# Co-Construction and Building-in-acts Spatial Practices at School: A Case-Study in an Eco-Neighborhood in Reunion Island (7th Grade class)

Patricia Grondin, Sylvain Genevois, Nathalie Wallian

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Patricia Grondin, Sylvain Genevois, Nathalie Wallian. Co-Construction and Building-in-acts Spatial Practices at School: A Case-Study in an Eco-Neighborhood in Reunion Island (7th Grade class). 35TH International geographical congress 2024, Dublin City University (DCU), Aug 2024, Dublin, Ireland. hal-04695139

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Submitted on 12 Sep 2024

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# Co-Construction & Building-in-acts Spatial Practices at School :
A Case-Study in an Eco-Neighborhood in Reunion Island (7th Grade class)

Patricia Grondin, Sylvain Genevois & Nathalie Wallian
# Introduction

## Research questions

How can *virtual* fieldtrip and *real* fieldtrip be combined? (**not opposed but complementary**)

How can the fieldtrip help to identify pupils' spatial practices by **comparing them with those of adults** in their eco-neighbourhood?

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>

## Aim of study

This research examines the ways in which 11 years old students appropriate and construct geographical space through perceptions, representations and spatial practices
The experiential geography, a special need...

"Every experience is an arch through which shines a virgin universe, whose horizon recedes as I advance." (Poet Alfred Tennyson, 1842, cited by John Dewey, 1938, p. 473)

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# Summary

* Theoretical framework

* Context

* Experimental protocol

* Data collection

* Results

* Discussion

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# The experiential geography, a phenomenological approach...

* “Work in children’s geographies is diverse but at its heart is an appreciation that children see, imagine and use space in a different way of adults” (Yarwood et Tyrrell, 2012, p. 124)

* Experiential geography is a real opportunity for pupils to: “(...) think of space not as a void but as an arrangement that is explored, used and appropriated by players over varying periods of time” (Leininger-Frézal et al., 2020 p. 20)

* This didactic approach postulates that the appropriation of space by a society -such as a class group- is the product of a social construction integrated both in and through spatial practices (Stock, 2004; Leininger-Frézal et al., 2020)

Theoretical framework
Fieldtrip, agency and representational elaboration in
Geographics

Theoretical
framework

* Spatial practices are examined in the context of a fieldtrip (Calbérac, 2011; Albero, 2022), offering an opportunity to combine experiential knowledge with academic geographical knowledge (Grondin et al., 2023) and to help students develop their agency (ibid.)

* Agency involves not only the possibility of acting but also the recognition of this capacity by the individual or the group concerned (Davies, 1991)

* Representations play a role in the construction of pupils' knowledge of space. They are at once stable, “moving, rigid and flexible” (Abric, 2001)

* “There can be no single vision of a place” (Bailly, 1989 p.76)

* The neighbourhood is “a mental construct based on the individual representations of pupils and the collective representations of the class group” (Considère et al., 2009 p.7)
# A 7th Grade class confronted with an eco-neighbourhood in Reunion Island (FR)

## Context

* 7th Grade

* N = 22 students

* aged 10-11 years

* unprivileged social class

* a two years data collection

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>Ravine Blanche, an eco-neighbourhood in St-Pierre</figcaption></figure>
Questioning spaces to augment the field representations

Augmented vision of space

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Explored space: top view

<figure><img src="image_7.png" /></figure>

Travelled space: internal perspective

<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>

Geoshared and represented space: top view and internal perspective

<figure><img src="image_9.png" /></figure>
A crossed field
data collection

Analysis of ante/post
didactic intentions

<figure><img src="image_10.png" /></figure>

Ethnographic
notes by the
geography
teacher

<figure><img src="image_11.png" /></figure>

Traces of activity
Different types
N: 100

Analysis of didactic
practice (indicators of
space
construction)

Analysis of
feelings and the
evolution of mental
and spatial
representations

<figure><img src="image_12.png" /></figure>

Focus group
interviews 3
groups T: 20' per
group

<figure><img src="image_13.png" /></figure>

Remarkable
moments during
the session Video
T: 460' 216 rushes

Micro-analysis
(misunderstandings
and decisive
acquisitions)
## Result 1

A different view of the park than adults *before* the fieldtrip

## A recreational conception of the space
(James, 1990)

<figure><img src="image_14.png" /><figcaption>Session 1. Two students locating the fieldtrip configuration on a tablet</figcaption></figure>
An instant and ephemeral vision
of the place

Result 2

Park vision
**during** the
fieldtrip: an
open-to-the-sky
park

“Hello, today we’re in a neighbourhood of Ravine Blanche in the urban park. We’ve seen lots of things today. We saw a centipede, a butterfly and a **red bird** - I call it the malbar bird – **paille en queue flying overhead, red planes and a helicopter**. Then lots of people passed by, a lady and her husband holding a pushchair with probably a baby in it, a lady wearing a cap that passed in the path and all the wind.”

