Citizenship through Geography

What an interesting week! Leaving the school day to one side, there has been a storm of media interest generated by Thursday's Question Time on BBC 1.

I wonder how many young people would have seen the broadcast? I wonder how that figure would compare to the number of young people who would be aware of the incident - whether it be through the internet or other forms of media? How many are aware of the BNP's views? How many are able to critically examine them?

Leaving aside my personal feelings on the issue - I didn't watch the broadcast as I didn;t feel there would be anything I didn't now already. My view about who to vote for was certainly not going to change.

But, how many of the BNP's supporters watch question time on a regular basis?

To me, these events have highlighted the need for robust teaching about 'Citizenship' (for want of a better word). I think that Geography is at the core of helping young people to understand and become more informed about their world, whether it's from a media, political or social point of view. This doesn't mean that we need to abandon our geographical standpoint as I believe that these issues ARE geography.

I will be sharing some of my ideas at the SAGT Conference next weekend and the GA Annual Conference next year.

Image: James M Thorne

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