The%20Sensual%20Geographies%20of%20Difference

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The Sensual Geographies of Difference

• Some perspectives on a sense of place

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Steve RawlinsonPrincipal LecturerNorthumbria
UniversityGA Primary Geography
ChampionSteve.rawlinson_at_northumbria.ac.uk
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Aims of this session

• Different people hold different senses of place
• How can we engage the senses to explore an
  individuals sense of place?
• The role of perception in developing a sense of
  place

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Aims

• Fresh perspective on the value of using the
  senses when exploring place with children
• Senses are an input my response, your response,
  to that input leads to difference...
• Emotional senses and place

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Engaging the senses

• Louv nature deficit disorder
• Tuan nature averse
• Need to offer children opportunities to engage
  with their senses more
• KS2/KS3 curriculum demands development of
  enquiry, graphicacy, visual literacy and
  geographical communication sensory activities.

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Stimuli

• Different Stimuli bring out the differences that
  people have about a place
• Maps/photographs - sight
• Music - hearing
• Food taste
• Artefacts touch/smell
• Lets explore some of these

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Island map

• Open up your map
• Discuss what you have put and where and why?
• How will your senses be engaged on this island?
• You have now developed some empathy with this
  island and how different people view it
  differently

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Island Map

• Provides a stimulus to get children talking
• Enables them to develop geographical language so
• Their sense of place can be shared
• See Witt Rawlinson (2012), Primary Geography 78
  

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Developing the activity with acknowledgement to
Rex Walford...

• Shipwrecked where would you locate your
  settlement? Differences would emerge...values/atti
  tudes
• Build island with Lego enables experimentation
  with locations
• Sense of touch engaged kinaesthetic
  learners/visual literacy
• Map from the model

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Interrogate the map/ model

• Q you might ask
• What would you see/taste/smell/touch/ hear at
  different places?
• Which sounds/tastes/smells etc are natural and
  which are man made?
• Makes the children look at the place through
  different senses...

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Further development - Desert Island discs

• The sense of hearing...
• Think of the sound track you would take to a
  desert island tracks that remind you of
  particular places
• Can you identify one for each sense?
• Again by sharing these you begin to see how
  children have developed their sense of place
  good way of getting to know your
  children...transition phase

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Further Developments

• What would they pack to their new home...?
• Make this specific by specifying the
  weather/climate they will encounter...
• Is the Island volcanic...? Will this change what
  they take?
• Again their senses will bring them images etc...

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And another developmentits a Mystery

• Children love mysteries
• Whose choice of soundtrack/suitcase is this?
• Could have a 20 questions type of approach to see
  if they can discover who chose what
• This technique can be further developed using the
  what's in the box? approach discussed later

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Personal Geographies and a Sense of Place

• A sense of place describes a particular kind of
  relationship between individuals and localities.
  For individuals different places are imbued with
  different meanings (Matthews, 1992)
• Massey (1991) also suggests that places have
  multiple identities...

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Developing a Sense of Place

• Relationship between individuals and a place
  attachments
• Your Special Place?
• What makes it special?
• Can you relate it to any of your senses a
  special sight/taste/sound etc...
• What would you change? Why?
• Different values/attitudes colour personal
  geographies

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Activity changing perceptions of place using
the senses

• Discuss with your partner your perception of
  Madison (New York)
• What has influenced your view? Have you ever been
  there for example?
• How will your senses be assailed if you go there?
  What will you see, hear, smell etc...?

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Activity cont...

• View the pictures?
• Do these change your sense of place?
• Do they confirm your sense engagement?

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Interrogating photographs

• How do the photographs make you feel use a word
  list for prompt
• Provide stickers to represent emotions red for
  angry, blue for sad etc
• Put yourself in the picture ask them to use
  their senses to say how they feel
• Interview someone in the photograph
• Act out what happened in the moment after the
  photo taken
• These Q encourage diversity of answers
  different people have different views about same
  place

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Activity

• Listen to the music
• Does this change your perception? How? In
  particular consider how your senses may now have
  different images

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Walking down Madison

• Senses engagement from the song...
• Touch held out hand you pay no attention to
  bag lady frozen asleep in the park
• Taste sandwich you had
• Smell squalid areas rats in the basement -
  cardboard city
• Sight beaming boy from Harlem with the air
  force coat
• Hearing never shot no one

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Review

• Music brings a different dimension
• Emotional senses e.g. Sense of guilt the
  differences between the haves and the have
  not's...feel guilty about the coat on your back
• The sensual geography of difference...

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Perceptions of places can change...

• From experience direct and indirect
• From images
• From music
• The role of the media/technology is crucial in
  changing our perceptions of the world today

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Review

• Different senses bring out different perceptions
  from different people Tanner (2012) different
  inputs
• Guide books give us previsit perception/memories
  and leads to personal post visit perceptions
• Memories are powerful evocations of a place and
  time enable differences to be highlighted...

