Showing posts with label Teacher Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teacher Education. Show all posts

Wednesday, 23 September 2026

Margaret Mackintosh RIP

Updated post.

Sad news at the end of last week from colleagues who have organised the Charney Conference over the years of the passing of Margaret Mackintosh who was still active and interested in geography in her 80s. Just a few weeks ago she attended the latest online GeogLive! session run by the GA's Primary and Early Years Committee.


Image from Margaret's Facebook page.

Margaret was a retired primary teacher and BEd Geography-in-education tutor, and also a former long-standing Editor of Primary Geography journal and continued working as a geography consultant and writer. She lived in Exmouth.

Sharon Witt told me:

Margaret was a long time contributor to Charney conference. Lots of amazing stories of her travels, mentoring and welcoming colleagues at Charney Conferences and being a student of Margaret's at Plymouth University are coming in.

Coincidentally, a few days ago my Facebook memory was of a message from Margaret letting me know about another cliff fall in Sidmouth on a stretch that I'd used as a textbook case study, and visit each year to check on its progress.

Margaret was awarded the GA's Outstanding Service Diploma back in 2016. Here she is receiving her certificate from the President Steve Rawlinson.
Steve says of this event:

"It was a wonderful honour to be able to hand it over her as she had been so supportive during the year offering advice and encouragement as only Margaret could."

Image: Bryan Ledgard.

Margaret created the logo for the annual Charney Manor Conferences. She was a very accomplished artist, particularly landscapes and pets. Here she is with a painting she had created for Paula Owens along with Steve Rawlinson and Tina Horler


Image: Bryan Ledgard

Steve told me:

"She was a wonderful artist of both landscapes and pets – I have two lovely pictures of Lady Summer and Fluffy Flora! This particular one shows how much she enjoyed being in the company of fellow geographers. She leaves such a legacy of memories, advice and scholarship to us all. She will be greatly missed."

In this piece for Primary Geography she talks about our identity and how it is shaped by our family.

Condolences to Margaret's family, friends and former colleagues.


Image: Margaret's logo for the Charney Primary Conferences.


Update

Thanks to Trevelyan May for getting in touch to pass on his condolences and deep appreciation for Margaret's work.


If anyone would like to send messages to Margaret's family please get in touch by e-mail.

Tuesday, 29 November 2022

GTE Conference 2023

Geography Teacher Educators Conference 2023

Trinity College Dublin

27th – 29th of January 2023


I have attended quite a few GTE Conferences over the years. Unfortunately I am going to have to prioritise the GA Conference and the Charney Manor Conference this year, but I recommend this event to you, and the venue is a lovely one. 

The GA has helped with the administration of this event, and numerous former GA Presidents have spoken at the event. I've always offered a session when attending over the years, which have included talking about ERASMUS and also the development of my GA Presidents blog.

I've done a couple of events in Dublin over the years including a Google Teachers' Institute and a trip for the Geography of Happiness project with Simon Renshaw.

The GTE brings together researchers, lecturers and teachers involved in research and scholarship in Geography Teacher Education.

The draft programme is below so that you can see rough timings. Conference fee includes all coffees and lunches within Trinity College. 

Well done to the conference team for putting the programme together.
  
Friday 27th January 2023

• 15:30 Welcome and coffee in the Education Department in the Arts Building, TCD – included

• 16:00-17:30 Session A: 6 presentations of 15 minutes

• 17:30-18:30 Keynote 1: Dr Ruth McManus, President of the Geographical Society of Ireland and
Associate Professor in Historical Geography at Dublin City University


• 18:30-20:00: Break

• 20:30 Dinner and networking upstairs at Café Amore, George’s Street – €20 (approximately £17)

• 22:00 Optional pint of Guinness in the Stag’s Head – cost €7 (approximately £5)

• Return to accommodation

Saturday 28th January 2022

• 8:00-9:00 Breakfast at the hotel or elsewhere

• 9:30-11:00 Session: 6 presentations of 15 minutes

• 11:00 Coffee – included

• 11:00-11:45 Session: Lived experiences of Geography in Ireland, from a panel of ITE student geography teachers

• 11:45-12:45 Keynote 2: Zainab Boladale TV presenter on RTÉ, Ireland’s National Broadcaster

• 12:45-13:30 Lunch - included

• 13:30-14:30 Session: 4 presentations of 15 minutes

• 15:00-15:30 Coffee break – included

• 15:30-!6:30 Session: 4 presentations of 15 minutes

• 16:30-18:30 Tour of Trinity College followed by reception in the Department of Geography, Museum

Building hosted by Professor Iris Moeller, Head of Geography

• 18:30 Dinner at the Cedar Tree, St Andrew St, Dublin 2 – cost €30 (approx. £27)

• Return to accommodation

Sunday 29th January 2023

• 8:00-9:00 Breakfast at accommodation

• 9:30-11:00 Session: 6 presentations of 15 minutes

• 11:00 Coffee – included

• 11:30-13:00 Session: 6 presentations of 15 minutes

• 13:00-14:00 Lunch and future plans for GTE – included

• 14:00 Optional trip to the National Museum of Dublin: Antiquities and National Museum of Dublin: Natural History Museum www.museum.ie/en-ie/home All free admission

Conference costs

• Hotel - €120 (approximately £100) per night, includes breakfast

Conference Fee:
Face to face 2 days - £140 or Conference, 3 days – £160, includes coffees and lunches

Online – £60


Accommodation and some meals (and the Guinness) extra.


Image: A pint of Guinness in Dublin, Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license

Friday, 27 August 2021

2020: Dr Susan Pike

Updated August 2025

Dr Susan Pike is Assistant Professor (Education) at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and was previously Lecturer in Geography Education in the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies at the Institute of Education in Dublin City University, in the Republic of Ireland. 

She moved to Ireland from England in 2000.

School and University
Susan had a shaky start with geography. 

She remembers copying off the board in primary school in Scotland and learning off examination answers and standing up when getting questions wrong in secondary school in England. Luckily for her last year of A level, she had an inspiring teacher Mrs Fairclough, as she remembers

"Jane was amazing, she realised very quickly we had pretty poor experiences of Geography so far. She listened to our complaints, and acted upon them! She took is out on fieldwork, passing on her passion for Geography and the environment. She was so caring, she also persuaded me to apply for university, something I had never considered before. For this I remain so grateful to her." 

Susan attended Nottingham University's School of Geography from 1987. One of her lecturers was Professor John Cole. Susan had lovely memories of him: 

"As geography students we were a social lot, most of the class went out on Thursday nights to Rock City. But we were all there at 9 am on Fridays for his 'Developing World' lectures. He was so interesting, teaching us geography through story. I was very lucky to have him as my tutor in 2nd Year, through his stories and questions, he never failed to get us thinking geographically". 

Her other memorable lecturers were numerous, and included Dr Catherine Delano-Smith and Professor Louise Crewe. Over the past 20 years Susan has designed and taught on a range of modules in Geography,

Teaching
After graduating, Susan worked for Compassion in World Farming for three years, hence the idea for her GA Conference theme in 2021. She worked in all sections, from despatch to campaigns but also knew that she wanted to move on and teach. 
She gained a place on the PGCE at the University of Southampton, and her tutor was Professor Nick Foskett. She had very positive experiences at Southampton. 

