Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

only increase their motivation to learn but also make it possible for them to be awareof how limited their knowledge is about worldwide problems, thus finding a realsense in geography education.(ii) We need geography classes to “give us wings not cages” (Alves, 2004). Incages, birds unlearn the ability to fly. They are no longer birds. Because flying isin their nature. An exciting geography doesn’t love caged birds, it creates wingsfor them. It exists to give birds the courage to fly. This means that geography mustoffer food and entertainment to students, or if we prefer the Rubem Alves metaphor,we need to offer students tools and toys. “Tools” are sources of knowledgethat allow us to solve everyday problems. Considering geography, tools are theknowledge and skills that teach us to “think about the space and place” and so,that we can “understand the world around us” and “act in it” in a conscious way.“Toys” are those things without real utility, but give pleasure and joy to the soul.Toys create the incitement and predisposition to find the tools and mobilise themin the right way trying to solve daily problems.(iii) We need classrooms to become effective learning places. In our schools,a lot is taught but little is learned. Teaching spaces are focused on the teacher,but learning places depart from the student, considering several dimensions: theirideas, their potential, and their limitations… So if we want classrooms to deepentheir dimension of learning places it is fundamental to intervene in three domainsclosely connected: a) recentre the learning/teaching process; b) reposition studentsand teachers in pedagogical practices; and c) change classroom environments andits ambiences.How to design exciting geographical learning experiencesGeography will become more exciting if learning experiences offered to the studentsimprove. It is through these innovative experiences that students will find sense inwhat they learn, and consequently, in geography education. Several items must bepresent in the design of an exciting geographical learning experience. It must puttogether interesting themes, innovative working methods and techniques, enjoyableworking environment and the discussion of real-life problems, as these are the onesstudents face and in fact what motivates them to learning. In Figure 2 we present, ina scheme, the methodology, step by step, for the design of experiences we considerexciting both for teachers and students. Our methodology is based on the scientificwork methodology. These experiences are also likely to be exciting to teachers, aswhile investigating about the subjects that will be explored in the classroom theyare creators and not just reproducers of geographical knowledge. The experiencesare also exciting to students, as their role in the classroom changes from spectatorsto actors. In face of real social and environmental problems to which it is necessaryto find solutions, students, using investigation methods, and helped by theirteachers, start having the main role in the discovery of the most appropriate solutions.The teacher, now freed from the main role in action, may observe the performanceof the students and use it as a way of investigation. This investigation will allow theteacher to know the “ideas” and levels of performance of students, and work from19