Daryl Sinclair
Daryl explores the
need for diverse
pedagogical
approaches
in geography
classrooms, referring
to three central ideas
– valuing knowledge
and lived experience;
presenting
information precisely;
and empowering
students.
Pedagogies for diverse
classrooms: why should
geography matter to me?
Since the early 1900s, philosophers and educators
such as John Dewey (e.g. 1938) have championed
the concept of adjusting our pedagogies to
address increasingly diverse classrooms. Although
this is crucial in all subjects, geography finds
itself occupying a special place in schools with
diverse student bodies. Geography may be the
only subject where a student experiences a
deep enquiry into their family’s home nations,
reference to areas of the world they have
linguistic links with, or academic representation
of identities or realities they are connected with.
As geography classrooms continue to diversify
culturally, linguistically, and cognitively (Shepherd,
2010), it is crucial that we adapt our pedagogical
techniques accordingly. This article explores the
need for diverse pedagogical approaches which
empower, rather than assimilate; the goal being
to support continued geographical study and
success for minority students.
This article will refer to three central ideas:
• Valuing the knowledge and lived experience
of all members of the classroom as part of the
construction of knowledge.
• Being precise in the presentation of
information to avoid reproducing
generalisations.
• Empowering students to use their own
knowledge to support the understanding
of others.
A study by the group Black Geographers
(2020) found that the uptake of geography
by specifically Black students was below average,
while Garcia’s MA study (2018) found that all
minorities were under-represented in the subject
past key stage 3. Both bodies of research point
to a disconnect which forms between the student
and the topics presented. Many students reject
the caricatures and negative stereotyping of
locations they know – it is a ‘false narrative’,
which they may struggle to challenge. Thus
they commonly express the view that their
knowledge is not valued in the construction of
the class understanding of the world, and so
they become disengaged. Conversely, studies
of teachers across the humanities show that
they fear tackling controversial topics in depth
(e.g. Mills, 2013).
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Recent research by the OECD (Forghani-Arani
et al., 2019) has confirmed that the expected
increase in classroom diversity requires a shift
towards increased dialogue and progressive
pedagogies in the classroom. Gay (2010) states
that ‘teachers’ attitudes influence students’
outcomes and can constitute obstacles for
successful teaching in diverse classrooms’ (p. 52).
Ladson-Billings (1995) argues that teachers’
problems in working with a diverse group of
students are rooted in their belief that effective
teaching is about ‘what to do’, when the real
problem is rooted in ‘how we think’ (p. 30). She
argues that in responsive teaching, another
contemporary pedagogy targeting diverse
classrooms, students’ existence must be
acknowledged and their contribution valued
through the pedagogy. Ladson-Billings (1995)
is further supported by research conducted by
Mills (2013), who confirms that the pedagogical
approach of the teacher manifests itself in the
students’ outcomes and the beliefs that they
will go into the world with.
It is clear, therefore, that a change in how we
approach the construction of knowledge in
geography will influence the inclusion of students,
the diversity welcome in the classroom, and the
outcomes for all students. Adopting pedagogies
for diverse classrooms will help eradicate
oppressive treatment of ‘groups’ and ‘minorities’
by recognising the value of all individuals’
contributions and the right to being viewed as
both an individual and a student, thus allowing
the learning environment to be inclusive of each
student within each of their individual contexts.
Contemporary school geography and
the need for pedagogical change
Figure 1 is an example of a table of data that
could be used to introduce students to the
country of Mali. Without further explanation,
this presents the country in one dimension, and
a trawl of easily accessible internet resources will
also show a range of materials that deal with
the issue of development uncritically, ignoring
issues such as colonial exploitation, and the
influences of tied aid. Such resources suggest
that a country’s level of development is somehow
a product of its own making, rather than the
by-product of a complex globalised world. There
is often no supporting guidance for teachers to
ensure the narrative is engaged with criticality,
and contextualised in the wider world.
Geography should explicitly engage with
contemporary issues through analysis of the
context in which the issues came to exist and the
impact they may have on the future (Lambert,
2011). The way teachers teach places can have
impacts on the student’s engagement, academic
success, and in part their identity formation
(Andreotti, 2006; Tarozzi and Torres, 2016).
Research into geography and education over
the past few decades (e.g. Mills, 2013; Diallo
and Maizonniaux, 2016; and Freire, 1972)
Mali
UK
Area
1,240,190 km2
243,610 km2
Language
French
English
Population
20.85 million
68.2 million
Population
density
17/km2
281/km2
Main
industries
Farming and
agriculture,
gold mining,
construction
and industrial
manufacturing.
Financial
services,
professional
jobs (requiring
a degree),
technical
occupations.
GDP per
capita
US$858.92
US$40,284.64
Life
expectancy
54 years
81 years
N
0
km
1000
has identified the need for more progressive
pedagogies which may increase the retention
of minority students in geography, and their
overall success.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, 86% of
people identify as White, and 14% belong to an
‘ethnic minority background’. The gender divide
is 51/49 women-to-men split (House of Commons
Library and ONS, 2021).
How diverse are our classrooms?
