1991: Eleanor Rawling MBE

Update July 2022

The GA is and has always played a vital role as a source of geography subject expertise, advice and community for geography teachers and geographers.

It is crucial that such a body exists in times of continuing educational and curriculum change and so I have felt it important to be involved and to contribute when I can.

I have also found it a place of friendship, intellectual challenge and social activity.

Eleanor Rawling (personal correspondence)

Eleanor Rawling has been involved in a wide range of geographical education activity for many decades, and has influenced the practice of many classroom teachers. Indeed, one could argue that she has done more than most to influence the geography that is taught in schools, particularly those that follow the National Curriculum.

Thanks to Eleanor for providing some useful information on her career and involvement with the Geographical Association.

Eleanor was born in Gloucestershire in 1949, and grew up in the Cotswolds.

She attended Chosen Hill Grammar/Technical School, Churchdown, Gloucestershire (a new school opened in 1959/60) and St Hilda's College, University of Oxford 

After attaining a degree in geography and a PGCE (1967-72) at the University of Oxford, she taught geography (11-18 years) at the John Mason School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. 

From 1976, she worked on two curriculum development projects: Schools Council Geography 16-19 at the University of London Institute of Education (1976-85) and the Geographical Association's Geography, Schools and Industry Project at the University of Oxford Department of Educational Studies (National Coordinator 1987-91). 

In 1984, she became Chair of Publications and Communications Committee of the GA, in which capacity she initiated the proposal for a GA Newsletter. In 1985, she became Editor of 'Teaching Geography' after Patrick Bailey finished his period of office.

In 1989, she was part of the National Curriculum Geography Working Group established by the government, and managed by the Department for Education and Science (DES) to outline a National Geography Curriculum. You may notice the names of several other Past Presidents on this group as well.

• Mrs. Kay Edwards—Head of Geography, Penglais Comprehensive School, Aberystwyth
• Mr. Richard Lethbridge—Former chairman, Tower Steel (Holdings) plc, now a branch secretary of the Country Landowners' Association
• Mrs. Wendy Morgan—Recently retired headmistress of Elmsett Primary School, Suffolk
• Dr. Keith Paterson—Senior Lecturer in Geography, Liverpool Institute of Higher Education
• Mrs. Eleanor Rawling—National Co-ordinator, Geography Schools and Industry Project
• Mr. Michael Storm—Staff Inspector for Geography and Environmental Studies, Inner London Education Authority
• Mrs. Rachel Thomas—Member of the Countryside Commission and Exmoor National Park Committee
• Mr. Rex Walford—Lecturer in Geography and Education, University of Cambridge

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1989/may/05/geography

Although Eleanor remained a member of the Group through to its report in 1991, she was unhappy with the approach taken to the curriculum and submitted a minority report which was not published.

In 1991, Eleanor was made a Research Fellow at the Oxford University Department of Educational Studies (later re-named Department of Education) and also became President of the Geographical Association (1991-2) and Chair of the Council of British Geography (1993-5). In her Presidential Address to the GA in 1992, Eleanor explained her concerns about the new national geography curriculum and her proposals for a more workable curriculum structure.

As Chair of the Council of British Geography she initiated the CoBRIG Seminars, bringing together those in schools and in higher education, research and teaching to consider big issues about the state and future of geography education. The 1994 seminar resulted in a book Geography into the 21st Century, co-edited/written with Richard Daugherty.

Eleanor told me that her MBE which was awarded in the New Year's Honours 1995 was specifically for her work with the GA and with the Council of British Geography.

From Eleanor's University Biography.

From 1993-2005, Eleanor was Professional Officer for Geography with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, during which time, she also maintained her research activity and publications via links with the Oxford Department. 

A Leverhulme Research Fellowship 1999-2000 allowed her to take secondment from QCA to carry out a study of the impact of curriculum policy on school geography and the resulting book Changing the Subject; the impact of national policy on school geography 1980-2000 has been widely cited both in and beyond the geography education world. This was followed by a BERA publication Connecting Policy and Practice; Research in Geography Education. Eleanor’s contribution to policy studies was recognised by the award of the Royal Geographical Society’s prestigious Back Award for contributions to geography and education policy in 2003.

She has given papers at a number of international conferences, including Brisbane, Washington DC, Toronto, New York and Boston. In 1992, she was a key speaker at the IGU International Congress held in Washington DC. and hosted by the National Geographic Society. She was also a visiting scholar to the NGS in that same year.

Source: http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/people/eleanor-rawling/

Since 2005, Eleanor has undertaken consultancy work for numerous organisations, including the Department for Education (England), edited the academic journal Geography, played roles in both the Royal Geographical Society and the Geographical Association and been an active member of the Geography Education Research Collective (GEReCo). 

From Eleanor's university biography.

Eleanor kindly answered some questions via a Google Form.

Most recently, I have worked as an independent consultant in geography and education, doing work for the Department of Education, England on National Curriculum (2013-4), GCSE and A/AS Level (2014-17) and for the Welsh Assembly Government's Curriculum Department on the Welsh Curriculum Review (2017-19).

"My year was characterised by 'making the most of the National Curriculum' i.e. I and many others were not happy with the new geography National Curriculum we had but I was determined that we would provide teachers with all the help and support they needed to implement it. The GA produced a full range of leaflets, resources and publications and also ran teacher inset, designed to do just that. 

Behind the scenes, I also worked hard to try and change/amend/improve the curriculum - a theme which has coloured a lot of my working life. I was instrumental in setting up GA News - and appointing Mike Morrish (another former GA President in due course) to be the first editor. I count this as a huge success as the Newsletter has flourished and continues to the present day. 

