Using Vignettes and artefacts
Most of the teachers perceived vignettes (and the process of their creation) as a crucial tool that introduced them the GeoCapability approach and helped them to better understand its nature.
Example Vignette: Representing migration
This tool boosts teachers’ innovative thinking.
Teachers found that vignette writing helped them to think deeply and critically about geographical concepts. Vignettes also supported their lesson planning.
Firstly, vignettes helped them to clarify their thinking, particularly to sum up what they do (and what they do not) know about migration (and its wider consequences). Secondly, the vignettes supported innovative planning by teachers exploring current approaches to teaching (migration), thinking critically about what they were aiming for in teaching the geography of migration in a clear and structured way.
Example Vignette: Borders and visas
Moreover, vignettes helped the teachers to better understand social and educational issues related to migration. The process of vignette creation made teachers reflect on the content and structure of lessons and curriculum units which covered migration. This led them to restructure these lessons and units. Vignettes helped teachers to identify opportunities to scaffold learning. Some teachers identified ‘bottlenecks’ in the process of teaching and learning, pre-empting students’ questions and gathering resources (curriculum artefacts) which helped students’ better understanding key concepts to be taught.
See the GeoCapabilities 3 Vignettes