On a national scale, these statistics closely match
and appear proportional; but the distribution of
this diversity is not consistent across all schools
in the UK. Communities exist together in specific
places, leading to schools expressing local rather
than national diversity in their student body. For
example; if the statistics above were converted
into ten classrooms in the UK, they would look
something like Figure 2.
Based on statistics from gov.uk (2021), in 2021
84.9% of all teachers in state-funded schools
in England were White British. Three-quarters
of teachers were women though women only
accounted for two-thirds of head teachers, and
there were more female than male teachers in
every ethnic group. To contextualise, according
to the combined 2021 censuses for England and
Figure 1: Data for Mali and
UK. Source: D Sinclair.
Figure 2: A representation of
the proportional distribution
of diversity, based on gender
and ethnicity, found in 10
classrooms representing the
UK. Highlighting indicates
an ethnic minority and
each classroom comprises a
principal, a classroom teacher,
and 12 students.
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Proportional representation cannot be assumed
on the classroom scale, nor can it be considered
as a method to address inclusivity. However,
ensuring inclusive pedagogical practices by
all teachers, irrespective of their background,
may provide an attainable resolution to the
disengagement of diverse students in the
geography classroom.
What are the experiences of
pedagogy in geography today?
Research by Diallo and Maizonniaux (2016), and
Mills (2013) suggests that teachers continue
to be trained with pedagogies which target the
majority and are informed by the experiences of
the teacher, who statistically is most likely to be
a white female. The resulting pedagogies and
centring of the white experience can minimise
the experiences of students from diverse
backgrounds.
Focusing on the geographical world through
a lens which assumes a white British reader
may alienate students with a global majority
background while also reproducing biases and
generalisations within the white student body.
Moving away from generalisations and the
contextual ‘majority’ can introduce more voices
and perspectives into the classroom and provide
opportunities for greater engagement from all
students. Such engagement can lead to learning
which destabilises the existing ‘norms’ and
demonstrates that geography is an academic
space for all students, valuing their input and
respecting their identities.
Teaching the ‘minority’
Popular use of the term ‘minority’ speaks to
ethnic differences or labels which can be viewed
or considered negatively. The term is used to
denote an ethnic exception in the class; but this is
not what minority means – it reflects some of the
challenges of inclusively teaching a diverse class
while relying on such labels. The richest students
by family income in the school are a minority;
the smartest high-achievers are a minority; even
students with glasses may be a minority in a class.
But we would not refer to them as such – we call
them by their name. The term ‘minority’ may
be used to identify differences which require
additional work to achieve the outcomes typically
reached by the majority. Students burdened
with the ‘minority’ label can feel denied of the
full value of their perspectives in classrooms
which centre the white experience. With the shift
in pedagogy suggested in this article, such as
increasing critical perspectives when teaching
about places and valuing diverse student voices,
these differences in the achievements and
learning between minorities and majorities
could be reduced.
What changes are occurring today?
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The use of appropriate pedagogies can support
the education of all students, irrespective of
their peers’ or teachers’ backgrounds. Groups
such as Decolonising Geography empower
individuals to challenge their pedagogical biases
while advocating change in major organisations
and exam boards. Their members include PGCE
tutors, GA members, classroom teachers, school
leadership and academics. Collectively, they
are engaged with conference presentations,
textbook reviews, and collaborative projects to
support progress in the pedagogical approach
to geography and the production of inclusive
teaching resources. Both simultaneously, and at
times as a result of the action of Decolonising
Geography, organisations such as the GA and
the publisher Hodder Education are engaging in
diversity equity and inclusion strategies to ensure
the inclusion of all students.
Curriculum reviews, consultations, inviting new
editors and encouraging greater contributions
from previously excluded communities are
beginning to bear their first fruits. These
movements are in their inception but the
increasing prevalence of articles and discussions
about decolonising curriculums, anti-racist
pedagogies, inclusive teaching, education for
social justice and many others touch on the
wealth of options available to teachers to
consider their pedagogical approach. A brief
glance over articles in TES and Teaching
Geography this past year alone is testament
to this (e.g. Milner et al., 2021; Sinclair and
de Fonseka, 2022; Das, 2021).
Though the labels may vary, progression in
pedagogical approaches focused on inclusivity
is clear. With a more complex and dynamic
approach to teaching, students are valued and
engaged as individuals. Pedagogical approaches
and techniques are no longer designed for
the ‘majority’ and trying to shoehorn in the
‘minority’.
Strategies moving forward: support
for teachers
Adopting empowering language is a common
means to support diverse classrooms (Anderson
et al., 2021). Changes such as using ‘global
majority’ rather than ‘minority’; naming specific
countries and people rather than generalising as
‘Africa’, ‘poor’, or ‘developing’ (all countries are
‘developing’); and incorporating the students’
understanding into the construction of knowledge
is a shift towards greater inclusivity.
Pedagogies for diverse classrooms consider
everyone in the classroom as a student, including
the teacher, with value to add to the learning.
The concept of ‘minority’ can be avoided and no
single narrative will actively be centred (excluding
the narrative of the subject), allowing a more
inclusive pedagogical approach.