"I was so fortunate on the PGCE. My tutor was Nick, who was so dedicated to his role. he really cared for us all. At Bournemouth School for Boys, we were treated with such care, as we were the first PGCE students there and at Oaklands Community School in Southampton, the same was so as they always took students." 

During this time Susan realised the importance of her subject association:

"I was always aware of the GA, having read Geography at university. But on the first day of our PGCE, Nick told us to join the GA and that the Conference would be in Southampton that year, so I joined and went the Conference. I remember being 'star-struck' by meeting so many of the people whose work I had read. And they were all so lovely!" 

Susan worked at King Richard School in Paulsgrove, Portsmouth, then back to Oaklands Community School in Southampton. All whilst completing her Masters in Geographical and Environmental Education at Southampton. She then became Head of Geography at Hayling School near Portsmouth. She fondly remembers all the roles she held as well as the students and teachers she worked for. 

"I was so fortunate to work in great schools, with such dedicated teachers. All the school I worked in were challenging in terms of the issues some students' experiences, but luckily as a geography teacher you were able to link the learning to the students' lives and engage them. Most of them eventually liked geography and many did better than they thought they would at GCSE! We also went on many trips, working out the very cheapest ways to travel, from down to the local beach or shops and all the way to EuroDisney and the Christmas Markets in Germany." 

Working in teacher education.
Susan continued to be a member of the GA, and on moving to Ireland and working in teacher education, she started writing for the GA. She first wrote about research on children's national identity in Primary Geography in 2001. She went on to become more involved in the work of primary geographers, presenting at several GA Conferences, Geography Teacher Educators' Conferences and Charney Primary Geography Conferences. 
During this time Susan completed her doctorate in education at Queen's University Belfast as well as other published research in geography education and teacher education. As can be seen from her DCU profile, she has written numerous books, papers, chapters and resources all related to geography and geography teacher education. She is also on the Committee of the Geography Society of Ireland, a member of the Geography Education Research Collective (GERECO), the editorial board of International Research in Geography and Environmental Education (IRGEE). 

Susan and the GA Presidential Role 
Over time, Susan became more involved in the work of the GA. In 2016 Susan's first book was published, 'Learning Primary Geography: Ideas and Inspirations from Classrooms', featuring theory and practice in primary geography. Over this time Susan wrote articles, many with teachers for Primary Geography. 
She received the Geographical Association Award for Excellence in 2016. 
She worked extremely hard as Secretary of the GA’s Early Years and Primary Phase Committee from 2017. She then became Junior Vice President in 2018. 
Over the past two years she has chaired the GA’s Education Group meetings for the last year in her role as GA Vice-President and President, and is currently a GA Trustee. Susan’s 2021 Presidential theme of ‘Compassionate Geographies’ grew in significance and resonance since it was first announced, as we all became increasingly aware of our own personal geographies and connections with others. The Conference, held online, was a great success. Session downloads are still available to obtain by those who attended, and can be purchased by those who didn't attend the event. Susan was delighted about how the Conference went: 

"Thanks to all the GA member and staff who got involved, the event went as well as it could! The keynote speakers, the workshops and lectures as well as the Wonder Room were all wonderful." 

The online format of the conference allowed those who could not normally attend the event to come along. As Susan says:

"My original reasons for wanting to become President were to encourage more people to get involved in the Association, as the restrictions this year has actually helped this process. I think people are more likely to say they can volunteer for the GA, as it's been easier to meet up online. However, I also know folk are really looking forward to seeing each other for real! There's also more to do to make the GA more diverse and inclusive, but we are all working on that as you can see in each issue of GA News. It's been a strange year to be GA President, but I've enjoyed every moment of it. It has been a privilege everyday. Luckily I was in the presidential cycle for the two years before, working with Education Group and Governing Body before our movements were restricted. However, there are many GA members I've only really got to know online, many of whom have become more involved in the Association. All of them are so dedicated to the Association and promoting and developing geography in their settings. So, like many of us, I am really looking forward to Conference in 2022, for many missed cups of coffee and chats, as well as the quiz, BeerMeet and other events in Guildford!" 

As she steps down from being GA President, she is looking forward to continuing her work for the GA, as a member of Governing Body and working on various projects for the Association. Most of all she is looking forward to linking up her students with schools, principals, teachers and children again, something that has been impossible recently. 



Images copyright: Bryan Ledgard / Geographical Association - the next images were provided by Susan Pike.


Susan with teachers involved in Learning Primary Geography, and Dr Harold Hislop, Chief Inspector of Schools in Ireland in 2016



Some of Susan's Geography Specialism students at the GA Conference in 2017


Some of Susan's BEd2 students 2011, out of fieldwork with Barnaby Bear


Rethinking risk by making fire with BEd3 students at DCU, 2018

References

Wednesday, 11 August 2021

Geographical Pictures

Molly Long's work was linked to children's conception of geography, and pedagogy, around initial teacher education at the IoE. She was GA President in 1970.

She wrote several papers on the theme of exploring how young children conceptualise places, and how they respond to images. I am part of a group of people including former GA President Peter Fox who are working on a project called the Geographers Gaze.

As part of that work we have been exploring how to make better use of the GA's Lantern Slide collection.

See previous posts on magic lantern slides.

References

Monday, 5 July 2021

2018: Stephen Scoffham

Dr. Stephen Scoffham's professional work has been in the area of Primary Geography, and he has a long association with Canterbury Christchurch University, where he is currently Visiting Reader in Sustainability & Education.

He is also involved in a number of campaigns which look to advance the place of geography at this key stage. He serves on the Steering Group of the Humanities 20:20 group, for example.


Stephen's Presidential Address was on the theme of 'Celebrating Geography'.

Bloomsbury Curriculum Basics: Teaching Primary Geography

I have used and referred to a great many of Stephen's books and resources over the years, and this book with Paula Owens has been of particular value when preparing some KS2 work of my own for colleagues as part of our curriculum developments for the coming academic year.

One of the first times I met Stephen was in around 2006 when I worked on a project with David Lambert to develop some atlases for Collins as part of the GA's consultancy work.
 I still use those Atlases in my own classroom, and enjoyed the process of discussing how to make sure the atlases didn't stay on the shelves as much as they normally did.

The following 'biography' was written by Stephen himself and taken from a number of sources.

Initially a primary school teacher, Stephen worked for many years as a teacher educator before taking up the post of Visiting Reader in Sustainability and Education at Canterbury Christ Church University. 
Stephen is an established author of geography teaching materials and one of a very small number of author/consultants for school atlases. 

With well over a million sales, Stephen's publications have been used in many different parts of the world and translated into languages as disparate as Georgian, Hebrew, Gaelic and Portuguese (Brazil). He served for many years as the GA’s publication officer and devised two different editions of its best-selling publication – the Primary Geography Handbook. During his Presidential year he also started a 'tradition' followed by other recent GA Presidents of engaging more with committees and special interest groups and attending meetings - he came to several Secondary Phase Committee meeting while I was secretary, for example.

He joins a number of other GA Presidents in the million-selling club. I have a way to go to reach that yet...

Deeply aware of the dangers of global warming and sustainability issues, Stephen focused his presidential year on contemporary challenges and argued for new and positive approaches using ‘celebrating geography’ as a unifying theme.