Also I planned out a GA regional structure which got off the ground with a very successful pilot region (the North West, managed by some enterprising and enthusiastic lecturers and LEA advisers). The full structure never really ran successfully because we didn't have the funding to make it work on more than a voluntary basis. I made close contact with both the Association of American Geographers and the National Geographic Society and their growing work on supporting school teachers. This resulted in close relations and some sharing of ideas/resources.

When she was GA President, Eleanor was also being a mother to two young children, one of whom needed constant medical treatment and doing independent geography education consultancy work.

 

After my Presidential year, I was involved in the committee that reviewed the GA structure and committees and produced a new structure, and I continued on Council until I had to give up due to joining SCAA."

John Westaway was another former President who was also involved with SCAA. More on that to come in John's own entry on the blog.

Eleanor was also involved in the development of the OCR Pilot GCSE Geography in the mid 2000s. She developed the module on Cultural Geography, and helped shape this innovative curriculum.

This is where I first encountered Eleanor myself, at an event for those teachers who were teaching this wonderful qualification, which reinvigorated the final few years of my teaching before I started to work for the Geographical Association (and probably contributed to me getting that job in a small way as it was so creative and opened my eyes to the possibilities - along with the influence of Chris Durbin.)

Eleanor also attended the Geography Teacher Educators' conferences. These are excellent, and I have attended several over the years and remember chatting to Eleanor at the Oxford event a few years back, where I had been presenting on the GeoCapabilities project.

I've also had the pleasure of working with Eleanor since on the more recent GA working party on the curriculum which the GA convened around the time I was working for the GA, and also discussions at the GTE conferences I've attended. I remember this involved producing some mapping along with ESRI, I wonder if the maps still exist.

Eleanor also had the privilege of being the author of the first article to be included in the GA's new journal for teachers in 1975:  'Teaching Geography'.

She contributed many other pieces as well over the years, and co-wrote a number of books including one with Richard Daugherty (GA President in 1989). She was also part of the Editorial Collective of the journal 'Geography' for many years, guiding the relaunch of the journal.

Eleanor is still very active in geography and curriculum matters.
Eleanor attended the special dinner held to celebrate the GA's 125th Anniversary, and is pictured here.

Images copyright: Geographical Association and Bryan Ledgard

In recent years, Eleanor remains active as a curriculum consultant.

She also has an interest in place, and the use of poetry.

She has written a book on the poetry of place of Ivor Gurney and the county of Gloucestershire.

She comes at this from the perspective of a Geographer and someone who knows the area that Gurney wrote about well: https://ivorgurneytrust.com/who-we-helped-3/ 

Eleanor continues to be involved with the GA, and told me why she thinks this is so important:

"As a new teacher in the 1970s, I found the GA particularly helpful in giving me access to the wider community of teachers and the expertise of other geographers and educationalists. Writing for the journals (TG and Geography) and being a member of various committees and working groups was an essential part of my professional development and growth of confidence. (Very significant was the fact that, as a young teacher, I had an article accepted for the very first issue of Teaching Geography)".

She still keeps active as well:

I am a fell runner (still at 70 years of age) and a long distance walker. My enjoyment of exploring wild places has also provided a personal and emotional perspective on my activities as a geographer and GA member.

References
http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/people/eleanor-rawling/ - departmental profile and biography

Hansard - Working Party for NC - mention of Eleanor's involvement
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1989/may/05/geography

Books
Changing the Subject; the impact of national policy on school geography 1980-2000

RAWLING, ELEANOR. “Supermarket for Llandovery: —an Exercise in Field Research.” Teaching Geography, vol. 1, no. 1, 1975, pp. 7–10. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23749911

Article on Place: https://www.questia.com/magazine/1P4-2122398093/reflections-on-place

Rawling E, 2001, Changing the Subject; the impact of national policy on school geography 1980-2000 Sheffield, Geographical Association. 

Rawling E, 2004, School Geography Around the World,; a sample of 14 countries, in Kent, Rawling and Robinson , forthcoming IGU-CGE publication with Scottish Association of Geography Teachers for IGU Glasgow Congress August 2004. 

Westaway J and Rawling E, 2001, The Rises and Falls of School Geography Teaching Geography 26 (3) pp108-111. 

Rawling, Eleanor, and John Westaway. “Exploring Creativity.” Teaching Geography, vol. 28, no. 1, 2003, pp. 5–8. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23756441. Accessed 23 Dec. 2020.

RAWLING, ELEANOR. “Village in the Green Belt — an Introduction to Planning for Second Year Pupils.” Teaching Geography, vol. 1, no. 4, 1976, pp. 151–156. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23751249.

GA Thinkpiece:

https://www.geography.org.uk/write/mediauploads/research%20library/ga_tp_s_planningcurriculum.pdf

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/pluginfile.php/631193/mod_resource/content/1/geog_t1_09t_2.pdf

I am grateful to Eleanor Rawling for her assistance with the entries for several other GA Presidents as well as her own.

If anyone has other memories of Eleanor's work with the Geographical Association please get in touch.

Simon Catling told me:

Eleanor Rawling is a particular friend who has provided great service for the geography education community for very many years, as one of our leading thinkers, essayists and promoters, always arguing geography’s case rigorously.

Update December 2020

Eleanor Rawling and Bryan Coates

(c) Bryan Ledgard / Geographical Association

At the relaunch of 'Geography'

(c) Bryan Ledgard / Geographical Association

Updated July 2022

I've met Eleanor a few times recently - at the GA Conference and also a COBRIG meeting at the RGS.

I worked on a paper for the recent IGU in Paris based on her work.

The paper is shared on ResearchGate.