Reconceptualising the notion of place in school geography

ABSTRACT

Over the past two decades school geography in South Africa has undergone many changes to establish its own identity. Just as in the previous versions of the National Curriculum Statement, its new iteration, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) (Department of Basic Education (DBE), 2011), has a strong environmental focus. Wilmot and Dube (2015) assert that more than 50% of the content in school geography is based on environment and sustainability learning. However, empirical evidence indicates that geography teachers in South Africa find it challenging to integrate an environmental focus and to implement enquiry and issue-based pedagogical approaches. We argue that one way of addressing this challenge might be through place-based education (PBE). The main purpose of this article is to explore PBE as a transformative educational avenue for broadening and enhancing the teaching and learning of school geography within a South African context. In order for PBE to be practiced meaningfully the notion of place needs to be strengthened in the CAPS specifically, and among teachers and the geography community generally.