David Rogers

A lot of the work that the department are doing at the moment involves the exploration of space. We believe that young people's understanding of space (a key concept in the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum) is underdeveloped. To further support this work, we were delighted to be awarded an Innovative Geography Teaching Grant by the Royal Geographical Society with IBG. The project abstract reads: Space may be the final frontier but it’s closer than you think. Do our students engage with and understand the spaces in which they live and learn? Are they able articulate how they feel and what they think about space? Do they feel constrained by the spaces around them, or do they feel empowered by it? This project aims to explore these questions. Drawing upon inspiration from a number of cutting edge projects, ( mywalks , Urban Earth , Guerilla Geography , Mission Explore , the Big Art Project , 360 degree photography , Doorstep Geography ) the project will draw toget...

As part of my RGS(IBG) Innovative Teaching Grant I have attempted to define participatory geography. a. Pupils involved in creating and evaluating the curriculum i. At Priory this aspect proved to be very innovative and controversial! To meet this criteria, pupil voice has been gathered using on-line questionnaires. In addition, a small group of pupils has been formed whose role is to feed back to staff on the quality of the curriculum. During the project it became clear that although pupils are often involved in evaluating what has happened to them, they are rarely involved in creating their own curriculum. Geography on Tour aimed to create resources that will be used with pupils who chose the issues. b. Pupils making informed personal choices i. What do they buy? Changing behaviour such a turning off lights and using less water. c. Pupils informing and influencing their ...

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 ...