Welcome to the GA’s online programme for the Annual Conference and Exhibition 2025! Take some time to explore the programme and build a personalised schedule using the full list below, or find the best sessions for you using the filter options. Keep an eye on this programme for updates and to interact with other delegates, exhibitors and sponsors. For more information on the Conference, see the GA website.
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The 'kick-off' session for the SKS which will involve some ice-breaker activities, planning a pathway through the Conference programme and a scavenger hunt
Head of Professional Development, Geographical Association
I have worked at the Geographical Association for 9 years and am currently the Head of Professional Development. Prior to this, I was Head of Geography at a girls' grammar school for 16 years where I was awarded the Ordnance Survey Award for contributions to Geography in Secondary... Read More →
This course lasts 2 hours and acts as a refresher for some and offers new training for others. Topics will include: dealing with an incident, severe bleeding, choking, recovery position, carrying out CPR and the use of a defibrillator. There will also be time to answer questions on concerns you may have such as asthma, anaphylaxis and seizures. The course is fully practical offering the chance to revisit skills or learn new ones in a supportive environment. It is offer free to attendees at the GA conference and a certificate will be available for all participants.
This field visit will take you on a walking tour of Bicester, exploring some of the sites that make it an interesting case study of urban change. We'll visit: Graven Hill, the UK's largest self-build estate; a restaurant that supports population control in Thailand; and, of course, Bicester Village, the second most visited location in the UK by Chinese tourists after Buckingham Palace.
Head of Professional Development, Geographical Association
I have worked at the Geographical Association for 9 years and am currently the Head of Professional Development. Prior to this, I was Head of Geography at a girls' grammar school for 16 years where I was awarded the Ordnance Survey Award for contributions to Geography in Secondary... Read More →
Tuesday April 15, 2025 2:00pm - 5:00pm PDT
BicesterBicester Village, 6HB, Station Approach, Bicester
Drawing inspiration from Local by Alastair Humphreys, and with an emphasis on divisions of space and place, this field visit will show a range of techniques teachers can use to explore any single grid square close to their school. There will be two concurrent strands to the field visit, with separate activities highlighted for primary and secondary students.
The role of fun and games are often overlooked in field trips, but they're powerful tools in connecting students to their environment and exploring the process of scientific enquiry. This session looks to spend time in an urban centre and examine how such activities can enthuse students and enhance their understanding of fieldwork, in preparation for more formal assessment of these skills.
Ollie studied undergraduate Geography at University College, London, and at postgraduate level at the University of Oxford, where he gained an MSc in Environmental Geomorphology. He entered the teaching profession through TeachFirst and taught at Loxford School in East London before... Read More →
Tuesday April 15, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
Oxford CentreOxford Station, Park End St, Oxford OX1 1HS
From the soils that sustain our crops to the homes we've built, the technology we rely on, our biological makeup and even the coffee you drink, rocks have had a profound influence on human life. Join Earth Scientist Anjana Khatwa as she explores the wisdom that lies in the 'whispers' we hear when we personally connect with the rocks around us.
Dr Anjana Khatwa is an award-winning earth scientist, TV presenter and an advocate for diversity in the geosciences and nature. She has been presented with the Geographical Award for public engagement by the Royal Geographical Society, the 2021 RH Worth Award by the Geological Society... Read More →
This lecture explores how learners at all phases of education can become 'geographical detectives' by using a palimpsest approach to investigate and understand more about the world, helping young people develop a deeper understanding of natural and human landscapes. We'll outline how the concept of palimpsest can be used in the classroom, out in the field and to make connections through GIS. The lecture will also discuss how connections can be made between schools and universities to help support this way of learning.
The aim of this session is to consider how a fieldwork curriculum can be planned so that it's integral to and inextricable from secondary students' geographical experience and learning. The focus will be on connections to the rest of the geography curriculum, connections between years, connections in terms of skills development and the geographical enquiry process, and connections that lead to more positive outcomes for students' enquiries at GCSE and A level.
This workshop will adopt a holistic approach in exploring the connections between outdoor learning and children's well-being. Moving beyond standard enquiry-led fieldwork approaches, we'll consider which types of learning activities are most enhanced by 'taking the learning outside', and discuss practical and creative strategies for incorporating outdoor learning across the primary geography curriculum.
Geography students can sometimes struggle to derive the intended level of understanding from new content. Often, this can be due to their own misconceptions about the world. This session seeks to identify some of these misconceptions and provide strategies to address them. Attendees will also be invited to share and discuss their own examples and strategies, allowing educators to help students make stronger knowledge-based connections in their geography lessons.
In recent years, geography has grappled with decolonising and diversifying its curriculum. In this session, Krystian – one of the leading antiracist and decolonising thinkers in RE – presents expert insight in to how religious education has explored similar challenges in a different landscape, and what we might be able to learn from each other.
