1986-7: Kenneth Baker

An interesting debate carried on from 1985 and Keith Joseph's speech at a special one-day conference in King's College, London in June 1985.

The GA had responded to 7 questions posed by Keith Joseph, but he was then replaced by Kenneth Baker. The letter defined elements of the GA's emerging policy towards a National Curriculum.

This had 4 key bullet points:

1. Understanding geography should be a fundamental part of every child's education

2. Geography had powerful integrating qualities in itself 'with strong links in both the sciences and the arts' and should not be seen as just a humanities subject

3. Direct observation and investigation of the environment was an important part of geographical work and should be undertaken by every pupil

4. Geography could be a vehicle for the study and discussion of controversial social and environmental issues and therefore should be studied by all up to the age of 16.

The GA tried to arrange a meeting with Mr. Baker unsuccessfully, so worked on 'A Case for Geography', edited by Patrick Bailey and Tony Binns.

This arrived on Ken Baker's desk in 1987. Baker had studied History at Oxford and he wanted to change that.

According to Rex Walford, when the GA's delegation finally arrived at his office in June 1987, he told them that Geography would find a distinctive place in the National Curriculum he was about to announce. 

This didn't turn out to be as clear cut as he had suggested. Baker had to defend his plans against Margaret Thatcher who wanted to change them.

I was broadly aware of the changes in the offing as I was completing my PGCE at this time.

The next stage was to put together a Geography Working Group to advise DES officials. This met for the first time in May 1989.

References

Rex Walford's book on UK School Geography - it is well worth reading the section on this period in this book if you can, as Rex talks about the various threats that geography safely navigated at this time, some of which were beyond the influence of the GA....

1980: Mr. Vic D Dennison

Updated November 2023

When Vic Dennison became President he was a Lecturer in Geography at Filton Technical College in Bristol, an FE college. This makes him an unusual President to have had that role during his term.

Vic Dennison took over the Presidency at the start of the 1980s. This was a period when school geography came under threat.

He was involved in a number of committees of the Geographical Association over his many years of service to the Association.
He had a strong link with the city of Bristol, which has provided a number of Presidents over the years, as readers of the blog will be aware from more recent posts.
Vic also wrote reviews of publications for 'Teaching Geography'.

He was born in the city.

Source: https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/50126/page/53

His Presidential Address had a slightly different start. It was called 'The Use of Geography', and referred to his suggestion that as the Conference schedule was so packed, perhaps the Presidential Address could be taken out to make room for some other events. 


He referred to a great many things in the Address, which had a different feel to many I've read in that it was a very personal story rather than being research based or with a particular focus or theme.

He referred to his time as a teacher, and at the age of 18...

"...my Inspector decided that as a teacher I was too dour; but he knew that I wanted to go to university and that the only way I could do that was to sign the pledge to teach for five years, so he did not mark me down as unsuitable and I was allowed to go on. I seem to remember that the previous teacher President said that she was considered unsuitable as a teacher in her training days (Jones, 1976). Perhaps this will become a qualification for the Presidency."

He was not entirely convinced by the use of games and simulations in the classroom:

"At school level, I think we are making a mistake in concentrating on the conceptual approach, especially in conjunction with teaching methods more appropriate to mature minds. I am talking here about problem-solving exercises and role-playing games. I suppose it is fun to play games in the classroom but the thought of well-fed, energetic youngsters playing the poverty game is just obscene: and what an imagination a young pupil must have to pretend to be a Saxon invader in a foreign land looking for a site for his settlement - difficult enough for him to imagine the present world stage, let alone what it was like 1500 years ago."

I have not been able to find much else about his time at the GA, but have a few potential leads which may result in an update in the next month or so.

A contemporary of his, Sheila Jones, who was GA President in 1975, told me:

Vic was a long serving member of the Bristol Branch, teaching at Queen Elizabeth's School and Filton College of Education. For many years he attended the GA conference, always having a question or two at the AGM . When Pat Cleverley and I first went along to conference he was very helpful. He was a great field worker. He lived on the edge of the Mendips, an area about which he was very knowledgeable

References

“The Geographical Association.” Geography, vol. 72, no. 1, 1987, pp. 77–79. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40571227

Presidential Address: "The Use of Geography"

https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/50126/page/53 - this article provides a review of the conference in 1980 and some of the challenges facing the subject at the time:



It was interesting to see the session by an MP at the conference. He also said it wasn't the 'new geography' following Madingley which was the problem...


I like the idea of that... perhaps one to bring back...

If anyone has any further information on Vic Dennison please get in touch. I contacted the college as well to see if they have any records on Vic but they have merged with other colleges since he worked there... Images also welcome... This is a relatively brief entry.

Vic retired to the Mendips. I was able to find a little more about him from a society which was active there, which he was the Chairman of, and wrote a letter which was published in 'The Times' in 1986 on the theme of the Mendips AONB.

In 1995 he gave a talk in Weston Super Mare.

Updated November 2023

He was involved in a period called the Great Debate. This involved a great deal of effort on the part of the GA, including by Richard Daugherty and Rex Walford.

The Great Debate, launched in 1976, gave the Geographical Association ample opportunities to promote the study and teaching of geography in schools. Publications from the Department of Education and Science (DES) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate (HMI) were scrutinised carefully by GA officers and members for mention of geography and of proposals which could have implications for the position of geography in schools. 

The central committees of the GA responded formally and informally, publicly and privately, as the Debate progressed.

Williams, Michael. “The Geographical Association and the Great Debate.” Geography, vol. 70, no. 2, 1985, pp. 129–37. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40571967. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.