Geography teaching, interaction and authorship

ways to understand spatiotemporal dynamics in rural Brazil

Abstract

The geographical space is the genuine arena of human actions and contradictions, it is also the
physical domain where multiple temporalities coexist. The geographical understanding demands a
continuous link between space and time, between geographical forms and processes of human
actions. Nonetheless, the teaching of geography as a historical product of the science of Geography,
often seems to be guided by teaching techniques consolidated in fragmented practices, anchored in
descriptive methods which are not exhaustive and compromise the understanding of the
geographical space as a whole. Thus, this article aims to share pedagogical productions which do
cover the geographical totality and also provide full understanding of space and time as inseparable
entities. These pedagogical productions focus their analysis on contemporary transformations in
the agrarian areas of Brazil, which are conditioned upon advancements in technology, production
and science. For this purpose, we consider that the geographical space can be studied through
diversified active methodologies that enable student authorship. In this sense, Piaget’s theory must
not be regarded as a didactic guidebook, but rather as theoretical base for the means of constructing
geographical knowledge that promotes active and mindful student authorship.