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Title Urban children’s perceptions of rural villages in England

Author Position and address Walker, Greg Senior Lecturer School of Education Roehampton University

Presentation locale Paper given to the Charney Manor Conference, Oxfordshire 2002 Published in ‘Researching Primary Geography’ Ed Simon Catling and Fran Martin Special Publication No1 Aug 2004 London Register of Research ISBN 0-9538154-3-9 Available from The Editor, 9, Humber Road, Blackheath, London SE3 7LS

Abstract This is small scale research which enquired how children come to know and understand distant places, places of which they have not usually had direct experiences. The focus tests the effectiveness of a photo resource pack towards supporting children to gain a view of the nature of a village in England and how one lives in one. The effectiveness was demonstrated against support given by a fieldwork visit to the village covered in the photo pack.

Address for correspondence . Greg Walker School of Education Froebel College Roehampton Lane London SW15 5PJ

E mail [email protected] Urban Children’s Perceptions of Rural Villages in England

Greg Walker

Introduction

This chapter reports a piece of small-scale research that sought to add to the existing body of knowledge about how children come to know and understand distant places, places of which they have not usually had direct experiences. Distant places are ‘known’ by children, the result of indirect, second hand experiences such as written and visual media and the stories of family and friends. But what are children’s ideas about these places and what are their attitudes towards them and the people who live there?

In response to the National Curriculum geography requirements for Key Stage 2 to teach children about ‘a contrasting locality in the UK’ (DES, 1991, 36) a team consisting of three teachers, a local authority advisory teacher and a university tutor produced a Geographical Association award-winning photographic resource pack Discover Godstone (Walker & Wetton, 1995). It supplied a range of information, teaching ideas and resources about a Surrey village designed to represent a ‘contrasting locality’ for schools in urban areas. One section provided ideas for fieldwork in the village for schools located close enough to Godstone to consider affording children first hand experiences. By 1996 its use in schools was reported by Roehampton trainee teachers including that some schools were also supporting learning with field visits.

Literature review

A research framework relating to children’s knowledge and understanding of places was established by Piaget and Weil (1951). They theorised that children’s understanding of places involved a complex relationship between development in both the cognitive and affective domains. The former involved categorising different kinds of knowledge and skills whilst the latter was concerned with learning values and attitudes. A key concept was ‘reciprocity’ or ‘the ability to look at the world from someone else’s point of view’ (Wiegand, 1992, 36) and Matthews believed that ‘children have a strong affective sense of place’ and that they develop feelings and emotions which ‘induce powerful positive and negative images’ (Matthews,1992, 236).

Wiegand (1992) reported extensively on a wide range of research evidence about children’s understanding of places including spatial relationships between places, children’s developing sense of their own national identity and their attitudes to distant people and places. At the heart of much of the research reported (Jahoda, 1962; Carnie, 1972; Wiegand, 1992) were ideas about, and between nations. Harrington (1998) investigated children’s images of Africa and the effect of a teaching programme upon those images. Pre-testing revealed a great number of shared, stereotypical images. After a nine-week period of study about rich and poor areas of Nairobi re-testing revealed the continuing strength of ideas like hot weather, deserts and poverty but the children now drew images of cities including wealthy houses, high-rise buildings and busy roads. Amongst Harrington’s conclusions were that it is important for children ‘to be taught about distant lands in a positive way at school, right through the primary years’(1998, 47).

Little research was found that focused on young children’s ideas about unfamiliar places within their own country. An exception was a study by Baldwin and Opie (1998) whose investigation with a Year 3/4 class in rural Devon revealed something of their ideas about cities. The majority of children had visited a city at least once but even when drawing on direct experiences Baldwin and Opie concluded that they had only gained superficial understanding of city life. They had little appreciation of ‘the wide cross-section of people living in cities’ and when considering city life children were not positive because of ‘the perceived crowding, noise and fumes’ (1998, 40).

A number of studies into the benefits of fieldwork have been reported (Mackenzie and White, 1982; Gwilliam,1987; Nundy, 1999). All suggested positive findings, for example, on long-term memory and enhanced cognitive outcomes. Nundy claimed that, when completing the same tasks, children who had first hand experiences outperformed children who had been involved in similar, passive work inside the classroom.

The literature review led the research to be underpinned by these assumptions:  children in English schools have existing, and probably muddled, fleeting and improbable ideas about unfamiliar places;  there exists potential for teachers to challenge these perceptions towards more clear, stable and probable ideas;  fieldwork has the potential to extend children’s understanding of the real world.