Former secondary Geography teacher with over a decade's classroom experience, specialising in physical Geography, I'm now involved in initial teacher education in Geography for Teach First, where I lead the teacher training programme and curriculum. I believe teaching is a team sport... Read More →
As Teaching Geography celebrates its 50th year of publication, this session picks out some highlights from the archive and shares how to get the most out of your journal subscription. Then we want to hear from you: where do we go next? What topics should we be publishing articles on? Aspiring writers welcome; bring your ideas!
It's easier than ever before to obtain free satellite data for use in your classroom, promoting discussion among younger pupils and analysis from older students. This workshop will introduce a range of sources and support you in using them to explore the possibilities they provide.
Engage your students and enhance their understanding of soil and hydrograph topics with our exciting new investigation demonstrating how land-use management can reduce soil erosion and mass movement. This workshop is based on current research by University of St Andrews, Newcastle University and Universidad de Granada, and explores use of terraces to retain water and prevent soil erosion.
GeoBus Education Coordinator, University of St Andrews
GeoBus® is a free educational outreach project for schools developed and run by the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of St Andrews since 2012. We offer curriculum-linked science, geography and environmental science workshops for primary and secondary school... Read More →
Due to its interdisciplinary nature, geography provides a space where students can explore topics, issues and ideas, as well as develop as young people; this is inherently pastoral. Therefore, this session highlights some of the areas within geography where this overlap is really noticeable, and how geographers can work with their pastoral team to enhance provision.
Following recent concerns about a lack of GIS in the curriculum (e.g. Ofsted 2023), this session will offer suggestions on connecting GIS and other geospatial learning to its rightful place in the curriculum based on many years of ongoing classroom practice. The session will consider curriculum sequencing, progression and endpoints for school-based GIS.
I have over thirty years’ experience as geography teacher, head of department and pastoral lead in three maintained schools and one independent school. I led my current department to become a Geographical Association Centre of Excellence.I am an author of a range of geographical... Read More →
With the current curriculum and assessment review in England underway, debate about the purpose of geography as a school subject and the narrow focus of the current assessment system has re-engaged teachers of geography with the fundamental question, ‘What constitutes a good geography education?’ In this lecture, Emma draws on evidence from the GA’s Secondary Geography Quality Mark to explore the contribution that high-quality geography and agentic curriculum making can make to the education of children and young people in our rapidly changing world.
This session will explore how effective modelling can help to enhance students' geographical knowledge. It will be broken up into: what is modelling and the types; how we can use tech to model concepts; use of a visualiser; one form of modelling – 'I do, we do, you do'; how modelling may differ from a lower ability to a higher ability class; student-centred modelling; and instructional inputs.
An opportunity for teachers of the Cambridge International (CIE) geography A level to connect and informally share ideas. Across the UK and internationally we have a wealth of experience; the aim is to make lasting connections between us. Everyone's welcome, whether you've been teaching the syllabus for years, have made the move from a 'home' specification or you're an ECT in a CIE school.
During the morning break on 16 April, come to the conference social space to meet other first-time conference attendees and meet GA staff and volunteers for an informal chat.
Nature has always been crucial for thriving cities, but our relationship with it has changed as we've urbanised. We need to re-connect to nature for sustainable futures. Living cities, a module of UCL-IOE's free Teaching for sustainable futures CPD programme, explores how geography and history teaching can help do this.
Learn how to: look for (and find) connectivity, representation, multiple dimensions and synoptic elements within changing places; and how to find clues about the interconnected past, present and future(s). Practice how these skills can be used for high-level responses within 'To what extent' exam questions, and be equipped with a ready-to-use case study (Kochi, India).
If we could isolate and study the top scoring NEA submissions, what would we find that makes them stand out from others? What techniques do some students use to really set themselves apart? This session will reveal 30 approaches that top-scoring NEA students consistently use to connect their studies to the highest possible marks.
Discover how trees can enrich your curriculum, fostering hands-on learning, fieldwork, GIS and environmental stewardship. Gain practical ideas for projects and activities that connect students with nature and challenge them to think about how the trees in your school site/local area connect to larger concepts such as sustainability and climate change.
The four elements – water, air, fire and earth – are materials and energies that comprise and connect the world around us and shape physical and human interactions between places and peoples. This workshop explores how geography is elemental, how elements connect life in literal and lyrical ways and embeds a fifth element – imagination – to activate rich geographical curriculum thinking.
As geographers, it's crucial we think synoptically and consider multiple geographies and connections to understand the world around us. Fieldwork brings these connections to life; the multi-scaled techniques shared in this session will facilitate students' holistic understanding, enabling breadth and depth in NEA investigations and supporting theoretical understanding.
The Geospatial Commission aims to deliver £11 billion in annual economic growth through 'unlocking the power of location'. Chris will talk about the work of the Commission, communicating with ministers about geography, being responsible for the delivery of a revolutionary map of underground pipes and cables and how he got from GCSE geography to the heart of government.
