Sunday 3 March 2024

Practical Pedagogies 2024 - Early Bird tickets available

The third running of the Practical Pedagogies conference will take place in November 2024. The first two events were rather great - one in Toulouse and one in Cologne.

This event will take place in Cologne once again.

The keynote speaker who will bookend the event is Hywel Roberts. He was awesome. His book 'Bothereredness' has been published since the last event, when he was sharing some of the ideas behind it, and comes highly recommended.


You can find out how to get your Early Bird ticket and also see the full programme (subject to the addition of other sessions) on the link above as well. There are over 120 sessions. They are all presented by teachers / educators, sharing what they do with colleagues. You will see session from Richard Allaway and Matt Podbury and quite a few other familiar names here.

My session is here, as described. It will take place on the 1st day of the conference.


Early Bird tickets available in limited quantities which are 100 Euros cheaper than the normal price.

Saturday 24 February 2024

Congratulations to Rafael

An excellent interview with Rafael de Miguel Gonzalez Lazaro published in Spanish, but can be viewed in a translation from the link above.

Rafael was recently awarded the highest geographical honours of the Gilbert Grosvenor Honours from the American Association of Geographers (AAG). This was well deserved.

It means entering the “Olympus” of the greats of geography, which includes Walter Christaller, Yi-Fu Tuan, David Harvey and others.

I've been fortunate to work with Miguel on a whole range of ERASMUS projects over the years, and I hope to be working on something with him later in the year.

A final quote from the interview:

"I want to make a call, above all, to understand geography as a bridge science between the natural sciences and the social sciences, and a fundamental science to understand the current world."

Image source: https://iuca.unizar.es/noticia/rafael-de-miguel-si-nunca-hubiese-sacado-mi-trabajo-de-zaragoza-no-habria-tenido-el-reconocimiento-que-ha-tenido/?fbclid=IwAR1QqkeBVVeON__2V_2U6rgFueM-dmzpZPh_0lJsdJAxqraL5djs7nC2bH8 


Saturday 10 February 2024

'A' level grids for Tim Marshall books

 

Thanks to Fiona Sheriff for the lead to some useful grids for those who may be thinking of using Tim Marshall's books with their 'A' level students (or younger).

Friday 12 January 2024

Practical Pedagogies 3 - a call for session proposals

 

One of the best events I've attended and presented at has been the Practical Pedagogies events that were held in 2016 and 2018. The first was held in Toulouse and the second was in Cologne.

Russel Tarr is now organising a third running of the event and the call for sessions is now open. I shall definitely be there (assuming my presentation is accepted). I'll be working on this over the weekend.



Workshop proposals for Practical Pedagogies 2024 are warmly welcomed from primary, secondary and whole-school practitioners and educators willing to share their expertise and practices in a friendly, collaborative, international setting. 

Experienced and first-time presenters are equally welcome to submit a proposal!

The special ticket price for workshop leaders is just 75 Euros for the full two days (payable upon the session proposal being accepted onto the programme). This non-refundable fee, which represents a 75% discount on the standard ticket price, helps ensure that people accepted to run workshops seriously plan to attend.


This sum is effectively reimbursed with free access to the coach which brings attendees to and from the venue from central Cologne, and complimentary meal at the evening restaurant function on the final evening, which is always a highlight of the event. However, please note that in order to keep delegate ticket prices genuinely affordable, we are not able to cover any other expenses.


If you go to the website you can now submit a session proposal.

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Saturday 22 April 2023

GA Governing Body vacancies for September 2023

After four years as a trustee as part of my Presidential journey through the GA, my term in office comes to an end at the end of August 2023.

At the same time, there is also the end of a term of office for several other GA colleagues who I have worked with for the last four years. This means that there some vacancies on the GA's Governing Body, which is of course a good training ground for those who may have ambitions to become more involved with the Association and give back to the association.

There are actually four vacancies to be filled, which carry different responsibilities.

You can read more about them on the GA website page, and the links here.

Chair of Trustees

Honorary Treasurer

Elected Trustees

Co-opted trustee

For those who may have previously suggested that the GA and its Governing Body needs to become more inclusive and diverse, this is your opportunity!

Happy to answer any questions about the roles and the wider work of the GA's Governing Body if anyone is interested in finding out more.
I will blog my thanks to some of those people who are leaving GB later in the year...

RSGS: supporting Scottish Geography

 

The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS), along with the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers (SAGT) has been concerned for a while about a number of factors which are threatening the condition of geography in Scottish schools. 

Recently, the two organisations held a meeting at Dollar Academy, Stirling and invited Alan Kinder and others to do short presentation. I have previously shared the YouTube channel 


The key messages are also included in a report which has been made available as a PDF download.

Saturday 21 May 2022

GI Pedagogy Training Course - Madrid - 4th-6th July

Last week I had a meeting of the GI Pedagogy group of partners - which is funded by an ERASMUS+ grant, given by the British Council.


We have been working on resources and an online teacher training course. 

We now have an opportunity for you to join us for a face to face event in Madrid.


The Registration form is here, and you can also request a first-come first-served grant of €200 to help with the cost of attending if you are outside of Spain.

It would be great to have you there. Happy to answer any further questions as well.