GlosGeog, Gloucestershire’s local Geographical Association (GA) branch, was fortunate to receive a visit from Dr Rebecca Kitchen, Head of Professional Development at the Geographical Association (GA), this afternoon. The event, aimed at secondary teachers, ECTs and trainees, was kindly hosted by Odyssey Teaching School Hub based at Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham.
After formally welcoming and introducing everybody, I handed over to Dr Rebecca Kitchen. Becky began by looking at the Curriculum and Assessment Review. She explained what it is, shared the key messages from the Interim Report and considered what this means for geography teachers.
Next, Becky outlined who is responsible for what in terms of decision-making re: geography. At this point, she also referenced the Geographical Association (GA) comprehensive ‘A Framework for the school geography curriculum‘ (https://geography.org.uk/curriculum-support/support-guidance-curriculum-planning/ga-curriculum-framework/). Whilst I was very familiar with its content, several teachers were not; one to certainly delve into at your leisure. Figure 2: A framework for the school geography curriculum on page 4 clearly discusses the aims, substantive and disciplinary knowledge, plus Figure 4: A conceptual grid for school geography – ways of thinking about the world on page 8 and the associated commentary on pages 7 to 9 relating to geographical concepts is hugely supportive.
Becky later spoke about the Geographical Association (GA) response to the Interim Report. She provided some context and including its recommendations for the National Curriculum (Key Stages 1, 2 and 3), GCSE and A level geography. It was pleasing to see mention made to climate change, sustainability and green skills at this stage. Becky reinforced that other voices were saying similar things too. Becky paused to answer any questions that delegates had and invited the audience to add any comments if they wished. We had some great contributions from educational professionals present and a lively discussion ensued.
Next, since we are in the throes of the National Festival of Fieldwork, Becky spent fifteen minutes or so focusing on high-quality fieldwork. She gave us a sneak preview of a National Research Report that she has written and which is due to be published on the Geographical Association (GA) website later this week. The proformas included towards the end will be beneficial to teachers when undertaking an audit of fieldwork at their school and the progression framework will, no doubt, be an essential resource to refer to. Becky directed us towards the Geographical Association (GA) new spiralised fieldwork resources collection, some of which I intend to use when conducting fieldwork next week with pupils at North Nibley C of E Primary School in Gloucestershire. You really do not have to go far to engage students in impactful and purposeful fieldwork.
Finally, as there has been much discussion about the use of AI in education of late, Becky highlighted how we might utilise such tools to make our lives easier. She recommended ‘having a play’ with the AI tool, Perplexity, in particular (https://geography.org.uk/curriculum-support/support-guidance-curriculum-planning/ga-curriculum-framework/) and elaborated upon how she had used it recently. Her suggested ‘brilliant geographer‘ activity would be great to do with new Year 7 students to enable them to personalise the front of their exercise books and for teachers to get to know them better. On my return from our GlosGeog event, I had a go, the outcome of which can be viewed below. Not a bad first attempt, but I need to avoid some duplication of accessories next time around!
Furthermore, Becky drew our attention to a number of articles that have been written in the Geographical Association (GA) Teaching Geography journal linked to AI.
Some of participants’ ‘concluding comments‘ can be viewed below:
Thank you for putting on the meeting yesterday. As a new HOD I found this really interesting and insightful. Also a good networking opportunity.
Thank you so much for organising the excellent session last week. I learnt a lot from Becky and from comments by other attendees.
Thanks for inviting me. 😊
A really useful and enjoyable afternoon, providing opportunities to reflect and network as well.
Many thanks to Becky for giving up her precious time to update and inspire us and to those at Odyssey Teaching School Hub for their warm welcome and outstanding organisation, as always.