The following research questions were proposed for children in the Year 3/4 age range:  What ideas do children who live in urban areas have about villages in England?  To what extent does the classroom use of a case study photographic resource pack, Discover Godstone, change their ideas towards a clearer view of what a village is like?  How effective is geographical fieldwork as a means of extending children’s understanding of villages and village life in England?  Does a case study offer children opportunities to develop more positive values and attitudes towards the lives of people in villages?

Research method

A case study strategy, defined by Robson (1993, 5) as

a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence, was applied with a range of data collection tools. White and Gunstone (1992, 14) have argued that it is best not to rely on a single approach, advocating “the informed use of many different probes”, as this was likely to give a more insight into children’s ideas.

Data collection tools

Data was collected over three consecutive days using these tools in this order.

Drawings Choosing a drawing first was planned as it offered children a familiar activity. Atkinson and Bannister argue that drawings ‘offer the opportunity for an alternative form of expression to children who may well hold ideas, but who find it difficult to express them in words’(1998:3). The children were asked to draw what they thought they would see in a village in England and to annotate it to help clarify what they had drawn. Support for spelling was available from adults in the class.

Word association Word lists were completed next as both teachers considered it a relatively simple written activity that was within the children’s capability. Word lists were structured around what Ghaye and Robinson called ‘concept clues’ (1989, 121). The five clues were ‘the people’, ‘the buildings’, ‘the work people do’, ‘the ‘landscape’ and an open ended ‘other things’ category. The need for lists of single words was stressed. Concept mapping Concept maps were designed (Ghaye & Robinson, 1989) to explore the added dimension of how children link ideas and individual facts. The same concept clues used in the word lists were provided around which the children could make their maps. The children were asked to write words first and then to make linear and written links.

Interviews Individual, structured interviews were completed at a time when the children had become familiar with the researcher in their classroom. Pre-set questions probed knowledge and attitudes with responses recorded in writing:  Can you tell me the names of any villages in England that you know?  Have you ever been to a village in England?  Do you know anyone who lives in a village in England?  What do you think a village is?  What would you think you would see / hear / smell if you visited a village in England?  What sorts of people live in villages in England and what kind of work do they do?  What do you think people who live in English villages like to do in their spare time?  Can you tell me ways a village is different from a city in England and are there any things that are the same?  What do you think life is like for people who live in a village in England?  Would you like to live in an English village? Why would you like to / not like to?

Photograph sorting Photograph sorting was the final probe used so that the images would not influence other activities. Eleven photographs taken in Surrey villages and with varied content were used. They included a village green and timbered houses but also modern flats and roads with heavy traffic. Sorting was into three categories:  those images children thought they would see ‘in a village’ in England;  those ‘not in a village’;  if uncertain, a ‘don’t know’ category. To encourage close observation the children were advised that category choice would require explanation. Photographs placed in each category were noted by letter and explanations recorded in writing.

Data collection

Data was collected at two schools in heavily urbanised parts of south London, referred to as school A and school B. Children in school A acted as the control group taught entirely in the classroom. Children in school B were taught in the classroom and they also visited Godstone. Children’s work was identified by their register number.

Initial, or phase one, data was gathered over three days before the start of the teaching period. Re-testing, or phase two, occurred afterwards using the same methods in the same order. There were 22 children of mixed ability in school A and 23 in school B who completed both phases in full.

Between phases one and two the class teachers taught the children about a village in England using Discover Godstone. Teaching time was similar in both schools and the teachers were encouraged to assist the children to answer the enquiry questions ‘Where is Godstone?’, ‘What is Godstone like?’, ‘Why is Godstone like it is?’ and ‘In what ways is Godstone similar to, and different from our place?’. There was no external support during the teaching programme and the teachers were encouraged to choose their own path through the enquiry. Findings

Question 1. What ideas do children who live in urban areas have about villages in England?

Phase one results revealed a few children who were able to provide a range of clear observations about villages. In all but one case they were children who had knowingly been to a village in England. Child 21 from school A exemplified this group. He drew, in colour, a village with houses, police station, road, shop and a tree. His word list included ‘cotages’(sic), ‘old people’, and ‘small streams’. His concept map (see Figure 1) showed attempts to link ideas. He explained during the interview that he knew of the village of Evercreech in Somerset where he had visited his grandmother. He defined a village as “a little town with small houses in it”, specified work in a Somerfield supermarket and thought that life for villagers was ‘sometimes quiet and sometimes, not usually, noisy’. When photograph sorting he confidently rationalised his choice into categories 1 or 2, for example, because ‘those are the sorts of houses you get in villages’.

