Geographical Association

The 2009 Conference took place from 30 January - 1 February at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Southport. The programme was wide-ranging with high quality, forward looking presentations which reported many exciting new developments and projects in geographical education.

PowerPoint Presentations and papers from the 2009 event can be accessed below.  

Please note: some presentations may have been adapted due to copyright restrictions

Friday 30 January 2009

The TTRB, Subject Engagement and GTIP
David Lambert
Chief Executive of the GA, Professor David Lambert, talked about the changing geography curriculum and how the Teacher Training Resource Bank can support geography teacher educators. The PowerPoint Presentation and an MP3 of David's keynote speech, given at the TTRB London Roadshow, can be downloaded from the TTRB website.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (147k)

Children's Voices and Global School Partnerships
Fran Martin
What do children's voices tell us about their views of distant people and places? How does this differ in schools with a GSP? What role might geography play in GSPs?
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (402k)


TEWG Update
Mel Norman
Mel presented the results of a survey of PGCE Geography departments. Although 606 people are on Geography PGCE courses this year, many schools are still using non-specialist geographers.
Download: PGCE Geography Employment & Recruitment Stats (PDF, 21k)


GTIP Update
Margaret Roberts
An update on recent additions to the GTIP website.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (826k)


How can the Peak District be represented as a Place? Cross-Curricular Fieldwork in Geography and English
Debbie Moss
Nine groups of English and Geography ATs looked at nine different ways of representing the Peak District as part of their residential fieldwork near beginning of their PGCE course. Studying place through a range of perspectives and media moved both sets of students outside their comfort zones.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (929k)


Incorporating the Cultural Turn into Geographies of Mobility
Charles Rawding
Charles discussed some alternative approaches to transport geographies in the classroom which reflect recent trends in academic geography.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (2.73M)
View: 'Motorway at last', British Pathe News, 29 October 1959, film no. 1599.04.


Blurring boundaries: creating critical balances between pedagogic and content knowledge in ITE
Claire Whewell & Allen Thurston
In this session, Claire and Allen talked about the new concurrent degree programme at The Stirling Institute of Education which aims to maximize impact on initial teacher education and lead to more effective learning and teaching by ensuring that students develop both content and pedagogic knowledge and skills.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (930k)
Download: Paper (PDF, 28k)


Overview of PhD Research on GIS and Teaching and Learning about Place in Schools
Mary Fargher
Mary gave an overview of her PhD research on GIS and teaching and learning about place in schools.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (972k)


GA Resources on Teacher Action Research
David Leat
David outlined a publication proposal developed by the Teacher Education Working Group and then invited discussion and feedback on the proposal to help shape it.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (657k)

Working with Gifted and Talented Children: a Case Study
Stephen Pickering
Stephen talked about his involvement in an LA/Uni/School project working with G&T children in primary schools identified by the LA as being, 'low aspiring schools'. The aim was to provide children with the opportunity to work in the University and contribute to its future plans based on completing a sustainability audit.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (562k)


Engaging Geography and A Different View
David Lambert
David spoke about the ESRC seminar series Engaging Geography and its potential relevance to the GTE community. He linked themes from the series with issues and concerns in relation to the 'health' of school geography and the forthcoming 'Manifesto' from the GA.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (683k)


Imperial War Museum Fellowship in Holocaust Education: potential contribution of geographers
Debbie Moss
In this session Debbie talked about her Fellowship in Holocaust Education and explored how and why the Holocaust should be taught in geography lessons.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (710k)


How New is the New KS3 Geography Curriculum?
Mel Norman
Mel provided some interpretations of the revised KS3 geography curriculum based on research in four secondary schools.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (528k)


Developing Trainee Teachers' Awareness of Personal Geographies
Sue Bermingham
During the Autumn Term Sue conducted research into trainee teachers' awareness of personal geographies (their own and that of their pupils). By the ninth week of the course five types of personal geographies had emerged, and by the twelfth week the trainees had a discussion on the five types. Their comments have added new directions to Sue's growing understanding of this area of geography.
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (375k)
Download: Handout (PDF, 7k)


Professional Updating: Sharing Best Practice
Teresa Lenton
How do ITE Tutors stay up to date in the fast moving world of education? Where/how does this happen? Could the GA through GTIP or the GTE Conference have a role?
Download: PowerPoint Presentation (88k)