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Developing a sense of place with children

• Opportunities to get outside the classroom to
  develop this
• Start local from where the children know
• Structure their curiosity asking the right
  questions
• Learning framework 8 Way Thinking
• Likes and dislikes emotional geography

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Emotional Geography

• Tanner (2010) in Primary Geography Handbook by S
  Scoffham (ed)
• Catling (2003) - childrens experience of places
  is a vital part of their lives, contributing to
  their sense of self, identity and self esteem
• Scoffham (1998) young children are natural
  geographers

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Emotionally literate geography education enables
children to

• Recognise personal attachment to a place
• Acknowledge power of place to provoke affective
  responses see Tanner (2009)
• Express emotions about places
• Understand the feelings of others about places
• Express/communicate responses in different ways
• Understand environmental issues may arouse strong
  feelings
• Express their own feelings appropriately

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Using fieldwork to develop a personal sense of
place

• Martin (2006) suggests such an approach
• Values diversity rather than perceiving
  differences negatively
• Leads to a rich sense of our place
• Gives a positive foundation for distant locality
  studies which views difference as a positive not
  a negative

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The fieldwork approach

• Provides a multi-sensory approach reflecting
  research on learning styles and multiple
  intelligences
• Acknowledges place attachment childrens
  sense of identity is closely tied to their local
  area. Tanner (2009) offers activities to explore
  this.
• Also gives opportunities to identify the multiple
  identities that places exhibit Massey (1991)

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Some activities...

• Photographs taken by the children for a purpose
• Journey sticks
• Make a feelings map
• Each child makes a My Place book scrapbooking
  see Witt (2010)

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Linking discovering

• Need to enable children to use their senses to
  discover the world about them
• 8 Way Thinking provides a framework for looking
  at the world
• Either
• the real world via fieldwork
• or
• the virtual world via media

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8 Way Thinking

• Devised by Ian Gilbert
• Derived from Around Deeply Project
• Multi-dimensional snapshot of the people, places,
  history, sights, sounds and nature of locations
  on a voyage round Britain.
• Thinking skills project encouraging participant
  to
• Think
• Reflect
• Look more closely

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Links with

• Gardners Multiple Intelligence Theory (MI)
• Philosophy for Children (P4C)
• De Bonos six Thinking Hats
• Thinking Skills

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8 Way thinking

• Combining thinking skills scaffolding, P4C
  practices and MI theory to produce headings/focus
  for investigation
• Logical/Mathematical
• Verbal/Linguistic
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal
• Naturalistic
• Body/Physical
• Musical
• Visual/Spatial

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Terminology simplified

• People
• Numbers
• Words
• Nature
• Sounds
• Feelings
• Sights
• Actions

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It is a model for

• Asking questions across subjects
• Arousing and harnessing curiosity
• Seeing with new eyes
• For geography
• It offers a new integrated approach for thematic
  planning
• A different means of developing a sense of place
  engages the senses

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The technique has been used with

• Secondary PGCE students
• Primary Undergraduate and PG students
• Y1 Geography undergraduates
• Children of various ages/key stages

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Geography
History
Actions Tourism, air raid and recycling.
People Childrens life, jobs people did and
housing.
Sights Types of boats, bridges and wildlife.
Numbers How many bridges, arches and compare
value of money.
Feelings Pictures, Victoria Tunnel and childhood.
ast
Past Ouseburn Present
Words Geordie words, Accents in area and songs.
Sounds Industrial, transport and wildlife.
Nature Wild life, pollution and food.
Art Design
P.E.
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Janes plan
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Looking and experiencing

• We can look at a place in a photo but we need to
  go there to experience it.
• Awe and wonder
• A picture of Cadair Idris has an impact engages
  visual senses
• Taking you to Cadair engages all the senses and
  so you experience the place...the true sensual
  geography of difference?

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Place in a box with due respect to Howard Lisle

• Summary activity
• Can you put your sense of place in a box...and
  will what is in your box differ from someone
  elses?

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Place in a box...

• Sensory geography can be overwhelming
• Useful to summarise sense of place put it in a
  box
• Ideally have a box of sensory materials to engage
  all the senses e.g. Photos/maps/food/artefacts
  etc
• Enables sensory exploration...Catling (2012)

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Activity Morpeth in a box

• Look at the box on your table
• Can you identify the senses I engaged with to
  build up this picture of Morpeth which picture
  represents which sense?
• There may be differences of opinion again!

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Review

• Each item chosen for specific personal reason
  Tanner (2012)
• Explaining why item chosen is as important as the
  actual item very personal
• Reveals the sensual geography of difference...

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Activity

• What images would you put in your box of your
  home area? Why those things?
• What artefacts could you bring to add to the box?
• Try and involve all the senses what is the
  smell of your place, what is the taste etc?
• What questions would you ask about each item?

