Geography Teaching Today

If you are teaching in a Humanities College and are thinking about becoming a CGeog (Teacher), using examples presented in your Specialism bid may enhance your CGeog application and give you some ideas as to the sort of evidence you should be supplying. When using Geography as one of your target-setting subjects you are asked to present evidence that you are doing certain activities within your department. Here's how these might link across to your CGeog (Teacher) application:

Using ICT extensively and effectively, including geographical information systems.
As a teacher in a Humanities College you will have no doubt participated in numerous ICT and GIS based CPD opportunities and will have embedded these skills into your teaching. You may also have presented some CPD based around the topics to local schools or other departments or had some of your resources published. Both of these show your competence in this area and can be used as evidence towards CGeog (Teacher).

Looking at contemporary issues from a geographical perspective as a starting point for school studies.
Geography lends itself very well to whole school activities, and as a CGeog (Teacher) applicant we would expect you to be involved in some kind of whole school initiative. Examples include a Geography Action Week, Fair Trade week, Sustainability events, recycling drives, cross-curricular projects.

Providing high quality, varied and progressive fieldwork experiences for all pupils
Many of our CGeog (Teacher) applicants have participated in extensive fieldwork opportunities, ranging from locally based visits to residential and international trips. Because of the CPD commitment required to attain CGeog (Teacher), many applicants also participate in some kind of fieldwork CPD throughout the year (or at very the least know where to find additional fieldwork support and resources to enhance their experiences). Ensure you include your fieldwork experience in your CGeog application.

Making effective use of the locality and developing strong links to contribute to, or lead on, local issues and initiatives
If as part of your Humanities bid you included a community project your department was involved in, make sure you include details of it in your CGeog application. Again, this is an excellent way to demonstrate your commitment to geography outside of your school, and may also include links to other organisations and local businesses which can strengthen your application. You might like to include some press cuttings or web articles if you have any.

Forging links with school in other counties
Our CGeog (Teacher) network is international, and we encourage links between CGeogs both within the UK and worldwide. This is done through our mentoring scheme and associated collaborative projects between schools, and also through our regional networks. We expect our CGeog (Teacher) applicants to be having an impact within the geographical community outside of their school, and email links, joint projects or exchanges with both UK and international schools are a great way of showing this.

Participating in both local and national schemes
As a designated Humanities department you will no doubt have forged links with organisations and charities and have participated in schemes such as Eco-Schools. This is all great evidence towards CGeog (Teacher) as it shows your commitment to linking beyond your school. Explain how these links have enhanced teaching and learning in your department.

Work collaboratively with partner schools to provide or facilitate high quality learning opportunities and outcomes in the specialist subjects - by sharing specialist facilities and resources, enhancing further the quality of teaching and developing and disseminating good practice.
This is one of the aims of the specialist programme and is something each Humanities College will be expected to do. You will have links with your partner schools and will have shared resources and good practice with them; yet another example of promoting geography in the wider community and forging links beyond your school. This may have been done in the form of inset or CPD sessions, which is proof you not only have a commitment to your own CPD but also to helping others with theirs. If you have developed your departmental website as part of your bid this can also count as evidence towards CGeog (Teacher).

Strategies to increase the resources earmarked for continued professional development, over and above what would normally be expected.
You may have included various strategies, both departmental and personal in your bid. CGeog (Teacher) is certainly one way of opening doors to more CPD opportunities via our regional networks, free courses for CGeogs and regular updates containing information about events and online support. You may also wish to develop your own local geography CPD network with our financial support and advice (email cgeogteacher@rgs.org if you are interested in doing this). If you are thinking about applying for Humanities Status why not include Chartered Geographer (Teacher) in your bid as one of your CPD strategies?