Teaching Primary Geography through Mobile Methods

Abstract

Abstract The teaching of geography has long incorporated mobilities through the practice of fieldwork and field trips as part of teaching. Geographers and child educators have highlighted the importance for children to explore their local area in order to experience “the world” and to engage with their communities. However, mobile methods are usually not integrated in such lessons. Based on primary teachers’ in-service training in Fribourg, Switzerland, and on a collaborative research project on fieldwork-based geography teaching involving primary teachers, the paper aims to discuss the (potential) role of mobile teaching/learning methods in primary school. Our argument also draws from geography curricula in Switzerland and from the scholarly literature on mobile research methods. The article addresses the ways engaging with mobile methods could help pupils/students and teachers to follow mobile processes, to discuss mobilities, to experience places, and to incorporate sensory and corporeal approaches for a more engaging and enlivened learning experience.