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New
New
Year 11
AQA

Defining development

I can define quality of life and development and understand how their definitions have changed over time.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 11
AQA

Defining development

I can define quality of life and development and understand how their definitions have changed over time.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Quality of life has multiple aspects, some of which are subjective such as life satisfaction.
  2. Development is a contested term often linked to a limited (Eurocentric), outdated view of economic progress.
  3. Its definition has broadened over time to include human welfare, social and environmental justice.
  4. The process of development is neither inevitable nor apolitical.

Keywords

  • Quality of life - for individuals or the community, a measure of social and economic well-being

  • Built environment - the parts of places in which we live that have been built by people, rather than exist in nature

  • Life satisfaction - a subjective measure of happiness used to compare countries

  • Development - the progress of a country in terms of wealth, use of technology and human welfare

Common misconception

That a single image can help us to understand how quality of life is different in distant places.

While images can be of use they can not depict all aspects of life, moreover each image can only ever show a single place or group of people. Within any country there is a diversity of lived experience.


To help you plan your year 11 geography lesson on: Defining development, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

You might try to highlight the way in which our understanding of the way quality of life varies around the world is coloured by our own experiences and the Eurocentric nature of our culture. Some aspects of quality of life are subjective and difficult to interrogate at a distance.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
When we consider intergovernmental organisations, what does U.N. stand for?
Correct Answer: United Nations, united nations
Q2.
According to the UN, how many countries are there?
63
103
153
Correct answer: 193
Q3.
Which of the following is not an aim of the UN's development programme?
poverty elimination
economic growth
human development
Correct answer: space exploration
Q4.
Where are the headquarters of the UN? in the USA.
Correct Answer: New York, new york
Q5.
The UN's current goals are known as the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable development balances current needs with those of ...
Correct answer: future generations.
past generations.
distant friends.
local communities.
Q6.
What was the last set of UN development goals known as? (They had to be delivered in 15 years by 2015.)
Major Development Goals
Mission Development Goals
Correct answer: Millennium Development Goals
Model Development Goals

4 Questions

Q1.
Which of these is a multi-aspect measure of social and economic well-being?
built environment
income
access to safe water
Correct answer: quality of life
Q2.
Which of these mean the parts of places in which we live that have been built by people, rather than exist in nature.
Correct answer: built environment
goods and services
lived experience
local habitats
Q3.
Reorder the following five stages of economic development or 'modernisation' into the order suggested by Rostow.
1 - traditional society
2 - preconditions to take-off
3 - take-off
4 - drive to maturity
5 - age of mass consumption
Q4.
Which of the following is not one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals that relate to the protection of the environment?
Affordable and clean energy
Climate action
Correct answer: Gender equality
Responsible consumption and production