Creating different geographies through art and creative writing
Presenter: Mark Jones
Notes on workshop
This workshop presented recent work which PGCE Geography and PGCE Art and Design students and
their tutors created in February 2012. After the tutors’ initial planning and exploration of each
other’s discipline, the cross-curricular collaboration involved teaching six geographical themes
through six media. The activities were co-constructed by the PGCE students (six artists and twelve
geographers working in six cross-subject groups of three). Once the PGCE students had agreed their
ideas, they taught each other skills and explored understandings of themes such as emotional
mapping, personal geographies and environmental concern. They successfully taught a crosscurricular day with Year 8 students in a local partnership college.
The workshop started by examining a quote from a chapter in John Huckle’s, 1983 excellent text,
Geographical Education : Reflection and Action. In his chapter ‘Geography through art’ Eric Brough
suggested nearly thirty years ago that art deserved greater attention by teachers of geography.
Brough stressed that geography teachers own education may not have prepared them for more
artistic interpretation of the environment (and geography). He suggested at the time that ‘few
[geography teachers] are alive to quality and beauty in architecture and landscape, are visually
literate or sensitive to the importance of shape, tone, colour or style’ (p.60). Brough’s call for greater
engagement with creative interpretation is even more important now, particularly where lessons are
predominantly driven by objective-led learning and predominantly ‘non-fiction’ written outcomes.
The workshop briefly explored the six media through which the PGCE students and Year 8 students
worked: Wire work; Ceramics; 3D modelling; Pin hole cameras; textiles and mod-roc
The majority of the 50 minute session was designed to allow delegates the opportunity to
experience one of the six media used in the collaborative project – mod-roc.
What is mod-roc?
Mod roc is plaster of paris strips, which when wet can be easily moulded and when dry becomes
hard and resilient so that models can be made of anything. To make a model (e.g. landscape) you
simply follow these steps:
Wet a strip of mod-roc (and drain off excess water
so it is not too wet).
Lay some mod-roc to form a base on the board.
Lay scrunched up newspaper, string etc.. on board
to form a landscape and cover in more mod-roc
strips until finished. Smooth the mod-roc and
shape.
Leave to dry before painting.
In the workshop after a brief demonstration (I had been taught by a year 8 student on the day in
college), the delegates then set about creating their own landscapes.
On the day in college, year 8 students made erupting
volcanoes, stormy seascapes, familiar places and
imaginary landscapes.
The delegates at the GA conference constructed
volcanoes and calderas, a wide range of coastal
features, UK cities, global landmarks and places of
significance e.g. recent holidays abroad.
Supporting pupils’ literacy through mod-roc-landscapes
During the making of mod-roc landscapes, pupil-pupil, teacher-pupil/s and pupil/s-teacher ‘talk’ is
good for discussing conceptions and misconceptions in geography, exploring new technical
vocabulary and explanation.
Once completed the landscapes can be used in a number of ways to develop writing, speaking and
listening. In writing (or producing voice overs) remind pupils of ‘writing for reading’, that is to think
of the people who read their writing and therefore the pupils need to consider genre, audience and
purpose.
The type of text that you want pupils to engage with depends on if you are using mod-roc as part of
the formal or informal curriculum, where in the scheme of work or year you plan to mod-roc, also if
you plan for it to be part of assessment. You can emphasise text types such as ‘Non-fiction:
Instruction, recount, explanation, Information, persuasion, discursive writing, analysis, evaluation’
(DfES, 2002, p. 17). You can also use the mod-roc landscapes for creative writing including poetry
and stories. Pupils can create haiku, rhymes, the beginning lines to a story. They could use
personification, alliteration and/or rhyme.
You can use the mod-roc models with many types of text e.g.for creative writing or for explanation to answer GCSE style questions such as Q) Describe the coastal landforms you see in the model?
Poetry The sea runs back against itself
With scarcely time for breaking wave
To cannonade a slatey shelf
And thunder under a cave
Opening lines to poem called Winter Seascape
by John Betjaman
The coastline is made up of rocky
outcrops, there is a pinnacle
shaped stack (possibly chalk) and
two stumps (eroded stacks)
which are more rounded.
To help support pupils with the activities (either those who are not confident, have poor literacy or
where a theme/issue is new to them) then a ‘mod-roc mat’ can be designed (even co-designed with
your pupils). Mod-roc mats can be laminated and available on the table as the pupils work.
Example of a mod-roc mat
Organisation and finding curriculum space
Find curriculum space through using cross-curricular days, theme days and collapsed curriculum days
in the school; set up a geography club; have students doing mod-roc at options evenings and
parents’ evenings or it can be done in 2 or 3 lessons (lesson 1 - make; lesson 2 - creative writing or
speaking and lesson 3 - presentations(peer and self assessment). Also speak with your art and design
colleagues about looking at a week in the school year where you could collaborate e.g. start the
mod-roc in an art or geography lesson and continue in the next art or geography lesson.
Organise learning through individual pieces or try group models on a larger scale where all pupils
contribute a particular feature to a larger model.
What about Ofsted?
In the Geography Survey Visits - supplementary subject-specific guidance for inspectors on making
judgements during visits to schools (Ofsted, 2012) the following apply to the OUTSTANDING
category
Achievement of pupils in geography
‘They show significant levels of originality, imagination or creativity in their understanding and skills
within the subject’
The quality of teaching in geography
‘They use a wide range of innovative and imaginative teaching strategies very effectively to stimulate
pupils’ active participation in their learning
The curriculum in geography
‘The imaginative and stimulating geography curriculum is skilfully designed to match to the full range
of pupils’ needs
Quality of leadership and management of geography
‘Geography has a very high profile in the life of the school and is at the cutting edge of initiatives
within the school.’
Finally the experience
Mod-roc is fun, pupils (and delegates at the conference) are likely to remember doing these types of
activities, in the same way that they remember the experinces of fieldwork and trips. We might
even borrow some evidence from learning outdoors through fieldwork and suggest that learning
through art like learning through fieldwork could potentially lead to ‘memorable episodes’ – these
are associations with memorable experiences that can aid long term memory retention amongst
students (see MacKenzie and White 1982).
References
Brough, E. (1983) ‘Geography through art’, in J. Huckle (ed.) Geographical Education: Reflection and
Action, Oxford: OUP.
DfES (2002) Literacy in geography,London: DfES.
MacKenzie, A. A. and White, R.T (1982) ‘Fieldwork in geography and long term memory structures’,
American Educational Research Journal, 19 (4), 623-632.
Ofsted (2012) Geography Survey Visits -supplementary subject-specific guidance for inspectors on
making judgements during visits to schools, London: Ofsted.
Useful resources
Owen Sheers (2009) A Poet’s Guide to Britain, Penguin Classics.
This book contains a wide selection of poems on : London and Cities; Towns and Villages; Mountains
and Moorlands; Islands; Woods and forest; Coasts and Sea.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to:
Simon Huson, PGCE Art Tutor, UWE.
The Art and Design and Geography PGCE students, UWE 2011-2012.
Heather Evans and Year 8 Panther students at Brislington Enterprise College (Bec), Bristol.
Images
Mod-roc mat coastal images – all images from www.geograph.org.uk/ licensed for reuse under
Creative Commons Licence
All other photographs Simon Huson.
Contact details of presenter
Mark Jones, PGCE Geography Tutor, University of the West of England, UWE , Bristol. BS16 1QY
Email [email protected]