Skip to main content

From Seasons to Cisterns: The Nature of Geographical Intuition

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Disciplinary Intuitions and the Design of Learning Environments
  • 671 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter makes the argument that – at least with respect to the relationship between humans and the natural environment and the way this relationship is approached in the formal curriculum – alignment between the assessment of children and their day-to-day lived experience is critical to developing enduring understanding beyond rudimentary textbook recitation. It is suggested that an overlooked element of this alignment has been the role that intuitions about geography play in shaping such understanding and how these intuitions can sometimes be very powerful in lensing understanding either accurately or inaccurately. The challenge – from the point of view of curriculum designers (who are, by definition, disciplinary experts) – is in reminding ourselves of just how subliminal some of these day-to-day lived experiences might be.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Appleton, J. (1975). The experience of landscape. London: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gee, J. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gore, A. (2006). An inconvenient truth. Lawrence Bender Productions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kong, L. (2000). Nature’s dangers, nature’s pleasures: Urban children and the natural world. In S. Holloway & G. Valentine (Eds.), Children’s geographies: Living, playing, learning (pp. 257–271). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kong, L., Yuen, B., Sodhi, N., & Briffett, C. (1999). The construction and experience of nature: Perspectives of urban youths. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 90(1), 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria: ASCD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rappaport, E. D. (2009) What undergraduates think about clouds and fog. Journal of Geoscience Education, 57(2), 145–151. http://dx.doi.org/10.5408/1.3544249

  • Tuan, Y. F. (1976). Topophilia: A study of environmental perception, attitudes, and values. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuan, Y. F. (1977). Space and place: The perspective of experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenneth Y. T. Lim .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lim, K.Y.T. (2015). From Seasons to Cisterns: The Nature of Geographical Intuition. In: Lim, K. (eds) Disciplinary Intuitions and the Design of Learning Environments. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-182-4_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics