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Research into Government policy and practice in geographical education
Governments can influence geographical education in schools through its policies on: the National Curriculum, assessment, inspection and school governance.
The geography curriculum that is enacted in schools is the result of processes of interpretation and reinterpretations of these government policies by awarding bodies, textbook authors, geography coordinators in academy chains, geography departments and individual teachers.
Gaps in policy research and future possibilities
The following gaps have been identified for further study:
Update on government policies on curriculum, assessment, inspections and school governance and their influence on school geography.
Key sources of geographical education research for policy
Key research articles
- ALCAB (2014) Report of the ALCAB report on Geography
- Winter, C. (2017) Curriculum policy reform in an era of technical accountability: ‘fixing’ curriculum, teachers and students in English schools, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 49, 1, pp. 55-74. (White Rose Research Online)
- Winter, C. (2018) Disrupting colonial discourses in the geography curriculum during the introduction of British Values policy in schools, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 50 (4), 456 – 475.
- Casinader, N. (2016) Secondary Geography and the Australian Curriculum – directions in school implementation: a comparative study, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 25, 3, 258-275.
- Evans, M. (2016) Reflections on the changes to A Level Geography, Geography, 101, 3, 156-163.
- Hopkin, J. (2001) The World According to Geography Textbooks: Interpretations of the English National Curriculum, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 10, 1, 46-67.
- Lambert, D and Hopkin, J. (2014) A possibilist analysis of the geography national curriculum in England, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 23, 1, 64-78.
- Lee, J. and Catling, S. (2017) What do geography textbook authors in England consider when they design content and select case studies?, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 26:4, 342-356.
- Mitchell, D. (2016) Geography teachers and curriculum making in “changing times”, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 25, 2, 121-133.
- Morgan, J. (2008) Curriculum development in new times, Geography, 93, 1, pp. 17-24.
- Rawling, E. (2015) Spotlight on Curriculum change and examination reform for geography 14 -19. Geography, 100, 3, pp. 164-168
- Rawling, E. (2016) The geography curriculum 5-19: What does it all mean? Teaching Geography, 41, 1, pp. 6-9.
- Rawling, E. (2020) How and why national curriculum frameworks are failing geography, Geography, 105, 2, pp. 69-77.
- Roberts, M. (2018) Do the new GCSEs promote ‘sound enquiry and investigative approaches’ to learning geography? Geography, 103, 1, pp. 27-37.
- Maguire, M., Gewirtz, S., Towers, E. and Neumann, E. (2020) Contextualising policy work: policy enactment and the specificities of English secondary schools, Research Papers in Education, 35, 4, 488-509.
- Neumann, E., Gewirtz, S., Maguire, S., and Towers, E. (2020) Neoconservative education policy and the case of the English Baccalaureate. Journal of Curriculum Studies. 53, 1, pp. 1-18.
- Pring, R. (2008) ‘60 years on: the changing role of government’, British Journal of Educational Studies, 60, 1, pp. 29–38.
- Puttick S. (2015) Chief examiners as Prophet and Priest: relations between examination boards and school subjects, and possible implications for knowledge, The Curriculum Journal, 26, 3, 468-487.
- Rawling, E. (2001) Changing the Subject: The impact of national policy on school geography 1980–2000. Sheffield: Geographical Association.
- Roberts, M. (1995) ‘Interpretations of the Geography National Curriculum: a common curriculum for all? Journal of Curriculum Studies, 27, 2, pp. 187-205.
- Sinnema, C., Nieveen, N. and Priestley, M. (2020) Successful futures, successful curriculum: What can Wales learn from international curriculum reforms? The Curriculum Journal, 31, 2,
- Winter, C. (2012) Geography and education III: Update on the development of school geography in England under the Coalition government, Progress in Human Geography 36, 5, pp. 442-451.
Research networks
British Educational Research Association (BERA)
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