Stephen was brought up in Hertfordshire and went to St Albans School before studying philosophy and history at the University of Kent. After training as a teacher, he took up a post as the leader of a research project into urban environmental education. It was here that he developed his ideas about outdoor learning and the value of first-hand experience. As Schools’ Officer for the Canterbury Urban Studies Centre Stephen pioneered new approaches to using the school environment as a teaching resource. 
He then joined Canterbury Christ Church University as a tutor in primary education where his interest in learning, creativity and international understanding provided a rich foil for his ideas about geography education.

Stephen has travelled widely in Europe and Asia. 
He lived for a while in Istanbul after graduating before journeying on foot with friends across the Anatolian plateau – a distance of some 500 miles. As a university tutor he led study visits to south India for over a decade inspiring groups of teacher educators and leaving them with indelible experiences of different ways of living. 

More recently Stephen has directed his attention towards promoting sustainability awareness in academic life, writing about sustainability leadership and pioneering practical initiatives. A sense of place and a sensitivity to the environment pervades all these different endeavours. And his interest in the surroundings, both urban and rural, is something he pursues as a hobby as an enthusiastic walker, gardener and photographer.

In recent years, Stephen has been part of the project team for the Meaningful Maps project.
This explores how young people conceptualise their surroundings. Some of the students at my own school were involved in the early stages of the project, submitting their own maps, and work is ongoing to produce research papers and other outcomes from the project exploring young children's cartographical imaginations.


Stephen was also very helpful to me during my time as Junior Vice President, as he was the Past President during that time, and helped me with the responsibilities and chatted through some of his own experiences to help me get used to the role. This is all part of the Presidential 'journey' which those who put themselves forward for Presidency are taken on. 


Meaningful Maps: http://meaningfulmaps.org/

As with some recent Presidents, Stephen has a Twitter account.

Image copyright: Bryan Ledgard / Geographical Association

Numerous books - too many to list here.
SCOFFHAM, S. Using the School's surroundings:A Guide to Local Studies in Urban Schools Guildford Ward Lock 1980
He has also co-authored many books with other Primary colleagues including Paula Owens.

As always, memories of Stephen's time as GA President welcome...

Sunday, 27 June 2021

2017: Nick Lapthorn

Nick Lapthorn works for the Field Studies Council, and was previously Head of Centre at Nettlecombe Court in Somerset.
He has written extensively on fieldwork, and helped tens of thousands of students experience learning outside the classroom.


Nick was educated at Kingsbridge School and Community College before doing a BSc degree in Topographic Science and Geography at the University of Wales, Swansea.
He has worked at a number of FSC Centres since 1996, including Amersham, Juniper Hall and Nettlecome Court (which was the first FSC centre I visited, with Tim Burt, as an undergraduate geographer)

Nick can be followed on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nicklapthorn 

Nick was an active member of the Geographical Association's 'Fieldwork' group since 2000. During this time he has acted as member, Secretary and Chair of the group since 2010.
He has contributed regularly to GA publications, articles for journals and consultations, and is a regular presenter at GA Conference and more widely promoting fieldwork. 
To help communicate with as many people as possible he established the @geogfieldwork Twitter account which now has over 3,500 followers in the UK and overseas.
As with some of the more recent Presidents, he was kind enough to pass on some information via my Google Form.
Nick was born in 1973 South Devon (Torbay)

He attended Kingsbridge School and Community College (now Kingsbridge Academy). and the University of Wales, Swansea (now Swansea University)

He told me of his carreer path:
"After university I moved from washing dishes in a pub in South Devon to washing dishes as a general assistant at FSC Juniper Hall. Coming from a family of teachers I have vowed not to become involved in education and thought that an address at a field centre, whilst looking for gainful employment was better than a pub. During my time off shift I used to support the geography tutor with fieldwork on Box Hill and quite enjoyed and found out that I was also not too bad at it. 
When the tutor left to take up a PGCE, I was encouraged to apply for the post and got it. I was already considering by this time doing a PGCE, but hadn't decided if I wanted to do primary or secondary (my father was a primary teacher). I progressed from Tutor to Senior Tutor at Juniper Hall to being Head of Centre at FSC Amersham and then back to Juniper Hall as Head of Centre. 
In 2010 I moved back to the west country to become Head of Centre at FSC Nettlecombe Court."

Nick was working as Head of Centre at Nettlecombe Court when he was GA President.

Nick's conference theme was 'Real World Geography'. 

He told me:
"In spite of having a love for geography as a subject it wasn't really until I started to assist with fieldwork that my passion really came alive. So many elements of the subject seemed to make much more sense when it became a hands-on subject - things just started to make more sense. I knew that if this was the case for me, then that must be the case for many others too. My theme was to highlight the role of geography in the many aspects of daily life. In the last couple of years of being Chair of FOLSIG we pushed forward the 'Year of Fieldwork' that worked across the subject community involving GA, RGS-IBG, Esri, Ordnance Survey, FSC and 21 further partner organisations. As a result I was shortlisted for a LOtC Advocate Award by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom."

Of his links with the GA:
"I became involved with the GA in the late 1990s when the Field Studies Council's Chief Executive Tony Thomas suggested that I became involved with the Field Studies Working Group. I was a member for many years followed by being Secretary and then Chair (2010-2016) as it became the Fieldwork and Outdoor Learning Special Interest Group (FOLSIG). I stepped down as Chair as I took up the role of Junior Vice President."

This is a reminder that if you have some ambition to be GA President, a first step is to involve yourself more closely with the GA. SIGs and PCs offer the chance to be a corresponding member to get involved in their work.

Nick told me that it was a good year to be President when he was...

"It was amazing to be GA President during it's 125th year - something that was brought to my attention about half way through my year as Junior Vice-President when it was agreed that it needed to be marked and celebrated. I spent the next few years suffering regularly from imposter syndrome as you realise the many illustrious footsteps in which you walk and the intellectual shadows you sit beneath. 
However the GA was, is and will remain a welcoming and supportive community. 

Two main memories - the 125 year celebration event in Christ Church College, Oxford. Wonderful to be part of the celebration at the location where the GA was established 125 years earlier. "

I have previously posted about this event, and shared images.

He shared his memory of conference:

























"Everything about it was so special, it feels like a geography wedding! One particular memory I have is bumping into Sharon Witt after my Presidential lecture. Sharon asked if Margaret Roberts had found me yet? No I replied. "Well, she wants a word, I think you are going to like it" she laughed. Later that afternoon I did meet Margaret. "Ah, Nick, I'm glad I found you. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your lecture. Not very academic, but entertaining nonetheless." I did like it. I was more than satisified with the review!"

I can share that feeling.... I have presented a few times with Margaret in the audience and it certainly sharpens the mind :)

You can see Tony Thomas and Rob Lucas on the right of the photo above, supporting Nick.

Of his memories of his GA year he also says:
"Working with the Worldwise Challenge weekends with Mark Higginbottom, Sue Lomas and John Lyon - I can't think of many weekends in my life that I have enjoyed more. Working with young people, engaged in the subject that they enjoy and that we love in beautiful locations and often laughing until the tears rolled down my cheeks."

