The document discusses the past, present, and future of geography as an academic subject. It outlines how geography has progressed from the "Halcyon Days" prior to 1991 to challenges it currently faces, including declining student numbers. It sees opportunities in curriculum reviews but also challenges from priorities on other subjects. The document argues geography is well-positioned to focus on sustainable development, which could help secure its place in curriculums similarly to how literacy and numeracy support English and math.

1. GA Conference 2008 Presidential Address Sustaining Geography John Westaway, GA President

2. Sustaining geography Geography – past, present and future Who are geographers and where do they come from? Where is geography now and how did it get there? What next for geography? Geography for sustainable development and the sustainable development of geography

3. Who are geographers and where do they come from? Geography – past, present and future

4. The invisibility of geographers Who and where are all the geographers? GA as Geographers Anonymous?

5. Guess the subject! It was his love of maps, of globes and atlases, which had years ago led him, in a roundabout way, into the world of _______. So many maps had he pored over in his time that he dressed, without fully realizing, in the pastels of cartography: yellow corduroy trousers (6000-9000 feet above sea level), the jacket of darkly woven maroon (Antarctic Tundra), shirt of Viyella peach (less than 1 inch of rainfall per annum), and the red fleck on his woollen tie looked like International Boundaries or population over 500 persons per square mile.’ From: Homesickness by Murray Ball zoology and the missing word is ….

6. Where do geographers come from? Some are born geographers Some achieve geography Some have geography thrust upon them

7. Some are born geographers Daydreams in the classroom Football (Bristol City) Cricket (Gloucestershire) Pop music (Rolling Stones et al)

8. Some have geography thrust upon them

9. Some achieve geography What attracts young people to geography? Attractions of the subject? Charismatic teachers and/or good teaching? Being good at it? Leads to a particular career?

10. Attractions of geography? Exotic places? Issues? Physical environment? Fieldwork?

11. Charismatic teachers or good teaching?

12. Good at geography?

13. Bristol – a GA President hotspot Pat Cleverley (1984-85); Vic Dennison (1980-81); Sheila Jones (1975-76)

14. Bristol – a GA President hotspot Jeremy Krause 2001-02 Chris Kington 2002-03 Margaret Roberts 2008-09 John Hopkin 2010-11

15. The quantitative approach GAP i /GAP __________ Pop i /Pop Where: GAP i is the number of GA presidents who were born, live or lived, teach or taught in city i GAP is the number of GA presidents in the nation Pop i is the population of city i Pop is the population of the nation Source: Walter Isard. Methods of Regional Analysis. MIT Press, 1960

16. And the results are … 1975-2011 Location quotient – 20.2

17. How to make more young people achieve geography Ensure young people continue to experience geography Ensure that what they experience is high quality geography

18. Geography – past, present and future Where is geography now and how did it get there?

19. Where is geography now? Marginalisation of geography in primary (and secondary?) schools Declining numbers at GCSE & A level Lots of satisfactory or worse geography teaching (Ofsted) Poor public image – pub quizzes; boring Invisibility of geographers

20. … and how did it get there? The Halcyon Days of Geography(?): the whole of geography until 1991 Post-National Curriculum – the Dark Ages(?): 1991-2008 A brief history of geography

21. The Halcyon Days? 1960s

22. The Halcyon Days? GYSL Bristol Project Geography 16-19 But ….. ‘… (there is) the need for a close and critical look at all tasks requiring straight copying , an exercise with more custodial than educational usefulness. Copying is not as rife at Hampstead as elsewhere … ’ ‘… too much time is spent in transferring quite complex maps and diagrams from printed page or blackboard …’ Notes based on an Inspectorate Study visit, 1981 1970s & 1980s

23. The Dark Ages? 1991-95: the 1991 National Curriculum 1995-2000: the 1995 National Curriculum 2000-08: the 2000 National Curriculum

24. The 1991 National Curriculum

25. 1991-1995 Compulsory geography 5-16 Overloaded & overprescriptive curriculum 5 Attainment targets 183 Statements of Attainment 10 levels of attainment Standard Attainment Tasks (SATs) developed for key stage 1-3 geography ‘ Double page spread’ textbooks making sense of the NC Testing & school performance tables

26. Geography SATs

27. The 1995 National Curriculum

28. 1995-2000 Geography optional in key stage 4 No statutory testing of geography in key stages 1-3 – Teacher Assessment instead Dearing Review – revised NC for Geography Reduced content Single attainment target 8 levels of attainment plus EP; level descriptions Optional Tests and Tasks for Key Stage 3 Schemes of Work for key stages 1 and 2 Relaxation of PoS in key stages 1 & 2

29. The 2000 National Curriculum

30. 2000-08 Revised NC for geography Further content reduction Increased flexibility through reorganisation Return to full National Curriculum in primary schools Scheme of Work for key stage 3

31. So why is geography faring so badly? Are things that much worse than in 1990? Tests, league tables and subject priorities? Quality of teaching? More competition? Curriculum non-development? Non-specialist teachers/less subject support?

