Community, environment and teaching geography

The teaching of Geography is in an exciting space at the moment with the discipline soon going national (Purnell, 2011). This paper explores how Geography teachers are able to facilitate learning about a number of concepts for geographical understanding by using a community-based approach. Using research about environmental implications for a sea change community, as well as a place experiencing growth because of the recent resources boom (Danaher, 2008), I show how particular geographical knowledge and understanding can be identified and taught in context. The community is Queensland’s Capricorn Coast. The paper explores five of the major concepts in the draft Australian Curriculum: Geography (ACARA, 2012) in relation to the Capricorn Coast. These are: place, environment, interconnection, sustainability, and change. The paper concludes that teachers can develop in their students the ability to see the relationships within, and between, these five concepts by exploring how a particular community tries to meet present day challenges of maintaining livability and sense of place, while at the same time undergoing some significant growth pains.