Image: Bryan Ledgard / Geographical Association

In his Presidential lecture Nick talked about how everyone is a geographer, and why Geographers should always be able to claim the window seat on planes.
Here's Kit Rackley's review of the lecture with a few images.
In 2015, Nick was one of the key people behind the Year of Fieldwork project.

IMG_2974
Image: Kit Rackley

& a presentation from an INSET course:

As always, memories of Nick and his time as President welcome.

Monday, 21 June 2021

2016: Mary Biddulph

I have had the privilege of working with Mary Biddulph
on a range of projects over the years.
Mary worked for many years in teacher education at the University of Nottingham.

We worked together on the Young People's Geographies project, which ran from 2006-2011. I started as a teacher, but was involved with the final stages of the project as a GA employee.

Mary has kindly filled in the Zoom form that I created for the recent Presidents.

Mary was born in Brighton in 1960.
She started school in the West Midlands, her family having moved there when she was four years old. However, she then moved to Maidstone in Kent when she was 12 and went to school there until she finished her A levels.
Of her time in education she said:
"My geography education was relatively uninspiring...except for the fieldwork at A level - geography made so much sense after the field week in Swanage. I did my degree at the University of Sussex, where there was a lot of emphasis on International development (many thanks to (former GA President) Tony Binns for his enthusiastic teaching) and historical geography (many thanks to Brian Short for his wisdom and insight). It was here I first read 'Topophilia' by Yi Fu Tuan - this changed my view of geography for ever. I recommend it to everyone. 

I did my PGCE at the University of Nottingham and have lived in the East Midlands ever since. Harry Tolley and Frank Molyneux were my tutors, and it is fair to say they were both, in very different ways, inspirational."

This is a reminder of the importance of those previous generations of ITE trainers who trained the current generations of teachers - people like Vincent Tidswell who I was fortunate to have had train me.... I may need to investigate these two gentlemen next...

Mary responded next to this question, which I have asked all the available Presidents: "What has your career been e.g. teacher / academic / author / other work outside the obvious geography sphere?"
Mary said:

"I feel I have done bits of all of the above in my time. However, I started my career in geography education as a young (and very naive) teacher in an inner-city school in Derby. The students there were magnificent - so skilled at running rings round me!

I had to learn fast. I became a PGCE tutor at the University of Nottingham after eight years in the classroom. The transition was just luck - right place at the right time - Harry Tolley needed a part-time colleague and I was lucky enough to be it. 

Working alongside Harry was wonderful, and I learnt so much from him during my early years as a PGCE tutor. His boundless enthusiasm for and commitment to geography education made him an excellent role model for this early-career PGCE tutor. I worked in ITE Geography at the University of Nottingham for nearly 30 years. It sounds like a long time, but it isn't. The time flew by. The University afforded me many professional opportunities for which I am forever grateful. Yes, the chance to travel to many interesting places was a benefit of working at the University, but there were three other and much more significant benefits: 
1. The freedom to think / read / reflect on geography education and its significance to children's education. 
2. The opportunity to work with many wonderful hard-working PGCE students and their subject mentors in schools - this was a real privilege. 
3. The chance to be part of a wider community (including the GA) of committed geography educationists who fed my ideas and challenged my thinking. 

Part of the freedom of working in the University was being able to seize opportunities as they came along. For me, an example of such an opportunity was my involvement in the Young People's Geographies (YPG) project. The project comprised a unique combination of teachers, academic geographers and school students all working together developing the geography curriculum - it was both great fun and so inspiring. The school students involved in the project had such rich ideas about geography and were so perceptive about what the curriculum could be. We need to listen to them more than we do."

As one of those teachers I certainly learned a great deal from my involvement in the project.

She told me more about her Presidential theme.

Inclusive Geographies? was the theme I selected. 
I chose this theme because I wanted the geography community to think about the extent to which school geography, and geography more generally is (or is not) inclusive of a diverse range of students and teachers. The question mark is significant to the theme. 

I am convinced that there was then, and there still is, important work to be done to ensure all young people access the kind of geographical education that will serve them well in their current and future lives. I also think there is work to be done in ensuring the geography teaching profession better reflects the communities it serves. 

These are complex issues and there are no simple answers, but nonetheless they are issues not to be sidestepped. Prior to being president I edited the journal 'Teaching Geography' for three years, and while in this role served on the GA's Education Committee. I was also a member of the YPG project team (the project was funded by the Action Plan for Geography) and had also been involved in the evaluation of a couple of other GA projects. Since being president I have stepped back a bit but am currently on the Geography Education Research Working Group (GERWG) and am also a member of a group looking at developing a curriculum framework for geography."

I ask all former GA Presidents why the GA matters:

"The GA matters to me because it provides me, and many others, with membership of a community of practice committed to high quality geography education. It is home to, and even a refuge for, a wide range of geography education professionals who debate, discuss, argue and pontificate on the question: What exactly is a 'high quality geography education'. It provides a place where assumptions about school geography are challenged and where teachers can be sure of the quality of the ideas it encourages. School geography has not always had a secure place in the school curriculum, and the GA has been crucial in advocating for the subject in policy circles where the significance of geography to young people's education has been often been completely misunderstood. The GA continues to play an essential and ongoing role in ensuring geography is part of the education project. I'm not really sure how I got involved. It just seemed to happen a gradually.

I asked her about any successes of her Presidential year:
"I think it's difficult to judge 'successes', but my sense of achievement just came from working with the excellent staff at HQ and working with the 'team' of presidents to support the mission of the GA. Whilst the presidential lecture is the big public event for the president, it is really a small part of the presidential year - the rest of the year is really a team effort and HQ staff and the vice presidents and the past-president are key to that effort. Having said this, being president is good fun and it does mean that you get to engage with a wide range of enthusiastic geographers - attending the final weekend of Worldwise quiz in Blencathra, seeing the hard work of the different committees and enjoying the less formal aspects of the annual conference are all special parts of the role that I remember with great affection."

She also trained the current Nottingham University PGCE tutor Mal Kerr, just as she herself was trained by the previous generation.
Thanks to Mary for answering the questions so thoughtfully, and thanks in advance for the ongoing curriculum work which will be one feature of my own Presidential year.

"I still think there is work to do in helping a wider range of teachers and educators to get involved in the work of the GA. In particular, we need to think about how to engage the enthusiasm of early career teachers before they are no longer 'early career'."

References
Academic writing: https://www.tandfonline.com/author/Biddulph%2C+Mary - some very recent papers.


'TG' editorials feature in many issues too of course.

YPG has its own blog posts which includes some of the references, particularly a paper Mary co-wrote with Roger Firth and a special issue of 'Teaching Geography'.

Images - Copyright: Bryan Ledgard / Geographical Association

Tuesday, 15 June 2021

2015: Steve Rawlinson

Steve Rawlinson was a Principal Lecturer in Primary Geography Education at the University of Northumbria. 
He is now retired, but is still involved with GA committees and the creation of 'Primary Geography' magazine.

“GEOGRAPHY IS A SUBJECT THAT BECOMES A WAY OF LIFE.”
This was at the forefront of Steve's GA Presidential lecture in April 2016.
His lecture can be viewed here on SlidePlayer (note the 115 slides... that's one to aim to beat...)

