13.07.2015 Views

Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

<strong>Geography</strong> and Environmental Science, over the last 15 years, has been one of themost forward th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g subject groups at Wolverhampton to develop an <strong>in</strong>ternationaldimension through <strong>in</strong>stitutional collaboration and the development of a network of<strong>in</strong>ternational partners <strong>in</strong> curriculum development. The development has been manifested<strong>in</strong> a number of ways, e.g. staff and student mobility through the ERASMUS/SOCRATES and NEPTUNE programmes, curriculum development projects fundedthrough the EU TEMPUS and SOCRATES programmes, <strong>in</strong>ternational fieldworkand the <strong>in</strong>tegration of global and European case studies <strong>in</strong>to the undergraduate andpostgraduate programmes.It has been argued that the application of <strong>in</strong>formation and communication technologies(ICTs) has enhanced successful collaboration between <strong>in</strong>ternational partners(Rich et al., 2000) and this has certa<strong>in</strong>ly been the case at Wolverhampton. The<strong>in</strong>creased use and application of ICT has facilitated <strong>in</strong>teraction between staff andstudents and also the collaborative development of teach<strong>in</strong>g resources. As noted byRich et al. (2000) ICT has been beneficial <strong>in</strong> provid<strong>in</strong>g a low cost resource to enableregular contact, and access to Virtual Learn<strong>in</strong>g Environment (VLE) resources, forstudents study<strong>in</strong>g abroad or for collaborative work<strong>in</strong>g between students, and staff,over long distances. The ability for staff and students to share <strong>in</strong>formation andperspectives on concepts or topical issues enriches the curriculum opportunities atall of the partner <strong>in</strong>stitutions.International Curriculum DevelopmentInternational curriculum development has been undertaken at two levels: the developmentof an <strong>in</strong>ternational module <strong>in</strong> European environmental issues (Smith et al.,2001) and the modernisation and <strong>in</strong>ternationalisation of the geography and environmentalcurriculum at Tyumen State University (TSU) <strong>in</strong> the Russian Federation.The European module was a collaborative development with <strong>in</strong>stitutions fromF<strong>in</strong>land, Czech Republic, Hungary and Ireland and was funded through the EUSOCRATES curriculum development programme over three years. The modulewas designed to explore wider perspectives and attitudes towards the environmenton a pan-European scale. It also aimed to promote an <strong>in</strong>terdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary approach tolearn<strong>in</strong>g. The project resulted <strong>in</strong> a flexible, student-orientated module that benefitsstaff and students alike (Smith, 2001). The facility to <strong>in</strong>corporate new case studies,and partners, will ensure that the module is dynamic and focuses on contemporaryissues.The curriculum development project at Tyumen was funded for three years throughthe EU TEMPUS programme and <strong>in</strong>volved the University of Freiburg, Germany andMikkeli Polytechnic, F<strong>in</strong>land, alongside the Universities of Tyumen and Wolverhampton.The Russian geography and environmental curriculum is controlledthrough the Scientific Methodological Council on Environmental <strong>Education</strong>, part ofthe <strong>Education</strong>al Methodological Association of Russian Universities (Kasimov et al.,2002). As a result the opportunity to radically restructure the geography curriculumwas not possible, except with<strong>in</strong> certa<strong>in</strong> specialist areas such as environmental protectionand resource management. However, the project was extremely successful and288

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!