Friday 12 April 2013

Geographical Association Annual Conference: 2013- Derby- 'Quality' Geography, What Does it Look Like? By David Gardner

In these times of meeting targets and achieving objectives, I often feel that the essence of 'quality' is lost, or perhaps, overshadowed. I had just emerged from Dr Rita Gardner's extremely motivational speech regarding Geography as this all encompassing, relevant and applicable subject. (You can read a summary of it in the next post below). I was transfixed at her passion, yet realised that inside the classroom, so often that's not the case. So frequently have I heard teachers comment about the looming presence of school inspections, and how it inadvertently disrupts learning. To put it short, students are not reaping the delights that come with such a subject and are forever being handed internal assessments. Where's the quality in that?

So often the quality of a lesson relies on the quality of the teacher, as David Gardner outlined in this conference lecture. The teacher must have "clear vision" with a "character and purpose" and they should install high expectations in each of their students. They should continually ask themselves: "What are trying to achieve?" and "How do we organise learning?" I agree, to a degree, but have always found that a student who manages their own learning will so often do well in the future. They have the initiative to ask questions to supplement their studies. They have the eagerness; the zeal for Geography.

David Gardner continued to shine the spotlight on those aspects which don't offer quality. Teaching 'just to cover the content' being one of them. I, myself, have found that teachers regularly complain that there is seldom any time to explore around a topic and instead, students have to skid across the surface of a subject, and hop to the next one. As Rita Gardner put it, there needs to be more quantitative skills introduced into the lessons, like map work; students should be active learners. How often is it that a class is expected to rely on a textbook? Yes, Waugh might offer an integrated approach, but that isn't necessarily the approach to 'quality' learning.

Archibald Geikie once wrote a book called The Teaching of Geography and although there's no one correct method, he made one of the most crucial points. The irreplaceable ingredient is "personal zest". Every student has to have the zest for learning about the planet he or she belongs to. They have to relish the excitement that the subject offers; they have to savour every last droplet of excitement that Geography inevitably provides. If not, well, it turns into a laborious few hours at the desk. And by today's standards of Geography teaching, no wonder they chew gum and text away. David Gardner strongly believes that students should enter a classroom with a sense of anticipation. He believes the learning should be compelling.

So how do you make learning compelling? Well, I think it comes back to what Rita Gardner was saying in the previous lecture; you have to engage through their own terms. You could have the most wise and academic of learning objectives, but if they don't bubble the adrenaline, they're next to pointless. It's very often the case that teachers find themselves under the pressure of meeting targets. But maybe they should instead focus on the very core of the issue: the question of quality. If a student doesn't exit the classroom feeling inspired, can you honestly say that you've achieved your targets?

No comments:

Post a Comment