The Erosion of Geography

IN ITS WHITE paper on education earlier this year, the government mentioned mathematics more than 50 times, history rated one mention and geography none at all. Currently geography is a part of the core curriculum until the age of 14 and then it becomes optional, but in the education bill, due to be published on Friday [23] November, the subject is expected to lose out again. Because the government wants to introduce new themes such as citizenship, pupils will be able to drop geography after the age of 1 1 a potential disaster for the subject and, many would argue, a step backwards for education. According to the government, the point of education is to develop our critical faculties. This has always been a key test applied to the national curriculum and whether it succeeds in its aim of making us discerning citizens. But the government seems to have lost sight of its own objectives. With the emphasis on core subjects, the one that is most help in getting to grips with the important issues of the day geography is being squeezed. So much so that geographers everywhere are alarmed that this vital discipline is under attack, not as a deliberate policy but by default, because the government's priorities are elsewhere. One of these is Andy Leeder, deputy head of Copleston School, Ipswich. Although dropping geography is an option at all other schools it remains compulsory at Copleston. This is because the school still has the right to decide what suits the best needs of its pupils. Leeder says economic and industrial understanding and political and environmental awareness are part of the knowledge and values pupils are supposed to develop. 'The aspiration is to make them more rounded citizens. They must understand such things as sustainability. There is no better subject to do this than geography' Not surprisingly, with this kind of support the school has a thriving geography department, which has no trouble recruiting excellent teachers. Five of Copleston 's teachers work regularly for exam boards, something encouraged by the school. The pupils have above-average pass rates and the parents are keen 'because they like success,' he says. Leeder attended a meeting at the Royal Geographical Society in October 2001 to discuss 'Geography: an education for life'. There was an underlying tone of anxiety about the proceedings. There is a gradual slipping away of the numbers of pupils taking geography at GCSE level, from a high of 302,298 in 1996 to 253,756 in 2001. The number of students going on to take the subject at Aand ASlevel has shrunk in proportion. Despite the drop in numbers, high standards are being maintained. The number of passes in the A-C range is above average: students who do opt for geography are clearly keen. Universities are largely unaffected so far, with courses in teaching and research in 90 departments, but they are already feeling threatened. A and B grades at A-level are still required entrance grades, which is much tougher than for many subjects such as science and engineering. What geography seems to lack, unlike media and film studies, is street cred with potential undergraduates. But unlike these two areas, which are over-subscribed with people seeking a glamorous life, geography seems more likely to deliver both a job and excitement. In an average year The Guardian, and the paper cannot be alone, is besieged with unemployed media graduates, many of whom seem to want to become environment correspondents. But mos seem to have only a scant knowledge of ge graphy, which would be a much better starting point. Geography and environment often seem interchangeable, although geography can be a wider subject. It is no coincidence that environment correspondents of national newspapers cover the nnual geographers conference. The range of subjects is staggering, from the ehabili ation of high-rise blocks of flats for modern living, limpets undermining the White Cliffs of Dover, and the behaviour of male nudists Canadian beaches, to the settlement of retired Brit sh people in Spain and Italy and how happy they are as a result. There are some more traditional areas, such as the disappearance of the world's glaciers and other investigations of the physical features. Some people try to split geography into physical and human geography, but the two are intertwined.

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