32. Geography – past, present and future What next for geography?

33. At the crossroads: 2008 Primary review New secondary (ie key stage 3) curriculum 14-19 New GCSEs (2009) and A levels Diplomas, including one for Humanities ‘ Geography is at a crucial period in its development. More needs to be done to make the subject relevant and more engaging for pupils, particularly at Key Stage 3’. Christine Gilbert, HMCI

34. Opportunities & Challenges: Primary Review New improved geography curriculum? But: Aims of primary review – more time for literacy & numeracy; arts & music? PE & sport? compulsory MFL?

35. Opportunities & Challenges: Key stage 3 New, improved programme of study – key concepts; flexibility But: Place of geography (& subjects generally) in whole curriculum – two year key stage 3? Move to more integrated curriculum?

37. Opportunities & Challenges: 14-19 New GCSE & AS/A level specifications – scope for improving quality of geography teaching & learning But: Diplomas – new humanities diploma - squeeze on geography GCSE & A level?

38. Opportunities provided by the new geography curriculum frameworks Opportunities & Challenges Challenges come from the wider curriculum framework in all key stages & phases. Why should curriculum managers give geography any sort of priority? We need to argue the case for geography (again)

39. A case for geography A case for geography 1987 A case for geography 2008 Different curriculum context - geography still a statutory subject 5-14, but subjects no longer king Audience for the case for geography not primarily the government, but more curriculum managers in schools

40. A case for geography Stick to our knitting? And become an intrinsic, pure, minority pursuit Go for legislation? Because ‘geography is essential’ Emphasise vocational utility – maps, GIS? Argue for extrinsic educational purpose and the contribution geography can make to the educated person? David Lambert. Paper to GA Governing Body 8 Mar 2008 Choices

41. Geography for sustainable development and the sustainable development of geography

42. A focus on sustainable development? Geography has a real opportunity to establish itself more securely in the school curriculum through a more explicit focus on sustainable development Sustainable development is near the top of society’s agenda. Government launched Sustainable Schools strategy two years ago - schools will be expected to become more sustainable

43. The case for a sustainable development focus Sustainable development could be to geography what literacy and numeracy are to English and mathematics

44. Sustainable development and geography The central place of English in the school curriculum owes much to the fact that it includes literacy Why can’t geography occupy a more central place in the school curriculum because it includes sustainable development? The central place of mathematics in the school curriculum owes much to the fact that it includes numeracy

45. The case for a sustainable development focus We’re already doing it – and have been for many years Sustainable development could be to geography what literacy and numeracy are to English and mathematics

46. GYSL People Place & Work 1975

47. Geography National Curriculum 1991

48. Geography National Curriculum 1995

49. Geography National Curriculum 2000

50. Geography National Curriculum 2008 Environmental interaction & sustainable development is one of the seven key concepts identified for geography

51. The case for a sustainable development focus We’re already doing it – and have been for many years Significant overlap between geography & ESD Sustainable development could be to geography what literacy and numeracy are to English and mathematics

52. So what is ESD? ‘ ESD enables pupils to develop the knowledge, skills, understanding and values to participate in decisions about the way we do things individually and collectively, both locally and globally, that will improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for the future’ National Curriculum 2000

53. Geography & sustainable development: the overlap Key processes/key elements Geography ESD fieldwork … an essential element values & attitudes issues … now & in the future how … economies, societies & environments are interconnected questioning, investigation & critical thinking responsibilities to other people, the environment … out of classroom learning viewpoints & opinions Futures systems approach – interaction between economic, social & environmental systems critical thinking …, weighing evidence, presenting reasoned argument question own lifestyles & attitudes

54. Geography & sustainable development: the overlap Concepts Geography NC GCSE Geog pilot ESD Place Space Scale Interdependence Physical & human processes Environmental interaction & sustainable development Cultural understanding & diversity Uneven development Interdependence Futures Sustainability Globalisation Citizenship & stewardship Interdependence Sustainable change Needs & rights of future generations Uncertainty & precaution Quality of life Diversity

55. Geography & sustainable development: the overlap Content Geography Flexible choice of content ESD The Sustainable Schools framework ‘doorways’* * www.teachernet.gov.uk/sustainableschools/

56. Sustainable Schools

57. Sustainable schools – travel and traffic

58. Sustainable schools – global dimension

59. The challenge for geography New curriculum frameworks Three more years of the Action Plan for Geography The Sustainable Schools strategy

60. Sustainable schools and geography So what do we need to do?

61. What can the GA do? APG sustainable development strand – curriculum development examples and online CPD on GTT website; Geography Awareness Week (23-27 June) focus on sustainable schools Places People Want: building sustainable communities details & online CPD on GA website; Focus on sustainable development in journals (Primary Geographer, Autumn 2007; Teaching Geography, articles on sustainable schools, 2008);

62. What can teachers do? Make sustainable development more prominent and/or explicit in your new teaching schemes Make explicit links to the Sustainable Schools framework in your teaching schemes Check what your school is doing about the Sustainable Schools strategy and ensure SMTs know about it and the central role geography is, or should be, playing Be proactive in the school’s adoption of the Sustainable Schools framework, making clear the links to geography scheme of work Make geography indispensable – in terms of what and how you teach and your students learn

63. Geography for sustainable development … … and sustainable development of geography!