Job opportunity at the GA

News via LinkedIn earlier of a great job opportunity for someone to work at the GA.

The GA are recruiting for a Head of Programmes, who will join the GA’s Senior Leadership Team. 

Do you have the skills and experience to lead the GA’s CPD, events and consultancy programmes and further develop the GA’s successful support for trainees and primary and secondary teachers?

This vacancy has arisen because Becky Kitchen will sadly be leaving the GA at the end of this year to take up the post of Departmental Lecturer in Geography Education at Oxford University. 

The role of Head of Programmes will span work on the GA’s Annual Conference, Geography Quality Marks, our CPD and consultancy programmes and initiating new programmes and courses. It involves working closely with the GA’s strategic partners, key stakeholders and teachers to promote and support geographical education.

A big job.... and having worked at the GA before it will also be a fulfilling and exciting one - and comes at a busy time for all in education. Fond memories of working in the same office as John Lyon when he was Programme Director.... a lot of helicoidal flow has gone round the meander since then....

For full details of the role and information on how to apply please click here.

Applications must be received by 5pm on 17 November 2026.

Interviews will be held in person, in Sheffield, during week commencing 30 November.

300 000 page views

Thanks for visiting and reading... another small milestone passed.

20% off pre-orders

This book is out in January 2027.

I've blogged about it a lot over the last couple of years as it has taken shape with the help of Alex Standish and the cohort of Fawcett Fellows I was privileged to be a part of.

This book invites geography subject leaders to reveal the intricacies of how they construct, implement and evaluate their secondary curricula. Through these reflections, they outline their vision of the geography students they want to nurture, core concepts, how units of study are sequenced for progression, how skills and fieldwork are integrated, opportunities to explore geographical issues and values, and links to academic geography.

Each chapter explains how these teachers decide which places, case studies and issues to study, how they attempt to avoid stereotypes and single story narratives, and how they develop pupils' ability to examine issues from different perspectives. They also discuss what is meant by a knowledge-turn in curriculum, why this was called for, how social realist epistemology can help schools as they re-contextualise knowledge and principles of curriculum design.

This book grows out of the UCL Fawcett Fellowship scheme for geography teachers. In 2022-23, a group of seven experienced geography teachers worked together to research curriculum theory and geography education. While each teacher was in a different situation with respect to curriculum development in their school, they learnt collaboratively and developed ways to improve curriculum structure, depth, coherence and progression in their department.

You can currently get 20% off the cover price by pre-ordering - that may have changed if you are reading this after the date of posting.

Why not secure a copy for your departmental library at a reduced price.

'How to Live on Earth'

Benedict Cumberbatch has explored some hopeful geographical stories for a new documentary which is now available to view on YouTube.

There are some accompanying teacher resource and other materials to download if you are interested in using some sections with students.

EFL Showcase - 8th-9th September

EFL stands for Enhancing Fieldwork Learning in this event. 

The EFL project team coordinates an annual Showcase event that brings together fieldwork educators from a range to disciplines to share innovations in field teaching and learning with a particular focus on the use of technology.

I last attended and spoke some years ago, talking about our work on Mission:Explore.

The 16th Enhancing Fieldwork Learning Showcase will focus on the theme of ‘Bridging the Divide’. 

The free Showcase Event will be held on 8-9th September 2026. 

The hybrid event will be in-person at the University of Southampton and broadcast online.

"We are pleased to confirm two Keynote speakers – Dr Nicholas Worsfold (Brunel University) and Alan Parkinson (King’s Ely Prep School / Royal Geographical Society) – who will speak about their experiences of bridging the divide from school to HE in addition to reflecting on how AI can be used most effectively in bridging digital and real world learning." 

There will also be opportunities to trial innovative survey and field sensing technologies with Environmental Sensing @ Southampton: https://esas.soton.ac.uk/.

The provisional programme is now available: EFL-Showcase-2026-programme-v3. 

Please register for online and in-person attendance here: https://forms.gle/nnefo7F7pLxRNdiS6

Whatever happened to the Geography Pages?

At the PTI earlier in the week, a colleague from Norfolk asked about my GeographyPages and what happened to it.

This was one of the most visited geography websites in the world for a while... when there weren't many out there...

As it happens, in 2013, I decided I wasn't going to update it further and move to concentrate on my blogs - particularly this one.

Check out the various activities that Rich organises, which includes a range of websites...

Powerful knowedge in the classroom

A new book was added to the library of books made freely available by UCL Press at the end of last week. The books are available on the UCL Press website, and JSTOR.

The latest books is about bringing powerful knowledge into the classroom.

The geography chapter has been written by Dr. Alex Standish. It explores the curriculum thinking of two heads of department, who consider how knowledge is explored in their classrooms.

It's a fairly short chapter and is worth a read.