Understanding and Teaching the Australian Curriculum: Geography for Primary Schools

Abstract

Professor Alaric Maude’s book, Understanding and teaching The Australian Curriculum: Geography for Primary Schools, is a timely resource that meets an important need - to familiarize primary school teachers with the distinctive nature of the discipline of Geography, its core concepts and skills.  This is of particular importance in the Australian context where Geography is being introduced as a discrete discipline into primary schools for the first time.  Prior to the release of the Australian Curriculum: Geography in 2013, geographical concepts and skills were integrated as a component of SOSE (Studies of Society and Environment), Humanities or Social Studies in different states and territories. While primary school teachers will have taught Geography in the past within an integrated context, many remain unsure about the nature of the discipline, how it differs from the other social sciences and how the discipline should be best taught. Many Primary school teachers will not have studied the Geography in upper secondary school and even fewer will have completed undergraduate units in Geography during their university training.  As Professor Maude explains, the book has been designed to help Primary teachers better understand the discipline of Geography and gain confidence in interpreting and teaching the Australian Curriculum. It is hoped that this will result in better teaching and Primary students who are able to “think and practice Geography beyond the mechanical” (p. iii)