This project was funded by the European Commission. The website reflects only the views of the authors, and the Commission is not responsible for any use of the information. The project partners include Twycross School. The GeoCapabilities project aims to develop human capabilities through acquiring geographical knowledge and thinking geographically. It promotes a progressive, knowledge-led curriculum based on powerful disciplinary knowledge and powerful pedagogies in the classroom.

1. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors,
and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project partners
Twycross
School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
GeoCapabilities
Main Ideas

2. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors,
and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project partners
Twycross
School
http://www.geocapabilities.orghttp://www.geocapabilities.org
Responsibilities ……
We should question the roles and responsibilities
of teachers and relate this to expertise and
knowledge of our subject discipline.
Possible questions to consider are:
• How do you (teachers) become leaders?
• Should you (teachers) naturally perform
leadership roles in terms of your subject?
• In your institution, are the leadership roles of
teaching staff formal or informal?

3. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors,
and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project partners
Twycross
School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
The Capabilities Approach
Ideas of human capability development were first
formulated in the writings of economist Amartya Sen
and philosopher Martha Nussbaum (Nussbaum and
Sen, 1993).
Their work encourages reflection on how education
contributes to human autonomy and potential, both
in thought and action.
The GeoCapabilities project argues that human
capability is deprived or diminished without the
opportunity to acquire geographical knowledge and
develop the capacity to think geographically.

4. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors,
and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project partners
Twycross
School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
Another core idea that underpins GeoCapabilities is
the need for teachers (and students) to understand
and value geographical knowledge as ‘powerful
disciplinary knowledge’ (PDK).
Based on Michael Young’s concept of powerful
knowledge, the idea of PDK means more than the
possession or acquisition of ‘facts’. Having PDK
means understanding and interpreting the world in
ways that are distinctive.
Specialist teachers, such as geography teachers,
provide students with opportunities to access PDK,
which enables them to think in distinctive and
discipline-based ways.
Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge

5. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors,
and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project partners
Twycross
School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
GeoCapabilities makes use of an important
framework, or heuristic, to help teachers think
about the curriculum they are responsible for
enacting as curriculum makers.
This framework distinguishes ‘three curriculum
futures’.
GeoCapabilities promotes a progressive
knowledge-led curriculum (Future 3). The
capabilities approach helps to bring this into fruition.
Future 3 Curriculum

6. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors,
and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project partners
Twycross
School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
Future 1: traditional: Content as ‘given’; a
curriculum of ‘delivery’
Future 2: progressive: Content as arbitrary; a
curriculum stressing generic skills and
competences.
Future 3: progressive: Content is neither ‘given’
nor arbitrary. It is dynamic and linked to
disciplinary procedures and processes. This is a
curriculum of engagement – with disciplined
thought.
Future 3 Curriculum

7. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors,
and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project partners
Twycross
School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
If powerful knowledge is inaccessible to
young people (many of whom find more
theoretical or abstract learning
challenging), then it is useless.
Thus, we need to combine powerful
knowledge with what Margaret Roberts
calls ‘powerful pedagogies’ in the
classroom.
Powerful Pedagogies

8. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Web site reflects the views only of the authors,
and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project partners
Twycross
School
http://www.geocapabilities.org
Powerful Pedagogies enables students to:
• enhance their everyday experiences by extending
and modifying their personal geographies;
• ask relevant geographical questions;
• see the world in a variety of different ways,
informed by the academic discipline;
• apply what they have learnt to new situations and
places;
• be critical of sources of geographical information;
• analyse conflicting data and different viewpoints;
• consider ethical issues implicit in geographical
knowledge.
Powerful Pedagogies