Geography: Subject Knowledge Audit
School Direct Programme
2015 -2016
Name: ____________________________________________
The University of Nottingham Partnership School Direct
Geography Subject Knowledge Self-Assessment Audit
The purpose of this audit is to help you to make informed judgements about the subject knowledge areas you need to develop during the
course. This audit is given to everyone who will be taking up a place to train as a Geography teacher on the University of Nottingham
School Direct programme. You should begin work on this audit as soon as you can - the earlier you do, the more time you will have to
develop your subject knowledge for Geography teaching before the start of this programme.
Entrants to the School Direct programme have varied academic backgrounds and experience. Everyone has met at least minimum
subject knowledge requirements - what we generally find is that people have areas of considerable expertise and other areas that will
need to be developed further before the end of the year. At your school and university interviews, we will have begun to explore the
extent of your subject knowledge for teaching your subject. This audit is the next stage in the process, which allows you to use the last
few weeks before the programme starts to reflect on and develop your subject knowledge through accessible research, target setting and
reading tasks. You will discuss plans for further development with your tutor and mentor when you start the programme.
You might describe this as an audit of your knowledge about what to teach in Geography - or at least some of it. This will then form a
good starting point for considering the next level, which concerns developing your understanding of how to apply your subject knowledge
in teaching Geography. Throughout the School Direct programme, you will have opportunities to discuss these audits with your fellow
trainees, your tutor and mentor, and to review them regularly as part of your Professional Development File.
This audit is based on the National Curriculum (NC) for Geography teaching in schools. The NC Programmes of Study (PoS) starting in
2014 are available for reference at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum#programmes-of-study-by-subject
Download the GCSE and A level specifications from the main examination boards by searching at the following links:
AQA: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects
OCR: http://www.ocr.org.uk/
Edexcel: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/subjects.html
You may notice that the Programmes of Study for Key Stages 3 and 4 in Geography differ from that which you may have already
experienced as a learner yourself or in schools recently. This audit covers general areas of the Geography curriculum that are practical
for you to develop, if necessary, before joining the School Direct programme, and also in the early part of the programme so that you are
prepared for teaching across all aspects of the subject, both during the coming year and beyond.
Please follow these instructions carefully:
You should use the audit as a reference document to support you in identifying which aspects of the Geography curriculum you will need
to work on to ensure you have the appropriate level of knowledge to teach that area effectively.
University of Nottingham: School Direct Geography Subject Knowledge Audit
Name:
Dissertation title/area:
Areas of subject knowledge strength from undergraduate/other experiences:
Aspect/theme/module
Explanation: key ideas, main sources, any examples/case studies
Subject knowledge development from interview:
Area/theme/
Evidence /sources
Place Knowledge:
Name of place
Evidence/sources/resources
University of Nottingham: School Direct Geography Subject Knowledge Audit
The school curriculum is changing from 2014 and the new geography National Curriculum in England now places increased emphasis on subject knowledge. This does not
mean that the key concepts of the previous curriculum, Space, Place, Scale, Interdependence, Physical and Human processes, Environmental interaction and Sustainable
Development, Cultural Understanding and Diversity are redundant – they and other concepts shape geography regardless of statuary requirements because as geographers
we like to ‘think geographically.’ Read Peter Jackson’s article for Teaching Geography: http://www.geography.org.uk/download/GA_PREscapePeterJackson.pdf
However, it is important during the School Direct year that you consistently attend to the issue of subject knowledge and subject knowledge for teaching geography and
that you see this process as an on-going professional responsibility.
The following is an audit designed to help you to plan ahead in relation to your subject knowledge and to anticipate areas of strength that can support your teaching and
areas that are in need to development during the course of this year. This list is by no means exhaustive and you will always find that there are aspects of your geographical
understanding that you need to develop.
The aim of this audit is to begin the knowledge development process started at interview. You will periodically update this audit as part of the tutorial process during the
School Direct course. The list of content is by no means exhaustive and please add areas of the subject you teach during the year not on the list. This is a working
document. Use the following key to indicate the your degree of confidence in teaching different elements of the subject.
1.
Very confident – with a bit of revisiting could teach at A level = Yellow
2.
Confident for GCSE but will need some consistent work for A level = Blue
3.
Confident for KS3 but would need some consistent wok for GCSE,
but not confident for A level = Green
4.
Not confident at KS 3 = Red
Aspect of geography
Atmospheric hazards –
cyclones etc
Atmospheric processes:
weather
Climate
microclimates
1
2
3
4
5 (NQT)
Action and evidence
1
Climate change
Coastal management
Coasts: processes and
landforms
Crime
Cultural geography
Development
Economic geography
Ecosystems/biomes
Energy
Geology
Geomorphology: weathering
and erosion
Soils
2
3
4
5
1
Glaciation
Geopolitics
Geographical Skills: data
handling, statistics, fieldwork
Geographical Enquiry
GIS
Globalisation
Health and welfare
Leisure and tourism
Migration
Population
Poverty
Recreation and sport
2
3
4
5
1
Re-branding
Resource management
River management
Rivers: processes and
landforms
Rural geography: farming, land
use conflict.
Social geography
Sustainable development
Superpowers
Tectonic processes, natural
hazards, geological timescales
Urban geography
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
Wilderness regions:
mountains, deserts, Artic,
Antarctic
War and conflict
Map Skills: OS maps,
Topographical and thematic
maps,
Ariel and satellite photographs
Analysis of geographical data
Local area
Locational knowledge: geography is about real places and so you should always ensure that your lessons enable students to know and understand about real places. It is
almost impossible to teach a geography lesson without reference to a map of some sort. As well as teaching about those aspects of geography identified above you will
also, through this develop your knowledge and understanding of places. Be prepared to develop you own locational knowledge throughout the course.