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Photos taken by Toby Smith/The PTI
Last week, the GA partnered with the RGS-IBG and the PTI to deliver a two-day residential Geography Symposium which was attended by around 50 geography teachers.
The symposium included a diverse range of speakers, including GA Chief Executive Steve Brace, covering contemporary case studies, curriculum and research. There were also opportunities after each speaker for teachers to discuss and reflect on how this might be applicable to their teaching.
Day 1 started with Steve Brace setting out the current state of play in geography at a time of curriculum change and this was followed by Alan Parkinson speaking about harnessing the power of Everyday Geographies.
The climate crisis was the focus of the afternoon as Professor Bill McGuire gave a sobering lecture on its history and future while Dr Olivia Taylor followed with a geographer’s guide to climate change.
The evening dinner speaker was J. Willgoose, Esq the founder and lead guitarist of the band ‘Public Service Broadcasting’ who spoke about his projects and their links to geography.
Day 2 kicked off with Dr Charlene Rose discussing her research on Caribbean food geographies which was followed by Dr Jonathan Higham exploring air pollution sensors and how they are changing what we know about air pollution. The closing keynote address was from Professor Iain Steward MBE on communicating modern geoscience to multiple publics.
Becky Kitchen, Head of Professional Development, said:
‘It was a fantastic couple of days which generated a real buzz. We were incredibly lucky to have a programme full of excellent speakers and genuine time and space for reflecting how their key ideas and messages could be incorporated into the geography curriculum. Thanks to everyone who came together to make it possible.’