I'd also like to thanks Steve as he was one of the people who were involved in me ultimately becoming the Junior Vice President of the GA. 

Here's Rebecca Priest's
summary of Steve's Presidential Lecture from the OUP blog:

Steve Rawlinson’s Presidential Lecture set the tone for the whole conference. He spoke on the topic of ‘making connections’, by drawing on experiences from his own life and career. Steve encouraged every person in the room to think about their own connections with geography and how they can inspire and discover the geographical connections of those whom they teach.

He spoke first of ‘personal connections’ to geography and how it is important to take a step back from our busy lives as teachers and reflect on how people, places and events have affected our own personal geographies. This can be as simple as thinking about landscapes that have inspired your love of the subject or appreciating the professional relationships you have fostered and how these have shaped your understanding and your career. He then moved on to make an important point about ‘curriculum connections’ which emphasized how the integrated nature of our subject is at its core. This inherent characteristic of geography should not be undervalued and Steve made historical, cultural, technological, scientific, economic and artistic connections to just one of his favourite places; the mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales. This has inspired me to take the time to think of one of my favourite places and to make as many interdisciplinary connections to it as I can – geography has the ability to connect many different elements of the world. The lecture ended with the notion of ‘future connections’ and how the future of geography, of teachers and of our pupils needs to be carefully nurtured.

Steve left us with this: geography is a subject that becomes a way of life – embrace it, and yours and the life of the children and young people you teach will be richer because of it.


Steve is an Honorary Member of the Geographical Association.
He is also Chair of the Primary Geography Editorial Board
Geographical Association Primary Geography Champion
Consultant to the Geographical Association
Fellow of Royal Geographical Society

http://www.rgs.org/

Steve kindly wrote a detailed summary of his experiences with the GA and it is used for the main body of this blog entry.

As with some of the more recent Presidents, Steve is on Twitter
I'm assuming Dudley Stamp would have been as well :)


Image supplied by: Steve Rawlinson

The following text was also provided by Steve.

When and where were you born? 
"Weston Turville in Buckinghamshire in the early 50’s. The village used to be the centre of the Aylesbury Duck industry. The village pond was still a feature when I was young. It was a very typical Buckinghamshire village where everyone knew everyone."

Career details:
1963-1970 – Aylesbury Technical High School (now the Sir Henry Floyd Grammar school) 
1970 – 1973 – University College of Wales Aberystwyth – BSc Geography 
1973 – 1974 – Assistant lecturer in Geography and Statistics – Cassio College Watford 
1974- 1975 – University College of Wales Aberystwyth - MSc in Biogeography. University demonstrator 
1975 – 1991 – Senior Lecturer in Geography & Environmental Studies – Cricklade Community College, Andover – teaching all ages primary, secondary and up to and including senior citizens! 
1991 – 2012 – Principal Lecturer in Geography Education – teaching on Primary ITE (PGCE & UG), & UG Geography. Also Senior admissions tutor – responsible for admissions to all education courses (Primary and Secondary). 
2008 – present became Chair of the Primary Geography Editorial Board 
2012 Retired – became GA consultant, continued with work on Primary Geography Quality Mark and as Chair of the Primary Geography Editorial Board. Member of the Geography Expert Group. 
2012 -16 Member of the DfE Geography Expert Group. 
2013 Elected as Junior Vice President of GA 
2015-2016 President of GA. 
2018 – present – Member of the WorldWise Committee 
2020 – awarded Honorary Membership of the GA 

Where did you go to school/university? 
"I went to the local primary school, just a mile from my house, and for a while was taught by the same Headmaster and his wife as taught my mother and father. Johnny Lawton described himself as ‘a nice kind man with a nice kind face’. Though his strict disciplinary tactics made some of us question this! He probably started my interest in the environment by the frequent nature walks we undertook around the village. Geography was about drawing maps carefully and of course colouring the sea and the land! I also developed a love for exploration, during the daily walk to school – often resulting in a frantic run as the bell tolled at the start of the school day. No one wanted to be late for school with Mr Lawton waiting by the gate! I passed the 11 plus and rather than going to the local grammar school I went to the Technical High School – now the Sir Henry Floyd Grammar school. It rather saddens me to think it lost its ‘technical name’ as this was a new type of school which offered so much. Going to ‘the Tech’ was really at the behest of my father who had dreams of me becoming an engineer like him. But it was an inspired decision because the Tech had a visionary Headmaster who really was ahead of his time. Though another strong disciplinarian he worked hard to offer what we would now call a ‘rounded education’ to everyone and was at pains to avoid gender stereotyping. Boys and girls were positively encouraged to cross gender boundaries. Thus, we had girls in our metalwork and woodwork classes, and I learnt touch typing – a skill for which I am forever grateful. This of course now looks quite revolutionary for the time. Dad’s ambitions for me were thwarted when I struggled with the sciences – I have the distinction of failing chemistry 3 times each time with a lower grade. My A level choices were therefore English, Geography and British Constitution (the latter really coming in handy with the Brexit discussions!).

Geography was chosen because of an inspirational teacher – Mr Geography Green (yes, we also had a Mr History Green!). He had a way of bringing the subject to life even if he was constrained by a very rigid syllabus. I well remember ‘doing’ the whole of the USSR and SE Asia for A level. 

He sent my friend and I to Dale Fort FSC centre for our fieldwork study. There I was enthralled by the enthusiastic and friendly tutors and found an ambition to be a field tutor – an ambition still unfulfilled though I did build all my teaching around fieldwork. 

I was the first person from the Tech to go to University. Aberystwyth was chosen simply because I had fallen in love with Wales while on holidays with my parents and I wanted to be near the mountains. The presence of the sea was an added bonus – Weston Turville is one of the furthest places from the sea in the country. There followed three very happy years studying under some inspiring if sometimes eccentric lecturers. I initially went to study geology – a foolish decision in retrospect given my chemistry record – and after 6 weeks of struggling with crystallography - changed to geography. 

It was at Aber that I first encountered the GA – the history of geography module had references to the Association and the Aber GA connection with H.J. Fleure. And of course, there was the ever-delightful presence of E.G. Bowen a former president of the Association who did so much to fuel my passion for the subject and teaching – see the entry for E G Bowen. 
I got very involved in the Geography department’s Geog Soc. and was their expeditions officer organising field trips utilising the wealth of knowledge available at the university and outside. This experience was invaluable in my later teaching and running of fieldwork. 
On graduation I got a job in an FE college in Watford which had many resonances with the novel ‘Wilt’ by Tom Sharp. But my mentor, Peter Baker, was wonderfully supportive and somehow, I got through that first year without too many mishaps. It was then that Aber called me back – I got the offer of a research place to study animal diseases under ‘Big Jim’ Taylor – the prospect of another year by the sea visiting farms all across Mid-Wales was too alluring and I blew most of the money I had saved from my first years teaching on taking up the place! My parents thought I was crazy giving up the job in Watford, but it was another good decision. I loved the research year and learnt so much about how academic/research geography works and offers relevance to the wider world. My thesis identified some improvements that vets in the area could make to their strategies for combating animal diseases, which were based less on the physical constraints of the disease but more on the farmers perception of the causes. It was during this work that I shifted from being a physical geographer to one with a behaviourist approach."

