Inspiring the next generation
of geographers
Steve Brace
Head of Education and Outdoor Learning
www.rgs.org/schools
@RGS_IBGSchools
“Why should I do geography GCSE as I don’t want to be a
geography teacher like you … sir!”
What makes good
geography
• The
discipline
• Subject
advocacy
• Teacher
Up-to-date &
informed by
research
Subject
experts:
knowledge &
passion
The subject’s
contribution to
further study &
careers
Becoming
geographically
informed &
engaged
• Public
We’re all in the geography
club … but
Our internal debates
• Physical or human … or a
geographer?
• A ‘bridging subject’ … or a
discrete discipline
• Balance of knowledge,
skills and understanding …
‘knowing where places are’
• A ‘humanity’, a social &
physical science, part
STEM @ Higher Education
Q How well is geography’s
value communicated?
•
•
•
•
Geography is everywhere
Allows you to do lots of different things
It goes well with everything
Without geography “we’d be lost”
Do these comments really do our subject
justice?
We have a much better
story to tell: schools & HE
Schools
• EBac GCSE
• Facilitating A
Level
HE
7.3% growth for
geography
(3.4% for all
subjects)
Consistently
lowest level of
graduate
unemployment
RGS-IBG:
Support for teachers
Importance of fieldwork and
data skills
www.rgs.org/dataskills
But let’s look wider than
schools ….
• Value of geography and
geographers to the economy
– OS data underpins £100 billion of
UK PLC
• The value of geographical
education
– an informed public who can
positively engage with the big
challenges that face us
Esri UK: a $1 billion
geo-spatial industry
There’s no money in
geography?
Net worth $75 Million
Net worth $3.4 Billion
One received the RGS-IBG
Gold Medal in 2010
The other in 2013 said:
"The maps are really like a filter. They filter information for you to make better decisions
on where you are going and what to do. I want to thank the GIS community for opening
the doors and transforming these kids' lives with these tools."
What do these organisations
have in common?
Where geography can take
you
• There are no
‘geography jobs’ …
there are jobs in all
sectors of the
economy that
geographers do.
www.rgs.org/goingplaceswithgeography
Geographer and geographical research informing key policy decisions
A more geographically
informed public
• 64 million people
• 860K properties exposed to
flooding more frequent than
1:75 years
• 70 million visitors to National
Parks
• 5th largest economy globally
Britain from the Air: street gallery
So what can we do?
– If we, as a community, don’t advocate for our
subject who else will?
– Keep up to date subject knowledge and practice
– Continue to connect school geography to the
wider world (and your non-teaching geographers)
– Geographical relevance isn’t just ‘topicality’ … it is
the application of geography to the challenges we
face
The next generation:
Geography Scholarships
www.rgs.org/scholarships
Finally: why do we teach it?
• “Geography helps us
understand the world. It gives us
the science, the data and the
insights to plan for the future”
Nick Crane, RGS-IBG President
www.rgs.org/schools
@RGS_IBGSchools