Year 9 Pupils’ Conceptions of Geography
Nick Hopwood
Definition
Pupils’ conceptions of geography are those ideas,
beliefs, and opinions that are brought to bear when they
experience, talk about, and think about school
geography.
They may be descriptive or evaluative in nature. They need not
be geographical or specific to geography.
Geography Teacher Educators’ Conference, Brighton 27-29 January 2006
Year 9 Pupils’ Conceptions of Geography
Methodology
School A:
Bart & Lisa
Interaction
Three
14-week
fieldwork
phases
School B:
Matt & Sara
School C:
Jenie & Ryan
Observation
Documents
Interview
Concept
mapping
Four non
classroom-based
techniques
Supplied photo
elicitation
Geographical
questions
Self-directed
photography
Geography Teacher Educators’ Conference, Brighton 27-29 January 2006
Year 9 Pupils’ Conceptions of Geography
Bart
Descriptive
Geography is about a
variety of different things
Evaluative
Learning and knowledge
are important
Everything in geography
relates to land
I appreciate activities and
experiences that help me
learn
Geographers ask questions:
Where? Why? What
opinions?
Learning why things
happen is interesting
Not about the future
There is no point learning
about the future
Geography Teacher Educators’ Conference, Brighton 27-29 January 2006
Year 9 Pupils’ Conceptions of Geography
Lisa
Descriptive
Geography is about peopleenvironment relationships
Geographers study
different opinions
Geography is about what
might happen
Geography is green and
environmentally friendly
Evaluative
I like studying how people
affect the environment and I
think environmental issues
are important
Geography is important
because it helps people with knowledge (holiday
destinations), skills (map
reading), and planning
(futures)
Geography Teacher Educators’ Conference, Brighton 27-29 January 2006
Year 9 Pupils’ Conceptions of Geography
Population board game
The task: Pupils had studied fertility and were asked to create a
board game that explained either the UK’s ageing population
structure or Tanzania’s wide-based population pyramid
Bart
 I liked doing the game because
it made learning fun
 My game explains why there
are so few children in the UK
 Learning fertility rates isn’t
that good because they change.
Lisa
 My game is about Tanzania
and it’s all about how people
affect the environment: more
babies means more buildings
which means more trees are cut
down and more cities built
 I’m interested in these things
Geography Teacher Educators’ Conference, Brighton 27-29 January 2006
Year 9 Pupils’ Conceptions of Geography
Migration timeline (1)
The task: Pupils had studied push and pull factors which cause
migration. They were shown an example of a migration timeline on
a sheet, and were asked to construct their own version. It could be
fictional or based on a real life migration
Bart and Lisa interpreted this task in strikingly
different ways
The meaning of these experiences to Bart and Lisa only
became apparent through interviews with them
afterwards
Geography Teacher Educators’ Conference, Brighton 27-29 January 2006
Year 9 Pupils’ Conceptions of Geography
Migration timeline (1)
Bart: “I did this one because it would be more helpful if it had
actually been a real event, if it had actually happened… We were
doing the holocaust in history so I put that in there, it was facts from
history that explained why they moved.”
1930
Born into a
Jewish family
1932
Hitler came
to power
Hitler did
not like
the Jews
Moved to
Britain for
freedom
After years of
racist
comments,
decided to
move
Got a good
job and
healthcare
The Brits
were not
anti-Jewish
so they
stayed
$
Geography Teacher Educators’ Conference, Brighton 27-29 January 2006
Year 9 Pupils’ Conceptions of Geography
Migration timeline (1)
Lisa: “This is showing what could happen to someone from another
country, if they were poorer what can actually happen… it’s relevant
to geography because it can show you what might happen and how
it might work out.”
Steph’s
ancestors
moved*
1870
1880
Steph’s mum
gets a cleaning
job and her dad
gets a good job
at an airport
1890
Steph’s
twin
brothers
were born
1910
1930
1900
1920
Steph was
born
They move to a
three bed house in
Middlesex
1950
1940
1970
1960
*From the Dominican Republic to the UK. Her family had quite a bit of money
(well they were richer than most people and they wanted better jobs)
Geography Teacher Educators’ Conference, Brighton 27-29 January 2006