Deputy Director, Geospatial Commission. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Chris Chambers is Deputy Director at the Geospatial Commission, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. He is responsible for the delivery of the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), a new digital map of underground pipes and cables, which is expected to deliver... Read More →
Karen Corfield explores why Scandinavian countries consistently rank high in the happiness index, as well as having all five countries in the top 10 according to the HDI. This lecture will examine the demographics of these countries, including political, economical and cultural geographies, and how the special connections between the physical and human world impact overall well-being.
This session – organised by the Geography Education Research Collective (GEReCo) – aims to engage with a range of perspectives on the priorities for the next 10 years of geography education research. Following this, colleagues are encouraged to contribute connections between geography education research and their own communities. We'll conclude with a discussion that aims to draw together ideas and perspectives.
Head of Professional Development, Geographical Association
I have worked at the Geographical Association for 9 years and am currently the Head of Professional Development. Prior to this, I was Head of Geography at a girls' grammar school for 16 years where I was awarded the Ordnance Survey Award for contributions to Geography in Secondary... Read More →
This session will look at strategies exploring 'powerful resources', i.e. artefacts, images and resources that are resonant and meaningful, working across curriculum areas to not only create dialogue across departments but demonstrate to students that climate change and sustainability affects all academic areas and requires a holistic understanding of the issue, its challenges and its solutions. Participants will be given resources to distribute in their schools across departments.
This session will explore how children can use their own migration stories to develop an understanding of their connections to the school community. Reflections on an enquiry project of 'life as a migrant' will be shared with other teachers to encourage more student voices in the wider community.
This paper reflects on a collaborative project to co-create decolonial pedagogical resources for teaching the climate crisis at Key Stage 3 in the UK. Drawing on a DEPA-funded project in Cameroon, the team encountered challenges that question the feasibility of genuinely decolonial educational materials, revealing the complex interplay between decolonial theory and practical realities in educational resource development.
This session will share research findings comparing 13 countries' secondary geography textbooks; we've analysed climate change content in these textbooks and mapped out connections between diverse locations and approaches. Classroom teachers will gain insight into developing quality teaching materials to support students in becoming climate-change-informed citizens.
An MSc study that introduced a pedagogy of live interactive video calls with pupils in London and Bangkok. Findings suggest a more collaborative, globally-connected, and up-to-date approach to geography lessons. This also decentralises the teacher as the ‘sage on the stage’ and invites new and impactful perspectives. The dissertation won first prize for the GEReCo Masters Dissertation Award in 2024.
Climate change affects children's lives not only because of its impact, but also because of its effect on their mental wellbeing. To be able to address children’s concerns and emotions in education, it is necessary to identify the current feelings or hope and worry, regarding climate change. We used the Draw, Write, and Tell approach to achieve this.
Learn how articles posted on the Teaching Physical Geography blog have helped to shape and improve the teaching of physical geography topics, and how this impacts students' learning. Plus, find out how you can get involved and contribute to the canon of experience.
This study examines the impact of climate change on vegetation loss and its implications for sustainable development in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Using GIS and remote sensing, we assess spatial and temporal changes in vegetation and temperature over three key periods: 1968, 2003 and 2021. Our findings suggest that effective policymaking for sustainable land and vegetation management is essential to counter the effects of anthropogenic activities. The research contributes to the broader conversation on ‘connected geographies’, where human and environmental systems are intrinsically linked by focusing on the relationship between climate, land use and ecosystem health.
This paper summarizes my small-scale, qualitative research in an international school in Sri Lanka that follows the English secondary school curriculum. Focusing on IGCSE Geography, I examined how international teachers and pupils interact and connect with each other and how they construct and connect with geography. My findings revealed complexity and contribute to current discussion of decolonizing the curriculum.
As the education sector comes to grips with the surge of artificial intelligence programmes available, I'll reflect on how far we've come in geography with its use and demonstrate how it's become an integrated feature in my classroom. I'll also show how we've educated students to manage it ethically and practically.
Early Years and primary teachers know that connecting children to their locality is important. So what tools can you use? Anthony will share free data sources online to connect to locations in the UK and beyond. Participants will come and share their own free web resources, and we'll use simple data on how Oxford compares with the various locations attendees are from.
This is an opportunity to look at strategies we've used to support SEND and additional needs students, particularly Kent County Council's Mainstream Core Standards model, allowing all students to make progress. We start with the introduction of booklets to support knowledge learning and go onto further strategies we've developed, with an opportunity to discuss how potential pitfalls can be addressed.
The Environment Agency has collaborated with the GA and HLP to develop a series of lessons and resources introducing careers into the classroom: Hello EA Careers. We introduce roles related to flood and coastal risk management that will inspire young people to consider careers in the water and environment sector. This content will be free for teachers and available through the GA website; what will you discover about future roles for geographers?