A much larger group of children had some clear ideas but also gave some muddled responses. Child 2, school B exemplified this group. He drew a village consisted of just a house and tree. He listed words with village associations such as ‘barn’ and ‘hills’ but others, included ‘hospitals’ and ‘jumper making’, less so. His concept map (see Figure 2) confirmed muddled ideas with limited links between categories. He could not name a village, defining one as ‘a bigger form than a cottage, more than a building’. He named work as a ‘teacher’ but also ‘collecting firewood to heat their homes because they don’t have radiators’. Differences between cities and villages were the greater number of buildings, cars, and people in cities. However, he thought villagers would have ‘a hard life, they have to go out to get fruits and food and the school doesn’t have much technology’. Photograph sorting was done confidently and accurately and amongst his explanations was ‘because it looks like a house in a village because of the flowers and the old fashioned style’.

Figure 1: Child 21’s village concept map

Figure 2: Child 2’s village concept map

The biggest group proposed largely muddled, often improbable ideas and a narrow range of responses. Child 10, school A exemplified this group. He completed a drawing with considerable content including a cottage and a pond but also high-rise flats, tents and a wigwam. His word list repeated ‘wigwam’, ‘tents’. ‘block of flats’ and also ‘huts’. ‘Work’ would be in ‘hopital’(sic), ‘offices’ and ‘schools’. His concept map (see Figure 3) exemplified word list ideas with few attempts to make links. He could not name a village and defined one as ‘like with tents in, a little amount of houses’. Amongst work in a village would be in a hospital (a large hospital is located very close to school A) and he did not want to live in one ‘because a village has sand and some people don’t wear shoes and half the buildings are wooden and you’d get splinters’.

Figure 3: Child 10’s village concept map Word coding exercise.

A coding exercise was applied to the children’s word lists. Coding was based on sixteen words that three primary teachers thought Year 3/4 children might use about English villages: People: Farmers/Men/Women/Shopkeepers/Old Buildings: Pub/Cottage/Shops/Church Work: Farmer/Shop work/Pub work Landscape: Field/Trees/River/Pond. The frequency with which these words appeared in the children’s lists produced quantifiable data (Figure 4).

School A

15

10 School A 5

0 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

School B

20 15 10 School B 5 0 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Figure 4: Frequency of words in children’s lists. Levels were awarded according to the number of coded words listed: Level 4 = 0-4 words Level 3 = 5-8 words Level 2 = 9-12 words Level 1 = 13-16 words

In both schools at least half of the children failed to record even a quarter of the coded words. The majority scored half or less suggesting many children initially had unclear ideas about villages.

Question 2 To what extent does the classroom use of a photographic resource pack, Discover Godstone, change their ideas towards a more geographically accurate understanding?

Phase two data analysis revealed considerable change to results.

Child 21, school A, again drew confidently but content changed to a playing field with pond labelled ‘playground’ ‘slide’ and ‘swing’, remarkably like photographs 9 and 10 in ‘Discover Godstone’. His word list was longer with words from the photopack like ‘florist’ and ‘bakers’. The concept map (Figure 5) was briefer but content also reflected the teaching programme, for example, ‘butcher’, and ‘bungalow’. Connections between ideas were no more effective. Godstone was named alongside Evercreech at interview and answers often reflected the teaching programme like the ‘smell of fruit from the farm’. He was now positive about living in a village ‘because there’s not many roads so I could go to my friends and where I live I can’t because the roads are too busy’. Photograph sorting used a mix of existing knowledge, ‘when I went to my grandmother’s there were lots of farms’ and classwork, ‘there’s usually churches in villages, there’s one in Godstone’. Child 2, school B, showed change in both the range and clarity of ideas. He drew a detailed graveyard with features seen in Godstone parish church including its lychgate. His word list reflected both classwork and field trip such as the ‘club house’, ‘cemetry’(sic), and ‘doctor’. His concept map (Figure 6) showed greater clarity although links showed no improvement. He named Godstone, listed work ‘cutting grass’ that he had observed and thought that life for villagers would be a ‘fun life because they’ve got fields and lots of open spaces’. Confident photograph sorting included responses like ‘in Godstone some houses looked old-fashioned and these are old fashioned’.

