Slides to support a lecture given at the 2014 Annual Conference of the Geographical Association. The key message is that the current curriculum reforms do not signal the death of school geography but a renewal and revival. Indeed, geography is a critical subject in the whole education of a child.

1. The new National Curriculum: it’s not the end
of geography as we know it
David Rogers
@davidErogers
davidrogers.org.uk

2. The new National Curriculum: it’s (not) the end
of geography as we know it hopefully…..
David Rogers
@davidErogers
davidrogers.org.uk

3. Thanks to: Rachel Jones

10. A document is never going to be creative.
Teachers are.

12. What is the
significance of the
number 1,817?

13. Delayed gratification
1,817 days (ish)

14. Year 7
2013
Year 11
2018
Year 2
2008
Born
2002
Financial crisis
Gordon Brown PM
Banks part-nationalised
My uni graduation
5 Years5 Years

20. ‘He told me very calmly that he had
broken his leg. He looked pathetic, and
my immediate thought came without any
emotion, You’re f****d, matey. You’re
dead… no two ways about it! I think he
knew it too. I could see it in his face. It
was all totally rational. I knew where we
were, I took in everything around me
instantly, and knew he was dead.’
Simon Yates in Joe Simpson’s Touching the Void.

21. Photo Credit used through Creative Commons
„…there was a clear tendency amongst best teachers
to see the power of the humdrum, the everyday.‟
Practice Perfect, Lemov, D; Woolway E; Yezzi, K p5-6

22. ‘Learning is hard. True, learning is fun, exhilarating
and gratifying – but it is often daunting, exhausting
and sometimes discouraging… To help chronically
low-performing but intelligent students, educators
and parents must first recognise that character is at
least as important as intellect.’
Angela Duckworth p61 in How Children succeed.

23. Opportunities

25. A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a
curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will
remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip
pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and
natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding
of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils
progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to
deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and
human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and
environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills
provide the framework and approaches that explain how the Earth’s
features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change
over time.
Purpose of study

26. A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a
curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will
remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip
pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and
natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding
of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils
progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to
deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and
human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and
environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills
provide the framework and approaches that explain how the Earth’s
features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change
over time.
Purpose of study

27. Levels are gone

28. Can
potential be
measured?

29. Thanks to Patcham High’s Art
department and @PrioryGeography

30. enhancing competence in a range of intellectual and
communication skills, including the formulation of arguments,
that include elements of synthesis and evaluation of material.
‘Data’ should include both qualitative and quantitative data
and data from both primary and secondary sources: fieldwork
data; GIS material; written and digital sources; visual and
graphical sources; and numerical and statistical information.
Using data should include its collection, interpretation and
analysis, including the application of appropriate quantitative
and statistical techniques (a list of required skills and
techniques is given in the Appendix); it also includes the
effective presentation, communication and evaluation of
material.

31. What is the climate like on the African continent?
Starter challenges:
1. Approximately, how many times can you fit
the UK into the African continent?
UK Land area: 83,698 sq mi
African continent land area: 11.7 million sq mi
2. How many miles, north to south, is the
African continent?

32. 139 times.

33. What is weather and how does it affect people?
Do now:
Using the shapes below, create a sketch map
of the UK. You may have to rotate them and
resize.
Mark on the location of:
London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast

35. Do now: Thunk: Discuss using partner voice.
How do you know an island exists when you haven’t been there?

36. How can you prove somewhere is different if you have never travelled to
other places?

37. What were the main events which made Eyjafjallajökull
the unpronounceable a household name?
Imagine you were there
What would you see?
What would you hear?
How would people behave? What would you smell?
What would you taste? How do you feel?

38. Location
Sights
(most
important
first)
Physical
features
Human
features
Sounds /
smells
Feeling
Thanks to: Noel Jenkins

39. Hearing
Sight
Touch
Smell
Taste
Image copyright of
Pshychogeographer
Write a detailed description of what you’d expect to see in this place.

42. Is your curriculum full of
JONK?

43. Who are
these
people?
Why are
they
armed?
Are Mexican
migrants
armed and
dangerous?
How do I know
that they are
the US Border
Patrol?

44. Should we
protect our
urban
places?
Who would
pay for this?
Who is behind
this? Do the
represent
London?
Is London that
special?
Are there
places close
to us that
need
protecting?
Do existing
National
Parks fairly
represent
Britain?

45. Change is inevitable - except from a vending
machine. ~Robert C. Gallagher
He tells us what we can’t teach……..

46. Put geography at the centre of our schools

48. ‘Having to bloody change AGAIN’
‘Lack of resources (time + money)’

52. “Your are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to
live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and
achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if
you forget this errand.”
Woodrow Wilson.

53. „What gets you out of bed in the morning
and in to school?‟
@davidErogers