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Applying 8 Way Thinking to Whats in the Box?

• If we take an artefact out of box we could ask
• People who made this, how did they make it, can
  we make it?
• Numbers is this common/rare. Why is it rare?
• Sights and Words describe this one draws/one
  describes
• Nature what is it made of?

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8 Way Thinking - artefact

• Sounds what sound does it make? What sounds
  were made when it was made? Songs of workers?
• Feelings feelings it gives you? how did people
  feel when they made it? Imagine they lost it
  story opportunity
• Actions what else could this be used for?

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Review - 8 way artefact

• The different ways in which children react to the
  objects are the key
• Again we are into the geographies of difference
• By engaging the senses we can make these all the
  more meaningful and
• Explore childrens perceptions, values, emotions
  etc
• You get to know your children very quickly this
  way.

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Conclusions

• Interaction enables differences to be explored
• The senses provide a mechanism for this
• Difference should be seen as a strength not
  something to be feared

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Conclusions

• Engaging the senses enables childrens personal
  geographies to be explored
• Makes the geography real
• Gives you an insight into their values and
  attitudes.

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Future differences

• Need to look to the future
• Children will see this differently see Dolan
  (2012)
• Rich source of engagement with the sensual
  geographies of difference
• See Primary Geography Spring 2011 which has a
  focus on Futures

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A final Practical application - Transition

• Overcoming the fear of difference as children
  move up through schools
• Year 6 devise a sensual trail for year 5 to
  explore their new environment
• Year 5 explore each others schools before move up
  avoids parochialism they see where their new
  class mates come from

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Transition

• Tanner (2009) geography of favourite places
  get children to share...
• Engages the emotions Tanner (2010) suggests
  this enables children to
• Develop empathy for others feelings about places
• Understand the representation of different places
  via different media

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So please...

• Use the geography of difference and sensual
  geographies to help children understand that
  difference is positive!

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Questions/discussion points?

• Will you incorporate any of these ideas in your
  future teaching?

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References

• 8 Way thinking
• Gilbert, Ian 2006 www.teachingexpertise.com
  issue 12 summer 2006
• www.independentthinking.co.uk
• PowerPoints
• Living geography 8 Ways Fieldwork
• http//www.geography.org.uk/cpdevents/annualconfer
  ence/guildford2008/
• 8 Way Thinking Evolution Evaluation
• http//www.geography.org.uk/cpdevents/annualconfer
  ence/manchester2009/
• Kens war story - http//www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2
  peopleswar/user/38/u2711538.shtml

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Refs

• Balderstone, D (2006) Secondary Geography
  Handbook GA
• Barlow, A Brook, A (2010) Geography and Art
  Local area work Primary Geographer, 72 pp 14-15
• Catling, S. (2003) Geography Contested primary
  geography and social justice Geography, 88, 3,
  pp164-210
• Catling, S (2012) The place of artefacts in
  Geography Primary Geography, 78, p30
• Dolan, A (2012) Future talk over story time
  Primary Geography 78, pp 26-27
• Firth, R. Biddulph,M (2009) Whose life is it
  anyway? in Mitchell, D (ed) (2009) Living
  Geography Chris Kington publishing
• Haynes, S (2010) Challenging perceptions of place
  Primary Geographer, 72 pp 16-17
• Louv, R (2005) Last Child in the Woods Algonquin
• Martin, F (2006) Teaching Geography in Primary
  Schools Chris Kington
• Massey, D (1991) A global sense of place in
  Barnes, T Gregory, D (1997) Reading Human
  Geography the poetics and politics of inquiry,
  Arnold

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Refs...

• Owens, P (2008) MyWalks Walk on the Child Side
  Primary Geographer 67, pp 25-8
• Scoffham, S (1998) Places, attachment identity
  in Scoffham, S (ed) Primary Sources Research
  findings in Primary Geography GA pp.26-7
• Tanner, J (2009) Special Places Place attachment
  and childrens happiness Primary Geographer, 68
  pp 5-8
• Tanner, J (2010) Geography and the emotions in
  Primary Geography Handbook, ed S Scoffham, GA
• Tanner, J (2012) How do you see it? Primary
  Geography, 78, pp 22-23
• Taylor, L (2005) Re-presenting Geography Chris
  Kington publishing (Chapt 6)
• Tuan, Y (2001) Space and Place Univ of Minnesota
• Walford, R (2007) Using Games in School Geography
  Chris Kington publishing chapter 11, First
  Landfall
• Witt, S (2010) Geography and Art Happy spaces,
  happy places Primary Geographer, 72 pp 18-19
• Witt, S Sudbury, J (2010) Geography and Art A
  sense of place at Bishop's Waltham Junior School
  Primary Geographer, 72 pp 18-19