Figure 5: Child 21’s Godstone village concept map

Figure 6: Child 2’s Godstone village concept map Child 10 typified the children who made the greatest progress in clarity of understanding. His colourful drawing showed a church with gravestones, a farm with sheep, a pond and a house. His word list included ‘bungalows’, ‘terraced house’ and ‘cottages’. Work included on ‘farms’ and in ‘shops’ and ‘pubs’. His concept map (Figure 7) still showed weaknesses in spelling but content reflected the teaching programme. He named Godstone, defined a village as ‘it’s got stores, houses and rich people’ and he thought there would be work in shops. Life in a village was ‘nice because they can enjoy going out to play and to the shops and they can relax’ but he still didn’t want to live in one ‘because its much smaller and they don’t have flats and a post office’. Photograph sorting was completed confidently but orally he showed no particular insight that might have reflected the teaching programme. Responses were utilitarian, for example, there would be schools ‘for the children to go and learn stuff’.

Figure 7: Child 10’s Godstone village concept map

Word coding exercise. The coding exercise was completed with phase 2 data (see Figure 8). Both schools showed improved results with school A showing greater change than school B. No child reached level 1 but this may reflect the composition of the coding words. School B results showed little movement into level 2 but, for example, one child at level 4 wrote a long list of appropriate words but just three were coded. School A

15

10 School A 5

0 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

School B

20 15 10 School B 5 0 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Figure 8: Frequency of words in children’s Godstone village lists Levels were awarded according to the number of coded words listed: Level 4 = 0-4 words Level 3 = 5-8 words Level 2 = 9-12 words Level 1 = 13-16 words

Question 3 How effective is geographical fieldwork as a means of developing children’s understanding of villages and village life in England?

Results from all data collection strategies showed the impact of fieldwork. Specific reference to Godstone was common in responses from school B, especially photograph sorting where over 80% explained their choices because of what had, or had not, been seen on the trip. For example:

Child 1: ‘because when we were in Godstone there were lots of lorries like that one’. Child 16: ‘because when we got off the coach the first thing we saw was a pond’.

School B drawings showed more varied content including images not in the photo pack. For example, graves of a ‘pirate’ and that of a child younger than them had been seen in the graveyard and they proved powerful images appearing in several drawings. Word list and concept map content confirmed wider knowledge with words like ‘estate agent’ and ‘surgery’ appearing, neither found in Discover Godstone. Connections between ideas in concept maps were more varied. Explanations for both photograph sorting and to questions were generally longer, with insights that could only have been the result of the visit.

Question 4. Does classroom teaching enable children to develop more positive values and attitudes towards the lives of people in villages?

At interview the final two questions explored values and attitudes. In both schools in phase one there was a mixture of negative and positive attitudes to village life (see Figures 9 and 10). Positive ideas included ‘quietness’, ‘happiness’ and the proximity of services such as shops, for example: Child 1,school B – ‘nice, hardly any noise, few cars each day and you can play in the fields’

Negative ideas were particularly about the hardness of village life, for example:

Child 10, school B – ‘like African people they beg for food and water’

Both schools showed considerable change in attitudes in phase two with just a single child in each continuing to express negative views. Changed attitudes included:

Child 10, school B – ‘good because they have spare time’

Despite the changed attitudes in school A, there was no similar change, in response to the final question, in the children themselves wanting to live in a village.

Phase 1.

School A

4% Positive 44% Negative 52% Don't know

Phase 2.

School A

Positive 48% 52% Negative

Figure 9: Attitudes to villages at School A Phase 1. School B

32% Positive Negative 68%

Phase 2

School B

32% Positive Negative 68%

Figure 10: Attitudes to villages at School B

In school B there was an almost direct reversal of results in response to the final question. First hand experiences seemed to have influenced positive attitudes.

Discussion

Ideas about villages in England varied from child to child, but not greatly from school to school. Children who had knowingly experienced village life, usually when visiting family members, showed greatest clarity of understanding but they are likely to be few in number in this age group. Most children drew on indirect experiences and had muddled and in some cases very improbable ideas about English villages and the people who live in them.