This workshop will provide delegates with the opportunity to discuss the ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review. It will recap on the latest information about the review, before giving teachers the opportunity to share their thoughts on some of the key messages and recommendations from the geography education community, such as the volume of content in GCSE, the study of climate change and sustainability, and methods of assessment.
In the words of Dr Seuss, 'reading can take you places you have never been before'. It enables students to connect with geographies and cultures that aren't their own while fostering cross-curricular links. This workshop provides practical ideas to engage students with resources that they may not otherwise use in order to broaden their geographical horizons and encourage aspiration.
Progression should be deepening and developing geographical understanding, not just acquiring more facts. How do we decide what 'making progress' is and what it looks like across the different stages of education? This is a practical workshop learning from schools across Wales to develop approaches for connecting primary and secondary geography education.
The session opens up discussion about the future of geography teaching in the face of the epochal challenges facing human societies – and indeed life on Earth. This requires fresh thinking about the purposes and potential of education, and the possible contributions of geography. We focus on teachers' 'knowledge work' in the context of the late Bruno Latour’s terrestrial eco-social politics.
This session explores the approach taken in the Singapore Geography Curriculum, emphasising geography in everyday life to foster students' awareness and understanding of their surroundings. By connecting personal and local experiences to global issues, the curriculum empowers students to grasp complex societal and environmental challenges, enhancing their capacity for critical, interconnected thinking.
A look at how teachers can make the most of the curriculum through interleaving topics and themes to support student knowledge retention and engagement.
We look again at the water cycle, including: how to draw a cloud; how to make a cloud; popular misconceptions we've discovered from our climate literacy survey; the water cycle and climate change; cloud seeding and conspiracy theories; contrails (and chemtrails) and climate change; and changes to the oceans and cryosphere.
Sylvia Knight is Head of Education at the Royal Meteorological Society and a visiting Professor in the schools of Education and of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences at the University of Reading. With a background in climate science, her role involves supporting the... Read More →
We present the findings of qualitative research conducted by members of the GA's Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. Our analysis of 25 interviews with people from a variety of backgrounds, inside and outside the Association, provides a critical assessment of diversity and inclusion at the GA. Participants are invited to reflect on and help us take the study's recommendations foward.
This session will investigate Morecambe and its plans to turn itself around. Will Eden Project Morecambe achieve its aim of reimagining the resort for the 21st Century? Does the Queens Market Project provide a better local solution? How can fieldwork be used to investigate Morecambe as a case study, as well as other regeneration projects throughout the UK?
Join the Migration Museum's award-winning learning team to explore how migration and intersecting themes can help your pupils build connections between themselves, their local communities and their sense of national identity. Learn tried and tested approaches to engage and inspire your pupils, and build your own confidence in navigating complex topics.
The session will explore how and why a high quality geography curriculum is more than just the sum of its parts. It will model how to embrace the interdependent nature of substantive, disciplinary and procedural knowledge. It also considers the role that creating and monitoring meaningful connections between those constituent parts has in empowering pupils to access, interpret and accumulate knowledge.
Sandra will present her research and deliberate practice actions, which were developed as part of a wider body of work with the Building on Barbie global research team. Conversation mapping is used to capture the impact of deliberate practice. There'll be the opportunity to connect through group discussion regarding barriers to KS4 geography study.
Join GA Secondary Phase Committee members in exploring tried and tested techniques for developing synoptic thinking at A level. This session will leave you with practical ideas to try in your classroom to encourage students to make connections between geographic concepts.
Please join us as we share seven GIS ideas for geography teachers. This practical session will showcase easy-to-use classroom activities to help students understand global connections, sustainability and the relationship between physical and human geography. Learn how to integrate GIS into your teaching to make lessons more interactive and relevant.
In a matter a short few years, Nicholas Brown has transformed GCSE geography from a dying subject to the beating heart of his school. By creating a spoke and hub model with geography in the centre, students are excited at the subject's relevance in their day to day lives: creating businesses; travelling; beekeeping; and growing food.
Head of Geography and Horticulture, Ysgol Clywedog
Hailing from Ysgol Clywedog in Wrexham, Nicholas Brown has been the Head of Geography and Horticulture for the last 6 years. During this time, he has boosted the uptake of Geography at KS4 from 16 pupils to a steady 120 (maximum allowed). Added to this he has developed an increasingly... Read More →
Climate change can often feel distant and abstract to our students; how can we make it more tangible and relevant? Using local places to build connectivity and empowerment? Building connections to far places while representing them in a just way? This lecture leans on evidence about climate change education and geography-curriculum-making to consider how we can use place to support our students' understanding of the climate emergency.
This workshop will explore how we can make international connections from our classrooms and through travel. We'll consider how barriers to carrying out international fieldwork can be overcome, and discuss issues related to sustainable travel. Practical activities will include using resources from GA Study Tours, discussing fieldwork scenarios and evaluating the sustainability of travel for learning.