What has your career been e.g. teacher / academic / author / other work outside the obvious geography sphere? 

"My first job in Watford on graduation was less a calling but a necessity to get a job. But I loved teaching thanks to the wonderfully supportive colleagues. I think I learnt an important lesson from them – that support during those early years in the profession is crucial. After my MSc year I was lucky enough to be offered a job at Hampshire’s new show college in Andover and there I found myself working with under Geoff Dinkele who was in the middle of writing the 'Reformed Geography' series with Rex Walford and Stephen Hancock. 
Suddenly I was in the middle of a revolution in geography teaching and rubbing shoulders with some of the key people in the subject. It was Geoff who encouraged me to make my first foray into writing with an article on using Lego to represent Population Pyramids which appeared in 'Classroom Geographer'. (See the earlier post which showed this article) 

I was also blessed to have as Principal of the college another visionary. We were encouraged to engage with the wider community in our teaching and as a result my day could find me teaching in the local primary schools in the morning, grappling with A level geography in afternoon and then teaching on the adult education provision in the evening. 
My first job was also at a community school with similar courses.
Running a course on weather forecasting for gardeners sticks in my mind as particularly challenging, but I was never short of vegetables. As a result of my time in Andover I have been lucky enough to have taught all ages and abilities! The GA became a natural part of my work. I ran the local GA WorldWise quiz for many years shamelessly using it as a recruiting tool for geography O and A level! 
Somehow, I managed to run 4 fieldwork courses a year for A levels in Geography and Environmental Education, as well as one for the GCE geography evening class. 
My love of fieldwork seemed to be recognised and encouraged, again thanks to a highly supportive Principal. 
It is really because of this work and my subsequent work at the university that I have led 100+ fieldtrips up Cadair Idris – the mountain where my ashes will be scattered when the time comes! 
The retirement of the Principal who had appointed me signalled changes in the college which I began to get uneasy about and resulted in the move to Northumbria University to take up the post of Senior Lecturer in Primary Geography Education. It was a speculative application based really on the desire to live ‘up north’ following a number of holidays in the area. Another lucky decision. I was teamed with a brilliant humanities team and an incredibly effervescent geography colleague – Liz Essex-Cater. 
I had never enjoyed a working relationship like the one we forged – we often talk about teamwork, but I like to think Liz and I took it to a different level – we were able to complement each other’s skills and knowledge to the extent as one ran out of the steam the other was able to take over seamlessly. We brought different skills to our role: Liz loved timetabling which I hated; she did not enjoy organising fieldwork which I found easy. So, our relationship enabled us to bring a high level of enthusiasm and a variety of experiences to our students. We both worked on and were members of the committee for the local GA so the links with the Association continued. 

We presented our first contribution at one of the LSE conferences – remember those paternoster lifts? 
In 2004 Liz attended the Charney Primary Geography conference and encouraged me to go the next year and that started a long-standing relationship with that wonderful community. I now find myself part of the co-ordinating group organising the annual event in Oxfordshire which has become a showcase for all that is excellent about Primary Geography. 
Liz took early retirement to ‘live the dream’ in France and then was cruelly struck by Motor Neurone Disease. I lost my best friend, colleague and critic in one fell swoop and life at the university was never quite the same. 

When I had been appointed, I could not understand why there was no link between the education department and the geography department – it just seemed to make no sense especially as at that time there was shortage of geography teachers – an issue on which Liz and I had researched and written about. It took a while but eventually I was teaching on the fieldwork module undertaken by the 1st year students. This eventually led to me developing and teaching an assessed module on Geography in Education which sought to encourage more geographers to enter teaching. This quickly became an important module for the department and the university in raising their employment on graduation statistics. I am pleased so many other universities are adopting similar approaches to cultivate members of the teacher profession from their home-grown students. Expanding access to education became a theme for the later part of my career at Northumbria, particularly when I gained promotion and became the Admissions Tutor for all education courses in the department. I led courses which specifically sought to encourage Men into Primary Education and Ethnic Minorities into Teaching. This work was undertaken with our Access department which offered adults non-standard routes into the university – another example of how innovative courses can lead to having a home-grown market for teaching. We were so successful in this work that we were praised by Ofsted for the number of high-quality mature students we consistently attracted onto our courses. 

A spin off from this work was the development of a link with the London Borough of Newham which saw all our undergraduate and postgraduate students on education courses benefitting from an experience of working in the Borough’s schools. This experience was highly praised by Ofsted and saw us become an official London provider of teachers – which felt a little ironic as we were one of the most distant providers in England for the capital! 
Fieldwork continued to be the golden thread through all of my teaching. Modules on all courses were based around giving students the confidence to take children outside and provide a variety of experiences in different environments. This led to both articles and conference presentations which got me increasingly engaged with the national GA community, a move not always positively received by the Senior Management – who did not seem to appreciate how important those contributions were to me both personally and professionally. 

Change is inevitable in education and sadly the university decided that it wanted to raise its status in the research field, and as a result abandoned all those innovative approaches to access opportunities, which had gained it such a high reputation in the local area. As the wonderfully satisfying work I was doing with my admissions hat on began to get closed down, and my geography work was increasingly having to be undertaken under the management radar, the job became less attractive and more demanding in ways that were not ‘me’. 
A voluntary redundancy package offered a way out which I eagerly took. 
The prospect of more time to do what I wanted, when I wanted it coupled with the lure of the nearby Northumberland hills was too a good a chance to overlook. 
In 2012 I left Northumbria and entered retirement..."

Image: Bryan Ledgard

What was your job when you became President? 

"I became President in 2015 so I had three years of enjoying exploring the glorious Northumberland countryside, and pursuing aspects of geography that I had not had time for before retirement. I had become Chair of the Primary Geography editorial board in 2008 and now I had a bit more time for this work. I felt it was particularly important to try to shape the journal to changing needs and demands and ensuring a strong voice for primary geography within the Association and beyond. The GA continued to be an important part of my life – I continued to attend conference and work with the local GA. I was also a moderator for the Primary Geography Quality Mark – work I found to be incredibly inspiring, and which kept me firmly in touch with schools and the changing primary world, even though I was theoretically ‘retired’. 
It was especially rewarding to help schools achieve the award and to see departments thrive in not always inspiring circumstances. The resilience of geography teachers, and their ability to enthuse the children in their care never fails to humble me. 
But the most significant change that occurred after I retired was a strengthening friendship with Paula, Sharon and Tess which was to blossom into the WildThinkers research group. 

I cannot thank them enough for all the inspiration they gave me and how they slowly and subtly changed my thinking, opening my eyes to a whole new world of geography. I look back on my career and think how I could have done things so much better now I know what I know… I am not quite sure when the plot developed to nominate me for President. 

I know there was some talk at a Charney conference but how it all became a reality and who was ultimately responsible I can’t really remember. The reality struck me for the first time at the Derby conference when it was announced that I was the next Junior Vice President. From the reaction it was clear I had a lot to do to convince others I was up to the job! I hope subsequent events have vindicated the decision to vote me in."

What theme did you choose when President, and why did you pick it? 
What had been your involvement with the GA leading up to that time, and since that time? 

"I chose the theme of Making Geographical Connections. This is the piece advertising the conference which explains the theme. 

