Geography Teaching Today

I think the Action Plan for Geography heralds the 'good new days of geography' and look forward to seeing headlines such as 'Geography is the best taught subject in schools' as suggested by Fran Martin, editor of Primary Geographer. It's really time to challenge all those negative conceptions of geography - whether you're a pupil, teacher, parent or policy maker. There are a lot of us out there who really believe in the relevance and importance of good geography to our daily lives and our global contexts. There is also a wealth of fantastic geography going on in schools that doesn't get mentioned! So please join us and let your voice be heard too. Maybe you have a passion for geography already or maybe you want to develop a passion for this important and relevant subject. Together, we can really move this agenda forward.

Firstly, to stress the enthusiasm with which I attended and then left the London conference. I am still very excited by the Curriculum Making initiative, especially as we in my school have a great opportunity at present to re-design our curriculum along topic lines.
Now a moan and a lament, all the more so for being (I guess) fairly typical. In the month since the conference I have barely had the time to give even fleeting attention to the materials and online backup available and feel a bit like a traitor to the cause.
On the positive side, though, we are even now immersed in planning and making our new curriculum work (current whole-school topic: India) and we are enjoying it, despite the stress of making so much up "on the hoof". We are also currently planning next term's theme - Water (plenty of Citizenship and sustainability there!) and the long-term plan for the next 3 years. Although I have hardly had time to dedicate to my GA task, I think that a lot of it is underway in another guise!
May I just wish good luck and inspiration to all of you out there who doubtless are much better organised and further forward than I!

I sympathise with Andy's comments about the time aspect of our jobs. I too find this a very exciting time to be involved in Geography as our school co-ordinator. There are so many conflicting interests (including budgets) which place constraints on our time. There are, however, ways that you can negotiate 'time' if the direct line approach fails. Try to find out if there are potential funding streams for initiatives available locally sometimes local authorities have community initiative officers who can let you know about this. You may have to do a bit of bid writing to get involved in the process but if you are successful you may include a request for time off to the overall bid. Then you can tailor the training/time off to your curriculum needs. Good luck.

I attended the evaluation part of the Action Plan for Geography INSET today in Bristol and feel truly inspired to look at developing our Key Stage 3 Curriculum further (time permitting, of course!). It was a real priviledge to work alongside many teachers who are passionate about their subject and really keen to make a difference to students' experiences of Geography in school. To have the company of David Lambert and other leading 'experts' was also an added bonus ... hearing about current issues and future initiatives straight from the horse's mouth! I would hope that we will all have the opportunity to build on our fruitful efforts to date and work alongside each other again in the not too distant future.

Having just returned from the evaluation day in Manchester, I feel very enthusiatic having spent the day with like-minded people who all share the same passion for Primary Geography. Let's hope that we can all inspire our staff to take on board some of the initiaives that we have heard about from each other.

Thank you Ruth for the positive feedback. I too returned from Manchester feeling very uplifted by the fantastic and diverse stuff that colleagues are doing in their schools to promote quality geography. Lots of you are enthusing other colleagues as well through ambitious whole school initiatives - which is fantastic. The range of activities and practice being carried out proves how adept and creative teachers can be at effective 'curriculoum making' .

Advice to anyone out there who has not yet taken up the offer of CPD with the GA. Having been inspired, my department went on to develop an ESD unit for Y9 around the journey to school. The students responded well and we have had two winners in a national competition, both winning mountain bikes, as a result.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to meet up with like-minded colleagues during this year. Get involved!