Subject with a view: Ian Selmes wants people to understand that geography is a way of looking at the world
There is almost unanimous agreement about the problem with geography. “There is a lot of boring geography,” said Leszek Iwaskow, HMI specialist adviser for geography.
“We have a programme which is repetitive and restricted in its vision,” said Dr David Lambert, chief executive of the Geographical Association. “Everyone hates geography at my school. They give looks that kill if I suggest it could actually be fun,” says one teacher on The TES website.
These people are passionate about geography and fighting for its future. More and more pupils are dropping the subject at 14. Last year, for the first time, the number of candidates taking history GCSE overtook the number taking geography. The proportion of 15-year-olds taking geography GCSE fell from 37.4 per cent in 2000 to 30.6 per cent in 2004, while the proportion taking history fell just 1 percentage point to 32 per cent in the same period.
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Governors
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