I am looking forward to welcoming you to the 2016 Annual GA Conference in Derby, which will explore the connections that give geography its dynamism and relevance to the lives of our students, whatever their age and ambition. By its very nature geography is a ‘connected subject’ with obvious spatial and temporal links across many subjects as well as connections to research in a variety of fields, ranging from emotional, cultural and socio-economic environments to climate change and glaciology. The Annual Conference is an opportunity to not only celebrate and share those links which we have developed in all phases and across all areas, but also consider future connections that could and should be made. It provides an arena for considering questions such as: 
• How do young children connect with the world around them and how could this change in the future? 
• Our older students appear to be globally connected via technology, but how does this impact upon their knowledge and understanding of geography? 
• What is the nature of the connections we, as professionals, make that influence the content and approaches to our teaching? 
• How can we become ‘better connected’ and how can we achieve this? 
The theme asks important questions about the nature, development and future of our subject. Contributions from all sectors of the geographical community are welcomed to encourage a shared understanding of geography and its vital place in education. It would be especially valuable to have examples of how a connection with geography has offered a pathway, and utility, to other professions. The Conference will offer something for all those connected with geography, from the EYFS teacher to the academic researcher. Don’t miss it! 
Steve Rawlinson GA Senior Vice President 2014-15 

Being elected as President of the GA by the members is both an honour and privilege which I never really expected."

Memories of the conference 2016 - Manchester 
"Within days of becoming President in Sept 2015 I faced my first crisis – we had to pull out of our planned commitment to holding the conference at Derby. A pity as Derby was my favourite conference venue.

Luckily, Manchester became a viable alternative and indeed looking back, Derby’s loss was our gain. The centre at Manchester was an exciting location, the facilities excellent and the conference was a great success. The sessions were inspiring and the exhibition one of the best we had held, the facilities at Manchester provided exhibitors with a really stunning space to show off their wares. And everything went off like clockwork thanks to the incredible planning and attention to detail of all the staff at HQ but especially Lucy Oxley, who was the dynamo behind the scenes. 
My other memories of the conference include: 
• The Young Geographers event (guided by the ever supportive and much missed Mike Bradford and facilitated by the staff at Manchester University) - we invited Myra Rose Craig (@Bird Girl) to address the young students. She has gone on to make a name for herself in many fields 
• The conference dinner held underneath the dinosaur in the museum 
• The amazing buzz of excitement and inspiration that persisted throughout the three days and meeting so many enthusiastic geographers – there really is something about being part of the geography community. 
• Bringing a dog into the conference – my chosen charity was Dogs for Good and we were delighted to have one of their trainees join us – he caused quite a stir wherever he went as he knew how to play to the crowd. 
• Thoroughly enjoying giving the presidential lecture, despite the hours spent planning it. It is probably the one thing that people remember from your year as President so getting it right is so important. As I got into my stride on the morning, I suddenly realised I did not need my copious notes. I hope people remember my lecture for more than the fact that I threw them across the stage! 
• Having my daughter at the event – she was the only member of my family able to be there at that time, but I know my parents would have been so proud. 
• Seeing people leaving the conference enthused and excited about their subject and eager to put into practice what they had picked up."

What would you say were the successes / main memories of your GA Presidential year? 
"What were my successes? 
I think that is for others to judge but my own thoughts include: 
• Raising the profile of primary geography both within and outside the Association and encouraging others from the primary field to step into the Presidency role – which of course has happened with Stephen Scoffham and Susan Pike 
• Bringing a touch of humanity to the Association, in the way it works and trying to make it more welcoming and accessible for everyone. Interesting that this has now become a major initiative with the positive attempts to broaden representation. 
• Trying to bring more transparency in decision making and ensuring the Association really does represent all its members. 
• Bringing some fun and creativity into geography at all levels."

Memories of being president. 
"Aside from the frantic but inspiring three days of the conference my other memories of being president include: 
• Working with the wonderfully supportive team at Solly Street to further the cause of geography in all our schools. Their dedication to the cause is second to none. 
• Visiting branches and engaging with geographers and geography teachers doing some inspiring work with young people. 
• Visiting schools to see what was happening at grass roots level to ensure I was grounded in reality. 
• Representing the Association at a number of events e.g. Scottish Association of Geography Teachers where I made so many good friends and is a conference I always go out of my way to attend still 
• Being at the centre of a thriving community both leading and supporting teachers to instil in others my own love of our subject. 
• Great sadness when it all came to an end and a feeling that I could do an even better job if I were start again… "

Involvement with the GA since being President:
"I have to confess that once I left the Presidential group, I felt rather bereft. From being at the centre of things, one moves to the periphery and it does leave a bit of a void. I do think that greater use could be made by the Association of the expertise and experience embedded in the body of Past Presidents. Some moves have been made in this direction but it would be good to see these develop further for everyone’s benefit. I continue to be very honoured to be part of the Primary Geography editorial team. I feel that we have developed a style and approach to the journal which makes it stand out and offer leadership to all primary teachers. It is the only journal of its type in the world, so we have a big responsibility! The team have worked hard to ensure that contributions come in from a wide spectrum of authors, schools and of course children – we strive to ensure that children’s voices are heard e.g. ten-year-old Aedhan Brown probably never dreamed that his story would spread across LEGO Foundations and enthusiasts around the world. Winner of Liberty’s ‘Human Rights Young Person of the Year’ Award and The Herald’s ‘Public Campaigner of the year’
Martha Payne had won numerous awards for her NeverSeconds blog, the subject of a BBC documentary, fêted by celebrity chefs, and raised nearly £130,000 for the charity ‘Mary’s Meals’ and had her own book out. She was ten years old when she was interviewed. We are also very pleased to have had a kind of ‘who’s who’ of ‘celebrity’ contributors. 
There are some big names in the list as well as rising stars e.g. in the last edition we interviewed teenagers Amy and Ella Meek, founders of Kids Against Plastic. 
Our list of luminaries includes Simon Reeve, Rob Macfarlane, Tim Marshall, Dame Alison Peacock, Justine Greening, when she was Secretary of State for International Development, Commander Chris Hadfield, actor Timothy Spall, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Michael Rosen, Christopher Somerville, Steve Backshall, Alastair Humphreys and Satish Kumar to name but a few! 
We are also especially pleased to have interviewed members of minority groups such as Sascha Kindred OBE paralympian, and (then) 14-year-old zoologist Kabir Kaul. 
I have recently become part of the WorldWise team and am enjoying the challenges and opportunities that working with young people in that context presents. It is an aspect of GA work which is inspiring and should have greater recognition both inside the Association and without – something I hope I can help achieve. When you are elected as President of the GA you wonder how anything can top that - where else is there to go as a geographer and teacher? 
So, it was an amazing honour to receive, in 2020, the Association’s highest honour – Honorary Membership. That was a really proud moment and one I will never forget. 

