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How I completed my first Teaching Geography article

How I completed my first Teaching Geography article

24 November 2022
Read time: 6mins

‘It really can all begin with a few ideas in bullet-point form and getting in touch – don’t think you need a complete article before you get in touch!’

Daryl Sinclair

A short, at times tongue-in-cheek, step-by-step of what I did to publish my first article in The Geographical Association’s Teaching Geography journal.

Writing an article for a journal is a daunting task, but a task which needs many voices and perspectives to make it valuable. Here is my experience and guidance for aspiring writers and the pathways they can take to receive the support they need to get their first publication.

Journals, articles, and academic writing

The world of academic writing and journal writing holds a critical position for teachers. The journals we read during our training and further certifications were key sources of learning and information; simply presenting this to us in journal form gave the work a prestige that many of us aspired to contribute to.

Unfortunately, for many, this prestige also created a barrier to entry. It seemed a daunting task to write for a journal and we may not all have had the privilege of a mentor or colleague who could guide us. The resulting hesitation and uncertainty about where to start has prevented many valuable and important voices from being heard.

This reality is most notable for teachers from diverse backgrounds. Teachers who already are a distinct minority when engaging with academia, and subsequently have less access to the support needed to successfully write for a journal.

It has been a target of mine for many years as an academic and a teacher, but this year, I finally published my first journal articles!

With leadership from Teaching Geography Editors Richard Bustin and Melanie Norman, the path to publishing is clearer, easier, and more inclusive than ever.

As you read about my experience, I want to bring to light the support and incredible community of geography teachers who helped along the way. Even for a first-time writer, you are not alone, and there is a wonderful collection of people holding out their hands to lift you up onto the platform and give you space to share your expertise.

Here is a link to how you can start your journey: Writing for Teaching Geography

Completing my first publication

Here is a step-by-step of how it happened for me:

Connect with the community of geographers involved in areas of geography which interest me. For me, that was the Decolonise Geography group, but through different GA Conferences and teacher events, I also met many peers.
Read articles from Teaching Geography. This helped me to get a feel for the writing style, calibre and what was being said in the areas I wanted to write about.
Through reading articles, identify writers with whom you can collaborate and get in touch – more voices are always better and may support you in maintaining your momentum.
Further validate your ideas through discussions with established writers in the field you are interested in. I had the privilege of connecting with Christine Winter and Dan Whittall through the Decolonise Geography group. They helped to connect me with Alesha De Fonseka with whom I wrote my first article. Finding support and a co-writer greatly raised my confidence, and together we put together our writing following the guidelines presented by Teaching Geography.Writing solo was even easier; with encouragement from the wonderful Briley Habib, I moved onwards to working with Richard Bustin for the autumn issue with simply an expression of interest in writing about a certain topic.It really can all begin with a few ideas in bullet-point form and getting in touch – don’t think you need a complete article before you get in touch!
Receive amazing support from the editor. Melanie and Richard were incredibly supportive, navigating the creation process and edits to the submissions. They were available and growth-orientated. They want me to succeed and publish. Just take the first step and share your idea and start the momentum which will lead to your first publication!
At the appropriate stage, submit the relevant manuscripts.
Cross your fingers and anxiously wait for the peer review results.
Proceed to focus your energy on fighting the anxiety telling you to make massive changes to your writing in anticipation of the feedback.
Slowly focus on your day-to-day teaching and forget about the writing for the weeks in which the peer review takes place.
Have a mild panic upon receipt of the feedback; consider backing out as clearly you are not a good writer.
Listen to the Editor’s advice on interpreting and responding to the feedback. Believe in them when they advise you, ‘I do hope this is helpful and please do get back in touch if you have any further questions. We are keen to publish your article, so look forward to your next draft.’, as Richard so kindly told me – and keep working.
Take the opportunity to ask the Editor questions! I was immensely impressed when Richard went as far as recommending further reading and references to strengthen my article; the support is truly impressive and makes it all much easier on your first attempt.
Submit your final copy and await the proofs.
Try not to agonise too much and avoid flinching as you click the ‘send’ button on the email confirming that you are happy for the work to be published along with the relevant signed paperwork.
Have a mild panic session somewhere around two weeks before the issue comes out as you realise how many people will have access to your writing, the influence you can have on classroom teaching across the country, and old and new colleagues who may see your article!
Be on the buzzer to share your article as the issue is released. Take pride in the GA retweeting your share and colleagues and new contacts getting in touch to celebrate your publication or share how they have used and learnt from it.
Hold back tears as you receive the hard copy in the post and share it with loved ones recognising that something you held as a major goal has been achieved.
Show off at school; maybe casually leave a copy open on your article on your HOD or Head of School’s desk.
Think about the people who may be referencing your work at university and beyond.
Try to note down all the ideas you have for follow-up research and articles.
Start brainstorming your next article…
Recognise that you couldn’t have achieved this without the fantastic support of the geography community.
Write an article to support those who may still be standing before step one and need a little push and inspiration…

So there you have it.

A lot of work led to the final article, but a key realisation was that the hard work is already done if you are thinking about writing a journal article.

Once you start, expressing yourself in writing with support is releasing something you will feel proud to do.

In conclusion

With my articles, I wanted to present something that would support other teachers and support the movement of geography pedagogy towards a more inclusive and equitable space for teachers and students.

To do so, I simply needed to:

research and find evidence for my ideas
connect with my peers and the great team behind Teaching Geography
share my knowledge in a curated way.

Everyone who is passionate about teaching geography has a journal article within them. We particularly need to hear more from the teachers with unique and often marginalised perspectives, and there is the support and community who proactively wants to make that happen.

Share your expertise to support the development of the geography community; you will have a lot of fun doing it and may make many new connections with communities which will help you become a better teacher.

Best of luck to you, and please share the story of your experiences; I would love to read it!