If all students are considered and included in the
construction of knowledge, they will all experience
the same rights, agency and expectations – thus
preventing the replication of generalisations or
minimisation of valuable sources of knowledge.
Teaching to the majority limits the outcomes
for all.
Conclusion
As we push forward into the 2020s, there is a wealth
of new pedagogies and pedagogical approaches.
Web resources, blogs and journal articles on antiracist pedagogy (Sinclair and de Fonseka, 2022),
culturally responsive teaching (Ladson-Billings,
1995), decolonising geography (Rackley, 2021),
and international mindedness (Wright, 2022)
are opportunities for teachers to provide a more
inclusive space for their students. The rallying cry for
inclusivity continues to echo as we see the impact it
has in more and more classrooms around the world.
It is important to focus on the core considerations
for our students and not to get lost in the masses
of names and key terms for strategies, which
ultimately boil down to the points introduced at
the start of this article:
• Recognise and value the knowledge and
experiences each of your students brings into
the classroom as part of the learning process,
and use them to empower students.
• Avoid generalisations which are not critically
engaged with and contextually explained;
always seek out the specific context and
people/knowledge related to the subject.
• Teach for change, providing the students with
skills which will serve their ability to fairly
engage with the world.
With these changes, we can aspire to eliminate
the inequalities that are faced by students today
and give every student a fighting chance to
positively experience the world and develop a
lifelong relationship with geography. | TG
References
All websites last accessed 07/07/2022.
Anderson, N., Das, S., and Whittall, D. (2021) ‘Why the word ‘slum’ should not be used in geography classrooms’. Available at
https://decolonisegeography.com/blog/2021/08/why-the-word-slum-should-not-be-used-in-geography-classrooms
Andreotti, V. (2006) ‘Soft versus critical global citizenship education’, Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, 3,
pp. 40–51.
Black Geographers (2020) ‘Participation of Black students in geography’. Available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/117xYtq
JmesJU21fUUXuFd43HwE2KHlkP/view
Das, S. (2021) ‘How we can decolonise geography in schools’, TES magazine. Available at www.tes.com/magazine/teachinglearning/secondary/how-we-can-decolonise-geography-schools.
Diallo, I. and Maizonniaux, C. (2016) ‘Policies and pedagogies for students of diverse backgrounds’, International Journal of
Pedagogies and Learning, 11, 3, pp. 201–10, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/22040552.2016.1279526
Forghani-Arani, N., Cerna, L. and Bannon, M. (2019) ‘The Lives of Teachers in Diverse Classrooms’ OECD Education
Working Paper No. 198. Available at www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=EDU/
WKP(2019)6&docLanguage=En
Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.
Garcia, H. (2018) ‘Does geography have an image problem? Exploring the perceptions and attitudes of minority ethnic
groups towards geography education’. Dissertation submitted for MA Geography Education, UCL Institute of Education.
(unpublished)
Gay, G. (2010) ‘Acting on beliefs in teacher education for cultural diversity’, Journal of Teacher Education, 61/1–2, pp. 143–52.
Available at doi.org/10.1177%2F0022487109347320
Gov.uk (2021). Available at www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/workforce-and-business/workforce-diversity/schoolteacher-workforce/latest#by-ethnicity-and-role
House of Commons Library Briefing (2021) Ethnic diversity in politics and public life available at: https://commonslibrary.
parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01156/
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995) ‘Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy’, American Educational Research Journal, 32, 3,
pp. 465–91.
Lambert, D. (2011) ‘Reframing school geography’, in Butt, G. (ed) Geography, Education and the Future. London: Continuum
Press.
Mills, C. (2013) ‘Developing pedagogies in pre-service teachers to cater for diversity: Challenges and ways forward in initial
teacher education’, International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 8, 3, 219-228, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/
abs/10.5172/ijpl.2013.8.3.219
Milner, C., Robinson, H. and Garcia, H. (2021) ‘How to start a conversation about diversity in education’, Teaching Geography,
46, 2, pp. 59–60.
Office for National Statistics (2021) Census data available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/
populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/populationandhouseholdestimatesenglandandwales/census2021
Sinclair, D. and de Fonseka, A. (2022) ‘Operationalising anti-racist pedagogy in a secondary geography classroom’, Teaching
Geography, 47, 2, pp. 58–60.
Tarozzi, M. and Torres, C. A. (2016) Global Citizenship Education and the Crises of Multiculturalism: Comparative Perspectives.
London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 1–22.
Further reading
Decolonising Geography. Available at https://decolonisegeography.com
Dewey, J. (1938) Experience and Education. New York: Touchstone Books.
Rackley, K. (2021) Decolonising Geography 101. Available at https://decolonisegeography.com/blog/2021/03/decolonisinggeography-101
Shepherd, J. (2010) ‘England’s schools are becoming more diverse’. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/education/
2010/jan/20/schools-more-diverse
Wright, C. (2022) International Mindedness. Available at https://www.thinkib.net/leadership/page/25142/
internationalmindedness
Daryl Sinclair is the
Head of Secondary
and a Geography and
Economics/ Politics
Teacher at WABE
International School,
Pinneberg.
Email: dsinclairwriting@
gmail.com
Twitter: @dsinclair17
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