This book highlights the way in which geography curricula are conceived, (re)-organised and implemented at different levels (local, regional, national, international) and how to respond concretely to these challenges. It also examines the obstacles, barriers and continuities that keep some parts of geography curricula in a century-old tradition.
In this book, the term curriculum is used in its Anglo-Saxon conception, which differs from its European use, which is limited to study plans. The term curriculum used in this book, refers to the prescribed curriculum, sometimes called formal, and also to the taught or real curriculum as well as the learned curriculum. To these three curricular forms, a fourth is added, called the hidden curriculum. This includes what is implicit for the actors (teachers, pupils, the school institution) and what is, voluntarily or not, ignored or concealed.
The contributions to this book examine each type of these four curricula and their interactions. It discusses how the passage from one curriculum level to another is not linear and implies recompositions, ruptures as well as continuities. The book also touches on the circulation between the different curricular levels and how that raises the question of the articulation between policy(ies) and practice.
Magali Hardouin is a Senior Lecturer (HDR) at UBO-INSPE de Bretagne, France. She teaches in both initial and continuing teacher education within the MEEF Master's programs (first and second degrees), focusing on the following areas: geography, epistemology and didactics of geography, and research methodology. She also provides training in spatial planning and in educational, teaching and learning environments. She conducts her research within the UMR ESO (Spaces and Societies) and the CREAD.
Her research is structured around three strongly interconnected scientific axes, which she mobilizes from a systemic, interdisciplinary and multiscalar perspective to analyze contemporary educational inequalities:
(1) Curriculum content, social relations and inequalities: a sociological and didactic approach to the transmission of geographical knowledge;
(2) Education, territories and socio-spatial inequalities: educational dynamics and governance of school systems;
(3) Planning of educational spaces and spatial justice: school spatialities, empowering environments, and evolving school forms. Caroline Leininger-Frézal is a full professor at the Université Paris Cité, specialising in the didactics of geography and citizenship education. Her research explores how geography is taught and learned, with a particular focus on experiential learning, critical thinking and environmental education. She investigates innovative teaching methods such as virtual field trips and the integration of contemporary issues such as migration and sustainability into the curriculum. Professor Leininger-Frézal also supervises doctoral students and coordinates the Master's programme in the Didactics of Science (History- Geography Track), where she supports the professional development of in-service teachers. She is recognised for her contributions to curriculum design and teacher training in geography. She is currently President of the National Commission of French Geographers (CNFG), a French scientific society of geographers.
