OVERVIEW

Geography educated to place itself in a relational space where each route is part of interactions between natural , socio-cultural, economic and political systems. The spatial dimension should be interpreted as a cultural mediator capable of directing the development of relationships with the environment, the territory and the society. In fact, between the educational values of geography there is confer the sense of space, based on the need to structure and extend their mental maps.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at fostering knowledge of the founding cores of Geography Teaching Methodology, with a view to the introduction of this discipline in primary and nursery school, along with the acquisition of general abilities, such as reading and interpreting both thematic maps and territorial ‘signs’.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The module has as main purpose to transmit a critical knowledge of the main theoretical approaches, methods and tools for the teaching of geography in nursery school and primary school.

Specific objectives for the nursery school: to provide the fundamentals of modern teaching of geography, also examining the "Fields of experience" (provided by the National Guidelines of 2012) which are inherent with skills and abilities related to knowledge of the world; to examine possible learning activities and vertical continuity projects.

Specific objectives for primary school: to provide the fundamentals of modern teaching of geography and facilitate a first approach to the methods and tools, also examining the "Targets for the skills" and "learning objectives" foreseen by the Guidelines for the curriculum of 2012.

At the end of the module the students will know:

- to illustrate the theoretical references concerning the development of the spatial dimension in childhood

- present and analyze geographical skills and their use in geography teaching

- analyze and justify the main methods of geography teaching

- identify and evaluate the choice and use of educational tools

- use the technical language of the discipline in an appropriate manner

TEACHING METHODS

- Lectures with projection and discussion of slides and videos,

- interactive activities / exercises about some geographical themes starting from a visual approach,

- critical analysis of educational examples and materials,

- reading and analysis of graphs, geographical maps, data sources.

During the lessons the intervention of teachers from the kindergarten and / or primary school will be presented, which will present specific didactic projects.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The module examines the main themes and aspects concerning: the development of geographical knowledge in childhood (spatial dimension, orientation and spatial intelligence) and the teaching of geography (geographical skills, methods and tools), also through the Italian Ministerial Programs of the late twentieth century and the most recent National Indications for the curriculum.

The main teaching approaches and methods will be analyzed (teaching for skills, direct observation and indirect observation), and the specific teaching tools (cartographic, iconic, linguistic-literary, statistical, digital tools) for geographic teaching / learning.

Papers and teaching activities will be presented for teaching / learning the geography and the main sources (print and online) in which to retrieve data and educational materials.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For attending students:

• Giorda C., Il mio spazio nel mondo. Geografia per la scuola dell’infanzia e primaria, Roma, Carocci editore, 2014 (Introduzione, Chapters 1,  4,  5).
• Slides and supplementary materials Aulaweb uploaded to the portal.
• Notes of lectures held with pre-school and / or primary school teachers on educational projects.

For non-attending students:

• Giorda C., Il mio spazio nel mondo. Geografia per la scuola dell’infanzia e primaria, Roma, Carocci editore, 2014.

Study, critical reading and development of a paper about one of the following texts assigned by the teacher:

• De Vecchis G., Morri R., Disegnare il mondo. Il linguaggio cartografico nella scuola primaria, Carocci, Roma, 2010.
• De Vecchis G., Pesaresi C., Dal banco al satellite. Fare geografia con le nuove tecnologie, Carocci, Roma, 2011.
• Pasquinelli D’Allegra D., Una geografia da favola. Miti e fiabe per l’apprendimento, Carocci, Roma, 2010.
• Pasquinelli D’Allegra D., La Geografia dell'Italia. Identità, paesaggi, regioni, Carocci, Roma, 2009.
• Squarcina E., Pecorelli V. (a cura), Diventare grandi come il mare. Esperienze didattiche tra ocean citizenship e ocean literacy, Milano, Guerini editore, 2018.

Non-attending students will proceed to the critical reading of one of the texts indicated above and to carry out a written deepening paper as indicated by the professor during a specific interview. This conversation (also by telephone, 010-20953603, during reception hours) must take place within the beginning of the lessons as in the document "Provisions for students not attending" (on the electronic bulletin board of the degree course http://www.sdf.unige.it/cdl/sdfp_270/bacheca). During the examination we will proceed to the discussion of both the reference text assigned and the work done.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ENRICO BERNARDINI (President)

FEDERICO DE BONI (President)

ANTONELLA PRIMI (President)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

March 5, 2019.

Class schedule

DIDACTICS OF GEOGRAPHY

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam is in oral form, it is conducted also through commentary and critical analysis of images, graphs, tables, maps, videos and educational examples in-depth in class or present on the materials provided and the texts in the program.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam will focus on the theoretical parts and the didactic parts illustrated and discussed in class: 

- it will verify the ability to present and critically evaluate the main methods and tools for teaching / learning geography; 

- it takes into account the quality of interview and the appropriate use of the specialized lexicon, 

- it will evaluate the argumentative capacity and critical reasoning on the study carried out; 

- it will evaluate the ability to identify links between the topics covered in the two modules that make up the exam; 

- it takes into account the ability to propose interdisciplinary links.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

It is possible to take the exam only after having acquired the laboratory credit in Didactics of Geography.

All students periodically are encouraged to visit the page of this course on the portal of e-learning AulaWeb (accessible from the University website or at the following url: https://www.aulaweb.unige.it). All information and materials related to this course are exclusively published in this site.