Living Geography

The Geographical Association

• ‘ ... furthering the learning and teaching of geography’

• It does this through– Supporting teacher development– Promoting curriculum development

These are mutually dependent activities

The GA ‘approach’

• Belief in teacher autonomy. This has– Privileges (eg guardians of quality and selecting content)– Responsibilities (eg intellectual engagement)

• Curriculum making. This emphasises– Strong purpose relating to the outcomes of disciplined

enquiry (eg ‘thinking geographically’)– Localised and responsive curricula that excite and build on

young people’s curiosity and engagement with the world.

Student Experiences

Geography: the subjectTeacher Choices

Underpinned by Key Concepts Thinking

Geographically

Learning Activity

How does this take the learner beyond what they already know?

Curriculum MakingCurriculum Making

Summary

• We value– geography as a subject discipline and intellectual resource.

This emphasises engagement with ideas over the ‘delivery’ of content knowledge

– young people’s geographical experiences, interests and curiosity and their interaction with the world and capacity to learn

– the art and craft of teaching and the development of pedagogic repertoire

• Our goal – to enable a more geo-capable citizenship

Living Geography

Can we build this idea into the GA’s activities more explicitly?

- Geography Quality Mark criteria?- in responses to consultations (eg GCSE

specifications)?- in project developments?- in position statements and website

presence?

A Living Geography “Community of Practice”

Participation

Reification

World

Negotiated

meaning

experience

documents

membership

curriculum making

Examples/models

mutuality

instruments

Adapted from Wenger 1998 Communities of

Practice: learning, meaning and identity, CUP

P = ‘taking part’

R = the ‘thingness’

Living Geography

• Does this ‘brand’ have legs?– Why brand? What’s wrong with what we’ve got?

• What does it mean?– To teachers, young people, parents, politicians/policy

makers

GA and the GTE network

• TEWG– Campaigns– Conference

• TDA funding– Margaret Roberts– Data base, GTIP and GeogEd; New tutors

GA and the GTE network

• TEWG– Campaigns– Conference

• TDA funding– Margaret Roberts– Data base, GTIP and GeogEd; New tutors

Recruitment and retention !