Landscape detectives: developing a palimpsest approach to fieldwork

Simm, D ORCID: 0000-0002-0440-9546, Freeman, D and Marvell, A (2024) 'Landscape detectives: developing a palimpsest approach to fieldwork.' Geography, 109 (2). pp. 88-98. ISSN 0016-7487

Text 16275.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 24 November 2025.

Abstract

Understanding the composition and meaning of landscapes is a fundamental skill of being a geographer. This article examines how students can become ‘landscape detectives’ using a palimpsest approach to unravel the form and processes that can be obscured within a landscape. Observing, recording and interpreting a landscape from multiple perspectives can lead to a deeper academic understanding as well as facilitating a maturing of perspectives about a sense of place and the students’ positionality with that place. The palimpsest approach provides a framework that supports teachers, enriches the field learning experience for students, can be applied to a variety of landscapes and can be adapted for most levels of education. This article outlines the palimpsest approach based on coastal fieldwork involving a small group of 16- and 17-year-old students studying A level geography in the UK and provides practical suggestions for its inclusion.

Item Type:	Article
UN SDGs:	Goal 4: Quality Education
Keywords:	landscape, fieldwork, palimpsest, A level geography, place
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) L Education > L Education (General)
Divisions:	School of Sciences
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1080/00167487.2024.2351773
Date Deposited:	24 May 2024 16:26
Last Modified:	28 May 2024 17:13
URI / Page ID:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/16275

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