Session 2. Discourse on space by a pair of students
(An excerpt from a multimedia narrative)
Students' agency encourages world reflection

Result 3

Students made
change their
vision of the
field and
express their
agency

**Teacher:** What did you learn this morning?

**Diego:** (...) That there are a lot of people walking over there.

**Teacher:** Oh, you didn't know that?

**Diego:** Yes, I knew, **but I didn't know about the elderly people.** I learned that even if you look at something like a tree or a landscape, you can write something about it.

**Teacher:** And you didn't know that. You thought it wasn't possible.

**Diego:** I thought I could only talk about it, not write.
# Comparing geographical knowledge with experiential knowledge

**Instructional setting:** Please complete the table using your experienced field (memories of the outing, what you do in this place, what you see in this place).

**Uses, actors, and developments of the urban park of The white Ravine**

This park was developed from 2010 to 2013. Before 2010, it was an undeveloped green space, but it was used by residents for leisure

<table><thead><tr><td>Who frequents the park?</td><td>For what purpose?</td><td>With what development?</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>An elderly couple</td><td>To walk</td><td>the benches are for sitting down, the benches are in stone</td></tr><tr><td>Children</td><td>To play, to run</td><td>There is a park and a round field</td></tr><tr><td>Cyclists</td><td>To ride around</td><td>On the red track</td></tr><tr><td>Motorcyclists</td><td>To move around</td><td>On the red track, but they are not allowed</td></tr></tbody></table>

## Result 4

Various spatial practices relating to the place
Research issues

Students mainly have :

❖ a **recreational conception** of the space (James, 1990)

❖ an **instant and ephemeral vision** of the place that
may be improved

❖ Comparing geographical knowledge with experiential knowledge, without setting them against each other.

❖ Knowledge is mobilised **before, during and after**
the field trip
Discussion

❖ Student's spatial representations often differ from the academic taught knowledge

❖ They are expected (1) **to modify their ability to perceive and to read** the world through their actions in space, and (2) to share their **visions with others**

❖ Issues raise questions about how **to embody**
**experience into the geographic content**
**knowledge**
Conclusion

* The fieldtrip provides an **augmented knowledge** of the explored field

* In Geography, collecting students' point of view on space their field makes them being **geography-actors**

* Perspectives are open for shaping a **learning continuum** that reduces the boundaries between the teaching in/outside school, , without opposing virtual fieldtrip and real fieldtrip.

* Students' agency is expressed in a specific learning context, **aiming to encourage them to think about the world** through a research framework
References

Abric, J.C., (2001) L'approche structurale des représentations sociales : développements récents. Psychologie et société, 4-2. 81-103.

Albero, B. (2022). *De quoi la notion de "terrain" rend-elle compte ?* Education Permanente, 230, 9-20.
[https://doi.org/10.3917/edpe.230.0009](https://doi.org/10.3917/edpe.230.0009)

Bailly, A-S. (1989) *L'imaginaire spatial. Plaidoyer pour la géographie des représentations* Espaces Temps 40, n° 1 (1989): 53-58.
[https://doi.org/10.3406/espat.1989.3461](https://doi.org/10.3406/espat.1989.3461)

Calbérac, Y. (2011). *Le terrain des géographes est-il un terrain géographique ? Le terrain d'une épistémologue*. Carnets de géographes, 2.
[https://doi.org/10.4000/cdg.2783](https://doi.org/10.4000/cdg.2783)

Considère, S., Duhaut, C., Lebrun, N., (2009) Le concept de quartier dans les programmes scolaires actuels ou l'irruption de la géographie des représentations dans la géographie scolaire. *Colloque international des didactiques de l'histoire et de la géographie, Lausanne, Suisse. (halshs-03286561)*

Davies, B. (1991). « The concept of Agency: A Feminist Poststructural Analysis ». *Social Analysis : The International Journal of Anthropology*, 30, p. 42-53

Dewey, J. (2018). *Démocratie et éducation : Suivi de Expérience et Éducation*. Armand Colin. 1ère édition 1938
[https://doi.org/10.3917/arco.dewey.2018.01](https://doi.org/10.3917/arco.dewey.2018.01)

Grondin, P., Wallian, N. & Genevois, S., (2023). *Aller sur le terrain en géographie : la construction de l'espace à partir de « l'habiter » à La Réunion*. *Colloque de l'ARCD. Genève, 27-30 juin.*

James, S. (1990) *Is There a "Place" for Children in Geography? Area*, 22, 3, p. 278-283.

Leininger-frezal, C., Gaujal, S., Heitz, C., & Colin, P. (2020). Vers une géographie expérientielle à l'école : L'exemple de l'espace proche. *Recherches en éducation*, 41, 105-125.
[https://doi.org/10.4000/ree.579](https://doi.org/10.4000/ree.579)

Stock, M. (2004). L'habiter comme pratique des lieux géographiques , EspacesTemps.net, Travaux. URL:
[https://www.espacestemps.net/articles/habiter-comme-pratique-des-lieux-geographiques/](https://www.espacestemps.net/articles/habiter-comme-pratique-des-lieux-geographiques/)

Yarwood, R., & Tyrrell, N. (2012). *Why children's geographies? Geography* 97, n° 3 123-28.
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Thanks for your attention
Any questions?

patricia.grondin@univ-reunion.fr