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“If you went out it would stick”: Irish children’s learning in their local environments

Pike, Susan (2011) “If you went out it would stick”: Irish children’s learning in their local environments. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 20 (2). pp. 139-159. ISSN 1038-2046

Abstract
This paper reports on the findings of a research project investigating children’s experiences of their local environments. Children’s experiences of spaces and places and the interaction of such experiences and their learning were investigated, using mixed research methods, informed by phenomenological and participatory methodologies. Through these activities including discussion, interviews and drawing, children described how they experienced affordances of spaces, places and people in a range of ways. The children also revealed varied and dynamic attitudes to their local environments. Children’s use and opinions of the environment were influenced by temporal, physical, social and economic factors. As well as expressing that such local experiences enhanced their current lives, the children also described how experiences in their local environment contributed to the different areas of their development, including their learning. For most children, such experiences emanated from outside school, with learning in geography in school more likely to be about places farther from home. These findings suggest that attempts to make children’s geographies in their local environments central to primary geography through content and activities like many of those outlined in the Primary School Curriculum would be successful. The children’s views also suggest that the contributions of all children could be used in decision-making beyond schools. Such consideration and development of children’s geographies has the potential to contribute to children’s lives as active citizens, currently and in the future.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:children’s geographies; geography education; Irish education; geography curriculum; primary geography; geography fieldwork
Subjects:Social Sciences > Education
Social Sciences > Teaching
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Institute of Education > School of STEM Education, Innovation, & Global Studies
Publisher:Routledge (Taylor & Francis)
Official URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2011.564787
Copyright Information:This is an electronic version of an article published in International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education & is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2011.564787
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
ID Code:21577
Deposited On:21 Dec 2016 13:28 by Thomas Murtagh . Last Modified 02 Mar 2022 16:38
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