Using mysteries to develop place knowledge

David Leat's introduction to the technique in Thinking Through Geography (Leat, 1998, p.51), recommends it as a key method of student-led learning, arguing that mysteries 'can completely transform the teaching and learning process ... [they] are designed to encourage pupils to deal with am...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Teaching geography 2016-04, Vol.41 (1), p.24-25
Main Authors: Gillman, Rosie, Gillman, Sally
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Curricula
Ebola virus
Ebolavirus
Feedback
Geography
Knowledge
Learning
Skills
Students
Teachers
Teaching methods
Tourism
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Summary:David Leat's introduction to the technique in Thinking Through Geography (Leat, 1998, p.51), recommends it as a key method of student-led learning, arguing that mysteries 'can completely transform the teaching and learning process ... [they] are designed to encourage pupils to deal with ambiguity through addressing a question which has no single correct answer' (p. 51). Following students' discussion and sorting, Leat suggests that the class feeds back on their ideas, offering potential solutions to the mystery which the teacher encourages them to develop by asking probing questions, such as 'How did you come to that conclusion?' and 'Have you thought about how that idea could link to some of the other information you've been given?' The aim of the class feedback is to allow students to share their ideas and think deeply about how they reached their conclusions. The other cards offered hints relating to the Ebola crisis, the influence of the Boko Haram terrorist organisation in West Africa, the UK's colonial involvement in and continuing aid relationship with Sierra Leone (Figure 2), Sierra Leone's wealth of natural resources and burgeoning tourist industry, and the growing trade relationship between Sierra Leone and China. Another key benefit of mysteries is that it allows teachers to introduce students to a large amount of information in easily-digestible chunks; rather than simply reading a passage of prose, students have to really think about the information they've been given and find a way of organising it so as to answer the overriding question; it is this practical, hands-on feature of mysteries which makes them such an effective teaching tool.
ISSN:0305-8018
2043-6831