The majority of children in both schools showed considerable improvement in clarity of ideas about villages and village life after the teaching programme. The children in school A were heavily influenced by the content of the photographs of Godstone. The children from school B made greater progress in their range of ideas with fieldwork influences clear. Observations, related to the visit, gave individual and often unique dimensions that were absent from school A responses.

Class-based work was reinforced in the field including confirmation that images seen in the classroom existed in reality. Children’s drawing, writing and talk revealed extended understanding of the real world that could only have been the result of the fieldwork. Sensory awareness, especially aural, was enhanced. Evidence from all the data collection strategies revealed a clearer and wider understanding of villages and village life. On completion of the teaching - programme every child confidently expressing an opinion about village life, Attitudes were more positive towards life for village residents, even if children felt negative about living in a village themselves. Children who visited the village were much more positive about living in one themselves than the children whose work was classroom -based. Peace, quiet and safety were common arguments in favour of living in a village.

General findings including the benefits offered by distant place studies

Teachers should first establish how children conceptualise this part of their world and any subsequent ‘concept modification’ needs to take into account existing ideas. Case studies of real places and people should be used to teach children about distant and unfamiliar places. This may present images and ideas in conflict with some children’s initial ideas and they should be encouraged to reconsider them. Within a teaching approach seeking to give a balanced view of a place teachers should ensure that positive aspects are apparent. Activities that explore children’s values and attitudes, providing opportunities for them to express opinions should be sought. Photographs should be at the core of place studies in class-based tasks. Fieldwork enhances children’s understanding of the real world and schools, in key stage 2, might seek a contrasting UK locality that affords such opportunities. Discover Godstone, a village case study photo resource pack, was effective in developing children’s knowledge and understanding. A village case study offers links in a spiral study of urban children’s own place, contrasting places in their own country and places in very distant localities.

Conclusions

While this small-scale research project answered, in part, the research questions, it also posed many others:  Some children initially painted a picture of English villages as ‘low technology’, ‘developing world’ or ‘dull’. What are the sources of those ideas?  What ideas do key stage 1 children have of unfamiliar places and what is the impact of a study of a ‘contrasting’ place?  Should schools introduce distant places studies in the early years curriculum and what are effective teaching strategies and resources for this age group?  What are the most effective teaching strategies and resources to help children to know and understand distant places when the place to be studied is too far distant for first hand experiences?

Each of these is a potential area for further research.

References

Atkinson, H. & Bannister, S. (1998), Concept maps and annotated drawings: a comparative study of two assessment tools, Primary Science Review 51, Jan/Feb, 3-5 Baldwin, H. & Opie, M. (1998), A child’s eye view of the city, in Scoffham, S. (ed.) Primary Souces: Research findings in geography, Sheffield: Geographical Association, 40-42 Carnie, J. (1972), ‘Children’s attitudes to other nationalities’ in Graves, N.J. (ed) New Movements in the Study and Teaching of Geography, London: Temple Smith, 121-135 DES (1991) Geography in the National Curriculum (England), London: HMSO Ghaye, A. & Robinson, E (1989), Concept maps and children’s thinking: a constructivist approach, in Slater, F. (ed) Language and learning in the teaching of geography, London: Routledge, 115-139 Gwilliam, P. (1987), “Beyond the Wild Wood”, Teaching Geography, June 1987 Harrington, V. (1998), Teaching about distant places, in Scoffham, S. (ed) Primary sources: Research findings in primary geography, Sheffield: Geographical Association, 46-48 Jahoda, G. (1962), ‘Development of Scottish children’s ideas and attitudes about other countries’, Journal of Social Psychology, 58, 91-108 Mackenzie, A. & Whiter, P. (1982), Fieldwork in geography and long-term memory structures. American Education Research Journal,19 (4), 623-32. Matthews, M. H. (1992), Making Sense of Place: children’s understanding of large-scale environments, Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf Nundy, S.(1999), The Fieldwork Effect: The Role and Impact of Fieldwork in the Upper Primary School, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education. 8 (2) 190-199 Piaget, J. & Weil, A.-M. (1951), ‘The development in children of the idea of the homeland and of relations with other countries’, Institute of Social Sciences Bulletin, 3, 561-78. Robson, C. (1993), Real World Research. Oxford: Blackwell Walker, G. & Wetton, S. (1995), Discover Godstone, a study of a village in England, Farnborough: NRSC White, R. & Gunstone, R. (1992), Probing Understanding, London: Falmer Press Wiegand, P. (1992), Places in the Primary School, London: The Falmer Press.

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