This session connects the geography of Colombia – Medellín, the Nevado del Ruiz lahar disaster, TNCs like Chiquita and Coca Cola located in Urabá – to the invisibility of the Colombian diaspora in the UK and gentrification in Elephant and Castle.
This session will explore the Royal Society's fantastic Partnership Grant scheme, and how it can be used to secure funding of up to £3000 to support a collaborative student geography project with a HE or industry partner. The Tomorrow's Climate Scientists programme is especially great for geographers, and has been a fantastic opportunity for our students!
This session explores the meaningful integration of educational technology to help students connect to their personal geographies. It highlights the use of gamified online learning experiences, technology-transformed fieldwork and using GIS in the classroom for spatial analysis. Discover how these tools can transform geographical education and help students foster deeper connections to the world around them.
Alarming news items about climate change can lead to eco-stress. One of the ways to reduce this is to let students envision different possible futures and discuss which future they prefer. In this workshop, we'll walk through two scenario thinking tasks and discuss the experiences of students and teachers with them.
Soccernomics is a concept designed to engage learners on social inequalities and economic change in the global village. Football is a useful vehicle to secure rapid and sustained progress using innovative case studies, such as 'will Östersunds FK act as a gateway to promotion of social justice in the subarctic?' This session discusses Soccernomics' exemplar material, providing a framework for colleagues to create their own learning experiences across all key stages.
The 2023 Ofsted subject report commented that schools should plan for progress in procedural knowledge including the use of maps and GIS. This session considers what progression in procedural knowledge looks like and how to plan for it, when designing a coherent 11-16 geography curriculum. It will introduce new curriculum guidance for Progress in Geography KS3, and the Ordnance Survey.
Using what I've learned from my NPQ for Leading Teacher Development, I'll narrate how I've implemented key principles into my own department CPD time, as well as provide practical ways to structure subject-specific CPD in other geography departments.
Co-planning is an approach to mentoring that encourages teachers to develop lessons collaboratively, benefitting both mentors and mentees. This workshop will provide everyone who engages in mentoring conversations – mentors, ITE tutors, ECTs and trainees – with ideas to support co-planning conversations. Participants will take away useful strategies that they can put into practice.
The DfE has commissioned three flagship initiatives supporting education settings to become more sustainable and confront the climate and nature emergencies: the Sustainability Support for Education hub; Climate Ambassadors; and the National Education Nature Park. Find out about what free resources are available and how your whole education community can get involved.
Policy Lead, Sustainability Support Programme, Department for Education
Juanita is a former geography teacher and now a Policy Lead at the Department for Education on the Sustainability Support Programme. Ask her about the support available to education settings (EY-FE) to take their first steps or reach their highest ambitions on their sustainability... Read More →
This practical session combines the pedagogical power of Philosophy for Children (P4C) with the teaching of geography to explore questions and concepts around 'connected geographies'. We'll show how philosophical enquiry develops oracy and critical thinking, and how it can enhance and enrich the geographical lens that young people require to navigate the complexity of our time.
I am a qualified teacher but became a philosophical teacher-educator after encountering philosophical enquiry over 20 years ago, facilitating dialogue ever since in my classrooms, schools, community and at home with my family. I work for SAPERE, the national charity for philosophical... Read More →
In this workshop, we’ll share how we have structured assigned tasks for students across four years to deepen their understanding of key geographical concepts. A primary focus is on sustainability, a core concept in Singapore’s geography curriculum. The tasks are designed using immersive scenario-based learning, enabling students to bridge classroom knowledge with practical applications. Through a scaffolded approach, students deepen their understanding of sustainability and other key geographical concepts as they progress through their secondary education journey.
This workshop explores how teachers can use what's familiar to children to help them gain a deeper understanding of the wider world. It will provide a variety of teaching ideas to help children make connections to gain knowledge of 'space' and 'place' between EY and KS2, as well as time to share and develop current practice.
Approaches to the teaching of geography are predominantly based on a logic of separation that views phenomena as objects to be studied and classified, rather than on the understanding that all beings in the world, human and non-human, are interconnected and interdependent. A logic of separation also separates the overall purpose of the discipline from its past. In this session I argue for the inclusion of a relational approach that locates the subject in the context of its establishment as an academic discipline in the 19th century, and I consider the implications for our practices in the context of the potential of geography education to foster the sustainability of all life on the planet.
How can students move from absorbing and regurgitating facts to connecting and applying them to complex geographical concepts and issues? Using resources from OUP revision guides, you'll try out some ideas to help students make such a move, and will discuss how to apply and adapt them to your circumstances. Useful for new and experienced teachers alike.
How do geography teachers select content, design and structure their curriculum to enable student progression? UCL's Fawcett Fellows will reveal the thinking behind their curriculum making.
