. to pair up with another group with a different category and compare the results.
They can generate questions such as:
a. Why does country X appear high up in one ranking and low in another?
b. Which method of ranking is closer to their understanding of development?
Plenary
A title can be set depending on the nature of the discussion during class.
e.g. ‘Development is an economic process – discuss’
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2012
17525
Page 5 of 7
What does development mean?
Additional references
Country profiles
http://www.indexmundi.com/
Country data
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
International Human Development Indicators
http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/
List of countries by Human Development Index
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
The world’s happiest countries
http://www.forbes.com/2011/01/19/norway-denmark-finland-business-washingtonworld-happiest-countries.html
Bhutan measures Gross National Happiness
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/povertymatters/2011/may/24/talkpoint-measuring-development-progress
Extension
A challenge could be set where each student needs to develop an index of development
which places a country near the top of the table which is typically ranked near the
bottom.
Additional thoughts
If you were this boy in Bangladesh, what would your answer be to the original question,
‘What is development?’
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2012
17525
Page 6 of 7
What does development mean?
Image credits
© Ionut Cojacaru, Population map water source 2006
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Water_quality.jpg
© TheHero 2005 Jakarta Slumhome
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Jakarta_slumhome_2.jpg
© Wikitanvir 2010 Street child
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Street_Child,_Srimangal_Railway_Station.jpg
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2012
17525
Page 7 of 7