Why does the GA matter to you? 
• It has been a way of life and a constant for me throughout my career. 
• It provided the occasions and opportunities to meet some of the most wonderful colleagues and friends who I continue to work with and whose company I enjoy 
• It gave me the support and opportunities that would otherwise would have passed me by 
• Expanded my horizons and developed my thinking – I would not now be working on a book with a colleague if it were not for the experiences the GA gave me 
• I got involved at university, supported it throughout my teaching career, held a variety of posts with my local branch and of course became the President. I cannot encourage young geographers enough to take up membership and become involved…it is a doorway to so many paths for your career. I still find it hard to believe that my name appears alongside so many giants of the geography world – I am both proud and humbled to be in such company. "

Teaching/Research Interests: 
• Developing awareness of the value of fieldwork in the primary sector 
• The development of all aspects of environmental education within the curriculum, and the link with outdoor education 
• Promoting excellence in Primary Geography teaching via research and chairing the Primary Geography Editorial Board 
• Developing and delivering CPD programmes based around the Wildthink approach 
• Looking for fun and happiness in all my continuing geography adventures and promoting this wherever and whenever I can 
Nothing gives me greater pleasure than exploring the more remote, secret and wilder places of the British Isles with my dog, especially the border country in my home county of Northumbria. I am always very happy to share this love of the outdoors and its mysteries with friends and colleagues. 
Steve’s Desert island discs: 
"Crispian St Peters – You Were on my Mind  – Weston Turville Memories – audio lessons with dad – this was the test record used on our sound equipment 
Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven  – Aberystwyth Memories – most memorable concert while a student in the now vanished King’s hall 
Kate Bush – Them heavy people from the album the Kick inside  – Andover Memories – taking students up Cadair Idris on fieldwork. 
One group bought this album for me and this song with the lyric ‘Rolling the ball’ became the anthem for all future parties sung on the way up 
Queen – These are the Days of our Lives - Andover – watching Live Aid with my daughter – went out and bought Queen albums as result of performance. 
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run – Newcastle Memories – running the great north run – annual event of personal significance to me as I have ‘run’ it 24 times 
Holst – Mars from the Planet Suite - Weston Turville Memories – listening to classical music with my granddad on a home-built record player and big bass reflex speaker. He could play the piano – I tried the violin but failed. 
The Four Seasons – December, 1963 (Oh what a night) - Andover Memories - meeting Sally, my wife The Who – Tommy - Newcastle Memories – taking my eldest daughter to her first musical 
The one disc I would save would be ‘These are the days of our lives’ by Queen simply for its optimism My book would be Wainwright's complete Lake District guides so I can capture the feel of wild places 
My luxury would be a complete set of 1:25000 OS maps so I can revisit past adventures in the hills and plan those I will undertake when I finally escape." 

References
Rawlinson, S. & Willy, T. (2019) Introduction. In Willy, T. (Ed) Leading Primary Geography Sheffield: Geographical Association, 7-15 
Rawlinson, S. (2019) Celebrating 30 Years of Primary Geography GA Magazine 42, p24 
Rawlinson, S. & Willy, T. (2019) Editorial. Primary Geography 99, p4-5 
Ballin, B., Owens, P., Rawlinson, S. & Willy, T. (2019) Graveyard Geography Primary Geography (98), pp16-17 
Rawlinson, S. (2017) From Charney to President. In Catling, S (Ed). In Reflections on Primary Geography. Sheffield: The Register of Research in Primary Geography, 28-36 
Rawlinson, S. (2016) It's all a matter of connections...', Primary Geography (91), pp5-6 
Rawlinson, S. (2011) Look to the Future’ Primary Geography, 74 pp 5-6 
Martin, F & Rawlinson, S. (2009) Britain and Britishness Primary Geographer, Summer, pp 6-7 
Catling, S. et al (2007) Education Matters: The State of Geography in English Primary Schools Geography, 92 (2), pp118-136 
Boyle, A et al (2007) Fieldwork is good: the student perception and the affective domain, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Vol 31 (2) pp299-317 
Rawlinson, S., Essex-Cater, E., Bolden, D., Constable, H., (2003) Have Geographers Lost Their Way? Issues Relating to the Recruitment of Geographers into School Teaching Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Vol. 27(1), pp39-56 
Rawlinson, S. & Soni, V. (2002) Improving the Recruitment of Ethnic Minorities into Primary Teaching; Developments in the North-East of England in Emerging Issues in Teacher Supply and Retention Proceedings of the second conference of the Teacher Supply and Retention Project, North London University, an IPSE publication. 
Fuller, I., Rawlinson, S., & Bevan, R. (2000) An Evaluation of Students Learning Experiences in Physical Geography Fieldwork: Fluvial Studies. Paddling or Pedagogy?” Journal of Geography in Higher Education. Vol. 24 (2), pp. 199-215 
Book contributions 
Rawlinson, S. & Willy, T. (2019) Introduction. In Willy, T. (Ed) Leading Primary Geography Sheffield: Geographical Association, 7-15 
Rawlinson, S. & Essex-Cater, E. (2010) revised chapter on Environmental Geography in Scoffham, S. (2010) Primary Geography Handbook The Geographical Association. 
Rawlinson, S. & Essex-Cater, E. (2005) Chapter on Environmental Geography in Scoffham, S. (2005) Primary Geography Handbook The Geographical Association. 
Rawlinson, S. (2004) ‘Don’t forget the Trainees: Issues relating to the Recruitment of Geographers into Primary Teaching’ Special Publication No 1 Researching Primary Geography Ed 
Simon Catling and Fran Martin Conference papers: February 2021 Gathering the Light: MindWalking, presented at the Charney Primary Geography Conference February 2017 
The Machine Stops: exploring children’s futures through storytelling, presented with Tessa Willy at the Charney Primary Geography conference April 2016 
Presidential Address: Making Geographical Connections presented at GA Annual Conference, Manchester February 2016 
Every picture tells a story presented at the Charney Manor Primary Geography Conference. April 2012 The Sensual Geographies of Difference presented at the GA Annual Conference, Manchester April 2010 Living Geography: 8 Ways thinking with iPods and new technology, Presented at GA Annual Conference, Derby April 2009 
Living Geography – 8 Way Thinking; Evolution and Evaluation. Presented at Geographical Association’s Annual Conference, Manchester February 2009 
Primary ITE Recruitment: Issues, quality and retention. Presented at Charney Manor Primary Geography conference April 2008 
Living Geography - 8 Ways Fieldwork. Presented at Geographical Association's Annual Conference, Guildford Feb 2005 
Developing the Fieldwork Experience of Trainees; some thoughts and approaches. Presented at Charney Manor Primary Geography conference June 2004 
Encouraging Students to Consider Teaching as a Career. Presented with Cath White at the IGU Congress Glasgow March 2004 
So You Want to Teach? Or how we get the students in! Presented at the Charney Manor conference – Enhancing Primary Geography Sept 2003 
Change and the Newcastle Quayside: a report on at TTA funded initiative to encourage more students into teaching. Presented with Catherine White at the RGS Annual Conference, London June 2001 
Where Have All the Geographers Gone? Presented with Liz Essex-Carter at the conference on Teacher Supply and Retention: Emerging Issues North London University April 1998 
Geographical Simulations within the context of Fieldwork: A Northumberland Experience Presented at the Geographical Association’s Annual Conference, University of Leeds. April 1997 
You Can Do It Too - introducing environmental education in primary schools Presented with Liz Essex Cater at the Geographical Association Annual conference, LSE 

Top image copyright: Bryan Ledgard / Steve Rawlinson
As always, memories of Steve Rawlinson and his time as GA President welcome.

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