We use strategies from the classroom to get students to write more concisely, use more key terminology and develop their answers to fully explain the formation or process discussed.
This session will provide a framework on what progress using GIS can look like, and approaches that can be used to develop GIS use across the curriculum by students and educators. It will refer to examples of how GIS has been developed in different settings, and how to work connectively with external organisations to achieve this.
Geography Teacher, King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls
As a Geography Teacher at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, I have over 20 years of experience. I am passionate about supporting geography teachers and educators from different backgrounds and levels of expertise, and collaborating with various organisations and institutions... Read More →
This session explores the dynamic interplay between urban development and natural ecosystems. It examines how Nairobi National Park, uniquely situated adjacent to a major city, embodies the challenges and opportunities of balancing wildlife conservation with urban expansion. The presentation will highlight key aspects such as: human-wildlife interactions; ecological corridors; conservation strategies; and the socio-economic impact on surrounding communities, offering insight into sustainable coexistence.
I am a passionate advocate for wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism, with a particular focus on the delicate balance between urban development and natural ecosystems. My work centers on highlighting the unique role of Nairobi National Park as a vital conservation area situated... Read More →
Simulations are powerful tools, fostering a deeper understanding of the interconnected nature of human and physical geography. Delve into the use of simulations as a means for students to explore the complexities of connected geographies, empowering students to understand and navigate the global landscape with empathy and agency.
Young people are increasingly connected to the wider world through the internet, and consume media in many forms. The session explores how we can empower young people to interpret the wealth of information they have access to, and to think critically and form their own opinions on geographical issues.
2025 marks the 50th anniversary of our Teaching Geography journal. Join us in the morning break of 17 April to celebrate this milestone with us and find out about how you can get involved with our journals.
Attendees will hear brief summaries of geography education research from presenters who'll connect it to day-to-day classroom and curriculum development. We'll then host a 'world café' session to encourage discussions, which will continue over drinks and snacks afterwards. Our session will suit teachers who want to learn from research.
Want your students to be fantastic at fieldwork? We'll share simple activities and quality questions to help your students connect what they do in your existing fieldwork with why you've chosen to do it that way. Teach them the thinking behind your decisions in KS3 and GCSE fieldwork so that they're ready to make their own in the A level NEA.
I've been working with young people for over 20 years, starting as a 'Group Leader' for PGL at the age of 18, spending 7 years teaching Geography in secondary school classrooms and now working outdoors as a Fieldwork Tutor for the Cranedale Centre in Yorkshire.I hope the things I... Read More →
Young people are important citizens, shaped by the geographies around them and with the power to shape those geographies – but do they recognise this? The fieldwork ideas shared here help pupils recognise the connections that exist in our world and draw on cross-curricular links to show how their lives and local area are connected to these wider geographies.
This workshop will explore connections between early years geography and wider geography education. Key pedagogy and practice from early years education will be highlighted, and participants will be guided to explore connections with their own practice. This will provide an opportunity to reflect on individual and collective roles and raise awareness of subject development, starting from our youngest learners.
Join the Migration Museum's award-winning learning team to explore how the movement of people to and from the UK has shaped who we are as individuals, as communities and as nations. Discover how migration can act as a catalyst for communication, connectedness and belonging in human geography. Share knowledge, learn best practice and gain practical tools for the classroom.
Offering a physical and human perspective with a critical thinking approach, this lecture will outline the causes of a new era of tectonic activity and examine how new technologies have influenced and informed decision-making. We'll also show the connections of the tectonic hazard to people and explore the social, economic and political impacts both nationally and internationally.
In 2022, the DfE mandated that all schools in England have a Climate Action Plan focusing on decarbonisation, adaptation, climate education and biodiversity. Join regional hub managers from the DfE-funded Climate Ambassadors scheme for a collaborative workshop to find out how the scheme can help you, as well as generating ideas that will empower you to support your school in taking meaningful climate action.
This session will outline some of the ways in which collaboration with colleagues, using geography as a starting point, can help foster professional relationships and develop greater opportunities for cross-curricular teaching and learning, enabling teachers as well as students to appreciate how relevant geography is across all subjects.
This session presents the findings of my MA research paper which explores the role of Initial Teacher Education in supporting teachers to decolonise geography. The presentation provides a review of recent literature and decolonial efforts in geography, outlines a vision of a transformative decolonial geography for building global solidarity, and explores the role of Initial Teacher Education in supporting student teachers in engaging in this work. The theoretical framework for decolonising geography explores how teachers can foster solidarity between those in the classroom and the oppressed, supporting children to become more connected to the world around them.
This session is for those engaged in teacher education, and early career and more established geography teachers. It offers teachers insights into recent efforts to decolonise efforts, and an ambitious perspective for decolonising the subject in their lessons. It offers teacher educators insight into current efforts to support teachers with this work, and to consider the role they play in connecting with schools to decolonising geography.
