GA Governing Body Vacancy - one week to go

One of the groups of people that operates to 'create' the GA and its day to day decision making and operations is the Governing Body. Members includs the Presidents during their period of office, Named Trustees and co-opted members as well as elected Trustees. 

The deadline is now the 8th of November.

GA Conference 2022

The conference theme is  Everyday Geographies.

Yesterday was a good day as the first emails went out to those who submitted a proposal for the GA Conference in April 2022. Immediately there were some very excited people on Twitter sharing the news.

Along with the submitted proposals there's also a whole programme of invited speakers who will be announced in the coming months.

There will also be some other emails coming out as well next week, so if you submitted a proposal and haven't heard from us, please check your spam (depends on the sensitivity of your work systems) or wait until the end of next week. There are still a few slots to be filled. The President is always involved heavily in the conference, including choosing the theme. For many decades, there were conference organisers, who have featured on the blog in previous posts.

Here's a sample of the tweets that were sent out on the day:

Thrilled to hear proposal for @The_GA conference 2022 has been accepted. We are thrilled to share our lively, practical workshop #PlaceMotifs linking place, colour & everyday geographies. Come along to share ideas of curious practices and geo-response-abilities 😊#GAConf22 pic.twitter.com/cVJhoxbJTo

— Clarke&Witt (@Attention2place) October 22, 2021

Really excited to be hosting a session at the #gaconf22 with @SusanJPike on transitions in geography! 🌍

— Denise Freeman 🌎🙋🏻‍♀️ (@geography_DAF) October 22, 2021

Delighted to have news from @The_GA & @GeoBlogs that proposal for @RGS_IBGschools on 'What do young people actually think about geography' accepted for #gaconf22. Be sharing research with 500 YP on why they did/didn't #choosegeography, views on the subject & options re. careers

— Steve Brace (@SteveBraceGeog) October 22, 2021

Great to see all the tweets this afternoon from folks getting emails of approval for presentations @The_GA conference next April. And I got a couple too, including one where I'll be presenting with @HafsaBobat on tectonic misconceptions & how to address them in geography! pic.twitter.com/IkEknauszm

— Alistair Hamill (@lcgeography) October 22, 2021

@DrCNayeri & @RushtonDr will be contributing a workshop at #gaconf22 ‘Supporting students to publish their ‘everyday geographies’ in #Routes - excited to continue to conversation 🌎🌟📚📘🖌🎞🎨

— Routes Geography Journal (@routesjournal) October 22, 2021

New GA KS3 textbook

Great to see the new KS3 textbook published by the GA is now available and I have ordered a class set.

This has an excellent design and content.

This resource introduces students in years 7–9 to key geographical concepts, topics, themes, places and skills from the key stage 3 Programme of Study and beyond. The 18 chapters consider themes in human and natural environments and explore the connections and interactions between them.

Written by practising teachers and geography educators, the book aims to:
enthuse and engage students, making them more globally aware and environmentally minded
help students develop a better understanding and appreciation of the world
introduce key geographical knowledge, build understanding and develop skills that will be needed for GCSE, while keeping key stage 3 (or equivalent) a distinctive phase of education
introduce themes early on and revisit them later in different contexts to consolidate learning
suggest different approaches and ways of thinking in geography.

Each chapter contains:

• an introductory page containing starter activities and an outline of key themes, concepts and topics covered within it
• five or six double-page spreads containing information and case study material to engage students, along with location maps and activities to help students become better geographers
• a review page with activities to consolidate the learning from the chapter.

There's a great author and editing team and all led by Elaine Anderson and colleagues at Solly Street.

Let us know what you think of the book when you order your copy... you will be ordering a copy won#t you :)

Joint declaration on the Climate and Biodiversity Emergencies

The Geographical Association is one of the signatories of this joint declaration. It has been signed by many of the international geographical societies and associations.

Turkish International Geography Congress

One of the aspects of the Presidential role that has not changed is that the President receives lots of invitations to speak at events, both in the 

This morning, I spoke to 200 Turkish geographers at the 3rd International Congress on Geographical Eduction along with geography educators from a number of other countries. This is my presentation.

The presentation was also broadcast live with simultaneous Turkish translation on Facebook. Here is a link to the presentation if you want to watch it, and the answers to the questions that followed.

I also took the opportunity to network over possible international projects to connect the GA with other international organisations.

New Research Engagement Lead opportunity

The GA is looking for a new member of the team providing support for teachers. Here are the details of the exciting post which is for a two year period.

The details of the post and application forms are on this link, where you can also request further information.

The increased prominence of research in education has prompted the GA to create a new post within its staff team in order to deliver key aspects of its organisational strategy. Specifically, these include deepening the understanding of the purposes and practices of geography in education, leading debate on the value of geography, demonstrating its contribution to education and society in the 21st century and bridging the developments in the discipline of geography with school practice.

As Research engagement lead you will take primary responsibility for helping the GA to meet these strategic objectives by seeking and securing partnerships, projects and relationships that strengthen the GA’s work across the Higher Education and school sectors. You will also draw on your own research expertise to ensure that the GA’s work is informed by education research and supports teachers of geography in developing their research literacy in order to develop their practice.

We are looking for someone with the ability to lead this strand of the GA’s work, who is an excellent communicator to a variety of audiences and has excellent organisational skills. You will need to be adaptable, work independently and manage a workload which varies throughout the year.

Salary: £40,000 - £44,500 fte
Closing date: Friday 5 November 2021

Looking to work for the GA? We've got a vacancy for a Research Engagement Lead, if you're interested and want the full specification go to >>> https://t.co/VDHd3HzHTs pic.twitter.com/vnkfVXowfs

— Geographical Association (@The_GA) October 13, 2021