Planning to teach geography K–10

Curriculum planning and programming aims to:

• be responsive to student needs, interests and abilities

• provide a seamless progression of learning within and across school years

• focus on learning of high intellectual quality and significance

• make explicit high expectations for learning and achievement

• enhance professional practice through collaborative development and evaluation.

These aims are described in the Programming for quality teaching and assessing¹ course.

The diagram on the right locates planning in the teaching and learning cycle. Text version (.docx 167kB).

Your school context

Best practice for teaching geography

The Geography K–10 Syllabus teaches geographical thinking through the geographical inquiry process.

The questions posed in geographical inquiries ask geographical questions. These questions lead students to think about the geographical issues entailed in the case study.

The approach recommended in this course is to undertake geographical inquiries through contemporary case studies relevant to students. Geographical tools are used at each step of the inquiry process.

This diagram is based on a model developed by Stuart Delandre, principal Illawarra EEC.

Geographical inquiries

HSIE KLA and geography K–6

© A Southwell

A scope and sequence maps what syllabus content will be taught and when this is to happen.

It contains syllabus outcomes and content organised for each stage that are balanced and time-effective. Scope and sequence documents also reflect the context of your school.

Developing a scope and sequence

Teaching teams will need to consider both a collaborative process for developing a scope and sequence and the amount of detail and format used. The remainder of this course seeks to assist teachers to:

• explore the syllabus material for one stage

• create an implementation plan for one focus area of the NSW Geography K–10 Syllabus.

The course deliverable will provide a starting point for creating a rigorous geography scope and sequence for your school.

Schools need to regularly revise and cross reference their scope and sequence to the syllabus requirements to ensure that changes in school context, assessment schedules, resources and staff expertise are reflected positively in school planning.