I am a Teacher of Geography in London, with over four years' experience in the profession. I am passionate about decolonising geography, which I explored when studying for my MA in Social Justice and Education at the IOE. I am interested in exploring theoretical perspectives and practical... Read More →
On 17 April, make your way to the conference social space to meet other primary colleagues. The primary pit stop will be available all day as part of our primary pathway. Hosted by the GA Early Years and Primary Phase Committee.
This presentation will explore the Spencer-funded “Racial Literacy, Capabilities, & Curriculum-Making†(RaLiCaM) research project. Utilizing tools from the EU-funded GeoCapabilities project and Morgan and Lambert’s (2023) racial literacy framework, teachers from across social studies disciplines worked alongside researchers from the UK/US to enhance their collective capabilities as racially-literate curriculum-makers in Wisconsin. Insights from the collaborative professional inquiry will be shared.
Join this lively workshop of practical activities that celebrate place perspectives that are surprising, serendipitous, miniature and unusual. Inspired by local landscapes, accompanied by quizzical mice, we seek to foster curiosity through a series of geographical enquiries. This workshop encourages learners to slow down, observe, explore and notice detail, recognising change and finding fascination in places of repair and transformation.
This workshop will focus on highlighting key strategies geography teachers can deploy to support students, with the aim of reducing the educational disadvantage gap. It will share work from schools in Hampshire, exploring examples in supporting literacy and pupil engagement. Attendees will also have the opportunity to reflect on the impact of their own strategies.
This workshop examines ways in which students can make connections between their own research and wider geographical theory. We'll discuss how focusing on suitable place/space theory allows students to progress beyond the comparison of two locations or 'to what extent has regeneration been successful' titles. We'll also consider misconceptions and best practice in literature research.
I am an author of geography resources for both students and teachers. I have written for all key stages and all aspects of geography teaching but my recent work has focussed on fieldwork and geomorphology for teachers and GCSE and A level students. I have considerable experience with... Read More →
Turning the mobile phone from a hinderance to an aid! This session will explore how embracing apps and digital practices can support learning in the field, engage students with their surroundings and connect them to the wider world of geography. It will aid you with the tools to take the textbook out of the classroom.
University of Sheffield PGCE geography and history tutors and students collaborated on an alternative cross-curricular KS3 study of Sheffield's industrial growth and urbanisation, unearthing hidden connections to imperialism, enslavement and global trade. This session will share the learning from this project and explore how its principles could be applied to create decolonised learning schemes and teaching resources elsewhere.
I am a PGCE History Tutor at The University of Sheffield. A Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and a former head teacher, I am currently reading for a Doctorate in Education with a focus on the contested concept of historical empathy.
Detroit-based geographer and cartographer Alex B. Hill presents his perspective on the US city's social and economic troubles and more recent renewal. It's an essential update on this popular 'distant place study' at A level, with a focus on social inequality and the representation of community groups. The session includes an opportunity to reflect on classroom practice with regard to 'far places'.
Alex has more than 10 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations on campaigns that impact policies and communities. As a data nerd and anthropologist, Alex finds meaningful stories to tell whether he’s sifting through spreadsheets or interviewing people. Alex is able... Read More →
Geography trips often limit themselves to local fieldwork or Iceland residencies. This session proposes strategic trip planning that integrates multiple subjects; I'll also discuss approaches encouraging educators to expand their horizons. Virtual fieldwork will illustrate how technology can transform learning, bringing distant locales vividly to life and enriching students' global perspectives.
The GIS-T project aims to integrate GIS into school curricula to empower students in addressing climate change. By utilizing GIS technology, students will develop the critical spatial analysis and problem-solving skills necessary for understanding and responding to climate change. This project equips future generations to analyze geographic data, interpret scenarios and create sustainable, long-term solutions.
As Steve Puttick wrote in his book The Geography Teaching Adventure, “geographical knowledge has been produced in service of Empire … my argument is that geography is tied up in messy ways with these attempts to know, describe and rule the world.†However, geography education has also at times enabled critique and allowed for more subversive understandings of empire and its legacies to emerge.
Over the past two years, in partnership with The Association of Jewish Refugees' UK Holocaust Map, we've been trialling visits with teachers across the UK to sites connected with the Holocaust. This workshop will explore the possibilities, benefits and resources available for teachers wanting to explore local UK-based stories within their classrooms and/or their localities.
The destruction of the tree at Sycamore Gap sparked outpourings of grief for these often underappreciated 'sentinels of time'. We'll explore the significance of trees in our lives spiritually, emotionally and physically. Engaging with a series of activities available in Primary Geography, you'll discover how a 'tree curriculum' can offer children hopeful and positive understandings of their world.
We never truly arrive at a place; we're always exploring. Yet we teach case studies as if they're absolute, often discussing places we've never visited. This lecture, inspired by T.S. Eliot, Yi-Fu Tuan and Zeno's paradoxes, challenges us to discuss the importance of teaching about places with humility, acknowledging that exploration and understanding should be ongoing by teacher and student alike.
