Which topics you are planning to teach to your sixth form geographers from the new specifications, and in what order, will depend on a number of factors. Every school and geography department will have their own considerations, freedoms and restrictions but I will outline what I believe to be some common themes below. I will […]
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Despite some of the final specifications from exam boards not yet being approved, we do have the AS and A Level subject content set out by the government which was published in December 2014. Perhaps the least familiar theme from the list above to many secondary geography teachers is Changing place; changing places. At first glance, the criteria may look daunting and […]
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Times are changing in secondary education thanks to government reforms: around the country new AS, A Level and GCSE courses will be being from September 2016. At the time of writing, all GCSE specifications have been accredited. But, only Pearson (Edexcel) has been accredited at AS and A Level, with AQA, OCR and Eduqas on their third submissions to Ofqual. For those who are yet to decide which specification to follow, the Geographical Association has a wealth […]
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Open days/mornings/evenings are a chance to showcase the great work you do in your department: the event may be aimed at potential GCSE/A Level candidates or it may be for prospective pupils (and their parents) who are entirely new to the school. Whatever the audience here are five ideas to help you make the most […]
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There is no doubt that the profile of geography is in rude health: geography is the “must-have A level” according to an article in The Guardian last August and reports from the Royal Geographical Society show that geography is now the 8th most popular subject at A level (having seen the largest increase in entries of any subject in […]
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You probably saw the announcement over the summer that geography has seen the biggest rise in popularity of any subject at A Level , prompting articles from the TES and the Guardian praising the subject. With geography attracting all this attention and with specification changes underway at both GCSE and A Level it seems a good time to re-consider what our subject is about and why it matters. It is also a […]
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VAK: No, not a domestic appliance but the acronym for the main “learning styles” with which most teachers will be familiar. Visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners are those who apparently learn best through images (diagrams, charts and photographs), the spoken word (anecdotes, stories and lectures) and movement (physical actions) respectively. These different “modalities” were recognised […]
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I was a relative late-comer to Twitter: I set up a personal account in 2011 really just to see what all the fuss was about. Reading tweets from celebrities and comedians was of limited interest to me personally but it was through following newspapers, journalists and current affairs programmes that I realised just how many […]
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Recent, relevant case studies are crucial elements of studying geography. That is not to say that older case studies are junk but dusting off the same material year after year will not only become tiresome for the teacher, but will limit the geographical awareness of the student. Certainly, the AQA exam board defines recent as […]
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Whilst writing about the regeneration of Gloucester for a GeoActive article recently, I was encouraged to reflect on what makes this city an interesting case study. As my school is in the Gloucester, the question of accessibility and personal knowledge/experience accounts for the choice from a pragmatic point of view but to be useful to […]
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