The new A-levels What kind of subject background do freshers arrive with?

1. The new A-levels What kind of subject background do freshers arrive with? Bob Digby Community Geographer , Geographical Association, & Visiting Research Associate, Institute of Education, London

2. Where we are now • This September sees the arrival of the first 4-module A level students • The new specifications – what kind of Geography? And whose Geography? • Geography has faced declining numbers at A level – but it’s changing • School Geography – a need for renewal. The ‘problem’ of Key Stage 3.

3. Declining numbers Continued decline at GCSE However, Higher Tier entry at GCSE has declined much less Increasing core time – English, Maths, Science The rise of diplomas

4. Decline at AS 12th most popular subject nationally But 9th at A2 Retains over 85% of students from AS to A2

5. But numbers are rising again • AS Numbers rose in 2009 by about 5% • The removal of coursework from 2008 may actually have attracted some students back to the subject. GCSE coursework has done the subject few favours – too bulky

6. 2. A need to get up to date Eleanor Rawling (GA 2005 conference) expressed these concerns about what was missing in Human Geography: • Increased concerns about e.g. globalisation, global warming • Spatial awareness of e.g. the ‘new’ Europe • Environmental interaction – footprints and management • Global concepts e.g. sustainability • Geographical enquiry – active questioning approaches, less didactic • Significant changes in university geography were absent (e.g. cultural, ethnographic, place….) • ‘14-19 awarding bodies have tended to standardise content … (fearing) that innovation will lose customers anxious to play safe & maintain high grades’

7. 3. Whose Human Geography? Looking back 30 years • Until 1980s, Higher Education input into school Geography was considerable – landmark projects at GCSE and post-16 (e.g. Bristol Project, Avery Hill, 16-19) all developed within universities and colleges • Exam Boards were all university-based (London, JMB of the Northern Universities, Oxford, Cambridge Boards, etc) - so HEI geographers played a role in school Geography • Authors of texts were usually HEI geographers • Local Authority Advisers - almost always specialist subject-focused

8. A shift in content ...... from landforms

9. .... to people and management

10. ... with casualties

11. Issues-based topics thrive

12. e.g. urban change

13. 4. Political landscapes change; whose Geography now? • Centralisation and political influence. QCA (until 2010) guided both curriculum and assessment – run by professionals, but guided by politicians. • League tables and the shift to a ‘results culture’ - and innate conservatism especially in content and assessment • Ownership of Exam Boards - the shift from HEI • Privatisation of the education ‘industry’ – private companies, examiners and exam boards, and consultants dominate INSET provision. • Textbook authors are now mainly teachers and examiners, not HEI tutors

14. 5. The new specifications – some issues • Human content at AS • Human content at A2 • The IB - growing in popularity • The Pre-U course in Geography - a competitor? • How fresh or up-to-date?

15. What kind of human content at AS?

16. What kind of content at AS? • The physical-human divide persists in 3 of the 4 • specifications • One specification (Edexcel) truly integrates physical • and human themes • BUT there have been significant updates in all • specifications- e.g. ‘urban change’, and contemporary • topics e.g. health issues • Plus the decline of traditional geographical theory • E.g. no urban models; no Weber; no Christaller • Geography can compare poorly for theory with • Sociology, Economics or Politics

17. What kind of content at A2? Unit 3

18. What kind of content at A2? Unit 4

19. What kind of content at A2? • The physical-human divide is more blurred • Some highly contemporary themes - e.g. some • Edexcel (Cultural landscapes) & WJEC options • Only one specification (Edexcel) makes • understanding of political and economic theory • a requirement • A clear focus on research rather than content • An opportunity for development of students’ • own interests • Three of the four specifications offer pre- • release resource • Contemporary topics – e.g. cultural diversity

20. And growing in popularity is the IB Doubled in candidature 2006-7 …. by comparison to some specifications it looks very traditional.

21. But it too was revised for 2009 • Exemplar Paper 3 Topic Global Interactions • Measuring global interactions • 2. Changing space—the shrinking world • 3. Economic interactions and flows • 4. Environmental change • 5. Socio-cultural exchanges • Political outcomes • Global interactions at the local level 60 hours teaching time (12-15 comparable weeks, or 20-25% of an A level course)

22. The Pre-U Geography course Anti-modular: All Cambridge Pre-U syllabuses are linear. Those taking a Principal Subject must take all components together at the end of the course in one examination session. Re-establishes physical geography: but reduces an entitlement to human? e.g. Paper 1

23. The Pre-U Geography course • Paper 2 focuses on different physical environments • Paper 3: Global Themes - study two from • Housing the People • Movements of People and Goods • Energy and Mineral Resources • Trade, Debt and Aid • The Provision of Food • Tourism Spaces • The World of Work • Paper 4: Research - an oral examination based on a geographical investigation

24. How fresh or up-to-date are the new specs?

25. How fresh or up-to-date are the new specs?

26. Where’s the commonality? Purple = compulsory, yellow = optional

27. 6. And the future? Questions: 1 • There remains a market for traditional geography. But the greatest growth in subject take-up occurred during 1987-1993 in one modern post-16 syllabus. Should Geography be more daring? • Should Geography teachers be more daring – they, after all, are the gatekeepers about curriculum choice • A new generation of teachers has replaced an ageing profession. In which areas of human geography are recent graduates best qualified? • How to further reduce thegulf between school and HEI Geographies?

28. 6. And the future? Questions: 2 • Does difference in content between specifications matter? Do students need grounding in the same content areas prior to university entry? • How far does it matter in universities that coursework has been abolished in sixth-form Geography? • Does it matter that there are ‘different Geographies’ depending upon the specification chosen? • In selecting what should be taught, how far should geographers push for ‘popular’ themes? Historians have unashamedly increased numbers dramatically. • New specifications will last for 5-8 years in schools, and therefore up to 12 years in HEI. Will the new specifications provide a sustainable legacy?

29. 7. The debates remain as ever …. • Traditional versus new (and for many teachers, unfamiliar) • Populism – e.g. coasts versus glaciation and arid • Content breadth versus limited content in depth • Thematic versus people-environment approaches • Prescribed, problem-free content versus issues-based, evaluative enquiry approaches • Positivist ‘hard’ data gathering versus radical and ‘soft’ approaches to fieldwork through interviews and values enquiries.

30. Acknowledgments and thanks to: • Subject officers at the 4 main English and Welsh subject boards; • Simon Oakes for the use of his research into HEI attitudes towards school geography; • Edexcel for the use of their commissioned HEI research; • The GA and the RGS for their positioning statements regarding Geography and its status; • The RGS for their annual analysis about candidate numbers in Geography