Choosing new geography specifications

Earth

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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What is geography, exactly?

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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Learning styles: have we moved on? And if not, should we?

Plasticine

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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