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Geography on Tour



It started as a mad cap scheme to tour the country investigating local issues and producing teaching resources from the results. Now I'm pleased to say that the project will be supported by the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) with an Innovative Geography Teaching Award. This is great news and I'm very keen to get on with the project.

The abstract from the aplication reads:

"The outcome will be a series of podcasts, videos, Google Earth tours, lessons and unit ideas to inspire and support secondary geography colleagues across the country. This project will tour the country examining local issues that geographers can understand and contribute to. The aim is to link to the key concepts of geography as outlined in the 2008 National Curriculum and demonstrate how pupils can ‘participate in informed responsible action’ while exploring ‘real and relevant contemporary contexts.’ After speaking to colleagues I believe that this is one area of the new orders that present a real challenge to geography departments. "

There will be lots more about this project - but in the meantime if there are any local issues near you that students could contribute to then I would be pleased to hear from you. I already have a number of ideas including:

*the reaction to new housing developments near Worthing in the context of a need to provide thousands of new houses;
*the proposed new Pompey Stadium and its impact on the environment;
*the management of Mount Snowdon as a tourist honeypot site – how can young people contribute to the sustainable management of National Parks?

The aim is to provide six case studies......

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  1. Anonymous19 February 2008 at 09:24

    David, any chance you could spare some time for a fellow geographer attempting to promote a passion for geography in her staff and pupils. I am the Geography Co-ordinator at St Monica Junior School Southampton and we are in the process of compiling evidence for the Primary Geography Quality Mark. School Contact number 02380322771. Thanks Laura

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