ABILITIES IN GEOGRAPHY IN

COMPULSORY SCHOOL IN SWEDEN

AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
David rbring
Doctoral student in Educational Sciences
Department of Educational Sciences
Lund University
david.orbring@uvet.lu.se
Mobil: 0736510394

Disposition
My research
Geography in Swedish schools
Abilities in geography
Thinking geographically and/or spatial thinking
Teachers experience

My research - Purpose
My research aims to seek insight into the intentions and
the background that is the basis for the concept of
abilities in geography in lgr11 in Sweden,
and in how geography teachers describe and
understand the concept.
A further purpose is to put the above insight in relation to
national and international research in geographical
education and educational science.

Research questions
What is an ability in geographical education? How has the concept
been defined, evolved and how it is used in a Swedish context?

How do a geography teacher interpret the concept of abilities in

geography in their teaching?
How do a geography teacher describe their teaching about abilities in
geography in relation to the future?
What knowledge and content is in focus when it comes to developing
the geographical abilities?
What long-term and short-term results shall pupils achieve when it
comes to teaching about the abilities in geography?

Method
My research is consisting of various qualitative methods:
Video research stimulated recall
Seven teachers

Semi-structured interviews
Seven teachers
Three key-persons involved in the process of making the curriculum.

Study on documents and literature

Analytic tool: phenomenography

Geography in Swedish schools

Historical events
Subject disappeared from upper secondary school for 30
years

School geography and the academic subject

Traditions of geography
Lost connection with the academic subject

Geography in school today

Describe, analyse and dealing with consequences
Integrative geography

Geography in Swedish schools

Fall 2011 - new curriculum in Sweden

Five central parts:

Planning,
Implementation,
Assessment,
Follow-up and
Documentation

Curriculum
1) Fundamental values and tasks

2) Overall goals and guidelines

3) Syllabus and knowledge requirements

Syllabus and knowledge

requirements
Purpose
Abilities are here
Influence but nothing that can be totally achieved

Core content
What to teach
Not how much
You can add freely

Knowledge requirements
Abilities and central content
Assessment and marks

Swedish version of geographical

abilities in curriculum (Lgr11)
Teaching in geography should essentially give pupils the opportunities
to develop their ability to:
analyse how natural processes and human activities form and
change living environments in different parts of the world,
explore and analyse the interaction between people, society and
nature in different parts of the world,
make geographical analyses of the surrounding world, and
evaluate the results by using maps and other geographical
sources, theories, methods and techniques, and
assess solutions to different environmental and development issues
based on considerations concerning ethics and sustainable
development.

Ability what lies behind?

View of knowledge from 1994
Four F (in Swedish) Facts, understanding, skills and
familarity
From process to results oriented

Framework for the whole school

Influences: Competence, taxonomies

Geograhical thinking
Integrated geography
Focus on interactions between human, society and
nature
Geographical methods
Values and ethical considerations

Thinking geographically (Jackson)

Where is space and place?
The words which are used is: parts of the world, surrounding
world and enviroments

Where is scale and connection?

Where is proximity and distance?
Where is relational thinking?

Spatial thinking
A part of geographical thinking:
geographical learning requires a geographical lens, an
approach to inquiry that is grounded spatial
thinking (Sinton, Bednarz, Gersmehl and others 2013)
For example:
Identify, describe and analyse interaction
Using maps and geographical methods and techniques
Analyse how environments form and change

Conclusion

The abilities include thinking geographically and spatial

thinking but in an implicit way

Can you make it more explicit?

Do you need to make it more explicit?

Teachers experience
The teachers have talked about abilities in different ways.
Some teaches talk, for example, in more general terms and
some in more specific topics of geography.
Some teachers will reason on what may be termed as
geographical thinking.
Many of the interviewed has difficulties to describe what
separates abilities in different subjects.
Though, many interesting suggestions - For example, that
geography is the ability to know a place you never been
to, more problem solving, or that the methods makes the
subject.