How can we help students understand the intricate connections between people, places and environments through fieldwork? This session showcases our fieldwork project in Bali, integrating ArcGIS for spatial analysis and collaboration with local geoscience experts. Participants will learn how to enhance student engagement through technology-enabled and human-centered fieldwork, guiding students in developing sustainable solutions for disaster-prone areas.
Who'd have ever thought there's a connection between plate tectonics, the (deep) water cycle and 21st century critical minerals? This workshop explores how these topics are inextricably linked, and how they can be taught to bring a bang up-to-date version of seemingly abstract physical geography topics to students.
We know a lot about what works to end homelessness, and yet it remains a major global injustice. This presentation will draw upon two decades of geographical research and ongoing efforts to influence homelessness policy and practice across the globe, including through collaboration with NGOs, national and local governments and even royalty.
As teacher recruitment gets harder, we know that it's more likely we'll be supporting non-specialist teachers in understanding and teaching our material. In this session, Alistair and David share what they've learned about the stories of geography from writing, and how it helps to build a sense of the disciplinary concepts and approach for non-specialist teachers.
Former secondary Geography teacher with over a decade's classroom experience, specialising in physical Geography, I'm now involved in initial teacher education in Geography for Teach First, where I lead the teacher training programme and curriculum. I believe teaching is a team sport... Read More →
This workshop explores the local, regional and international surroundings of Oxford Brookes, where I studied cartography in 2001. We'll examine what's visible and hidden at these levels, and consider creating our own maps. This all-school workshop, from EY to Post-16, connects map-making to other subjects like science, graphic design and geography.
Enquiry approaches in geography lessons engage pupils, but aligning these approaches to curriculum requirements can be a challenge. In this session, we'll share enquiry approaches using examples from a range of schools and phases; participants will have the opportunity to share their own practices and will be provided with frameworks, examples and actions for embedding enquiry in their own schools.
In order to learn to think geographically, students need to be involved in making connections between: their personal geographies and new knowledge; claims made by disciplinary knowledge and supporting evidence; geographical concepts, processes and models and their application to new case-studies; and policies, practices and their social, economic, environmental and ethical implications.
Opportunities exist to gain insight into how farmers are tackling global issues such as carbon emissions, water quality, sustainability and food security. Farmers' decisions are influenced by their physical and changing human environment; the aim is to create a relevant farm visit with active learning experiences to gather environmental data while developing place connections and understanding the farmed landscape.
The launch of the GA's fieldwork progression framework, a collaboration between FOLSIG and AESIG, will support teachers in thinking through the interlinked process of curriculum planning, progression and assessment of fieldwork. It explores the role of fieldwork in supporting students' first-hand investigations of places, making sense of the connections between people, places and environments.
Where do African countries and their communities fit within your scheme of learning? Are your students leaving your classroom with an echo of the immensity of the continent and the heterogeneity of it's peoples? How do we turn the tide on the reproduction of outdated narratives to give way to strategies that will help us to see the knowledges, lived experiences and working realities of African countries and it's communities in fuller colour. Join this workshop to explore what this could look like in your own context.
I’m a Geography Teacher based at Finchley Catholic High School. I am also a member of the Decolonising Geography Collective. Making Geographical knowledge decolonised makes for a more equitable geographical education.
Maths skills are important for geographers as they make sense of the connections between people, places and environments; gathering and analysing data facilitates synoptic thinking. We'll offer teachers the chance to explore specification-focused concepts and techniques relevant to the teaching and learning of A level geography. You'll explore resources, use data and try activities.
AMSP National Coordinator, Royal Geographical Society with IBG
I currently work as a maths education support specialist within the Advanced Maths Support Programme (AMSP), which is led and delivered by Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI). I have shared responsibility within this role for supporting teachers in the delivery of the level... Read More →
Earthwatch recognises and values the importance of nature in cities. Green spaces provide pockets for biodiversity, help to connect communities and mitigate the negative effects of air pollution, excessive noise, heat and flooding. This workshop explores potential nature-based solutions – from Tiny Forest to FreshWater Watch and Green Earth Schools – and how we can remove barriers to accessing these spaces.
Learning, Communities and EDI Lead, Earthwatch Europe - Senior Communities & Learning Manager
25+ years working in the environment and education. Come and find me the stand at D29 to find out more about opportunities for teachers and schools with Earthwatch.I am a Senior Learning Manager and Facilitator within Earthwatch. With over 25 years’ experience of working in the... Read More →
Using a historical geographical perspective, this lecture explains how states, since the period of enslavement and colonization, have attempted to control African mobility and have responded to Africans who move independently of the state. Such continuities are evident in contemporary migration policies and practices. I end with an argument for the development of regional initiatives that serve to humanize Africans who move.
