The new A-levels The new A-levels
What kind of subject What kind of subject background do background do
freshers arrive with?freshers arrive with?Bob Digby
Community Geographer , Geographical Association, & Visiting Research Associate,
Institute of Education, London
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.
Declining numbersContinued decline at GCSE
However, Higher Tier entry at GCSE has declined much less
Increasing core time – English, Maths, Science
The rise of diplomas
Decline at AS
12th most popular subject nationally
But 9th at A2
Retains over 85% of students from AS to A2
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
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’
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
A shift in content
...... from landforms
.... to people and management
... with casualties
Issues-based topics thrive
e.g. urban change
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
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?
What kind of human content at AS?Criteria AQA (approx 17 000
andidates) Edexcel (approx 12
000 candidates) OCR (approx 4000
candidates) WJEC (approx 5000
candidates) AS Human content and weighting
Unit 1 35% Human Geography Human Global
population change
plus one of
Food Supply Issues,
Energy Supply Issues
Health Issues
Unit 1 30% Global Challenges Two human elements Going Global (Pop’n
& Migration) Unit 2 20% Geographical Investigations Four elements – two physical, two human Students study one of each: Either Unequal Spaces Or Re-branding Places
Unit 2 25% Managing Change in Human Environments Either Managing urban
change Or Managing rural
change AND either The energy issue Or The growth of
tourism
Unit 2 25% Changing Human Environments Two themes: Investigating
population change Investigating
settlement change in MEDCs
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
What kind of content at A2? Unit 3Criteria AQA Edexcel OCR WJEC A2 content and weighting Unit 3
Unit 3 30% Contemporary Geographical Issues Focuses on a range of themes for research: Select three; at least one physical and one human. Human World Cities Development and
Globalisation Contemporary
conflict and challenge
Unit 3 30% Contested Planet. People-environment approach. A focus on use and management of resources, and issues arising: Energy Security Water conflicts Biodiversity under
threat Superpower
geographies Bridging the
development gap The technological
fix?
Unit 3 30% Global Issues Three chosen from six: three environmental and three economic options: Economic issues: Population and
resources Globalisation Development and
inequalities
Unit 3 30% Contemporary Themes & Research in Geography Section A Contemporary Themes Choose one from Development, Globalisation, Emerging Asia – India or China Section B: Research WJEC sets one theme a year for each of: Crime Deprivation Disease Environmental
Psychology Leisure and Recreation Pollution Retailing
What kind of content at A2? Unit 4Criteria AQA Edexcel OCR WJEC A2 content and weighting Unit 4
Unit 4 20% Either Unit 4A Geography Fieldwork Investigation A 1½-hour examination paper based on candidates’ own individual fieldwork investigation. The exam focuses on evaluation. Or Unit 4B Geographical Issue Evaluation A pre-release booklet available 2 months before the examination.
Unit 4 20% Geographical Research Teachers or candidates select a specialism in one area: Tectonic activity
and hazards Cold Environments
– landscapes and change
Life on the margins: the food supply problem
The world of cultural diversity
Pollution and human health at risk
Consuming the rural landscape – leisure and tourism
Unit 4 20% Geographical Skills Identifying a
suitable geographical question or hypothesis for investigation
Developing a plan and strategy for conducting the investigation
Collecting and recording appropriate data
Presenting the data collected in appropriate forms
Analysing and interpreting the data
Unit 4 20% Sustainability Four themes Sustainable food
supply Sustainable water
supply Sustainable energy Sustainable Cities
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
HL/SL (incorporated
throughout the course)
HL/SL Topics HL Topics
Geographical Skills
(see attached list of subject specific skills chart)
Population,
Resources and Development
Globalization Topographic
Mapping
Lithospheric
Processes and Hazards
Coasts and their
Management
And growing in popularity is the IB Doubled in candidature 2006-7
…. by comparison to some specifications it looks very traditional.
Exemplar
Paper 3 Topic Global Interactions
1. Measuring global interactions
2. Changing space—the shrinking world
3. Economic interactions and flows
4. Environmental change
5. Socio-cultural exchanges
6. Political outcomes
7. Global interactions at the local level
60 hours teaching time (12-15 comparable weeks, or 20-25% of an A level course)
But it too was revised for 2009
The Pre-U Geography course1. 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.
Section A Section B Section C Tectonic Hazards Hazardous Weather The Geography of
Crime Dynamic Slopes Hydrological Hazards Health and Disease Desertification and Land Degradation
Pollution Hazards Spatial Inequality and Poverty
Candidates cover at least five of the nine issues in order to allow choice of questions in the exam; one topic at least from each column. Only Column C guarantees exposure to human Geography
2. Re-establishes physical geography: but reduces an entitlement to human? e.g. Paper 1
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
Criteria AQA Edexcel OCR WJEC ‘New’ approaches / content / concepts; inclusion and importance of contemporary topics?
Concepts AS: Food and energy supply, Health (though not new to this spec)
A2: Globalisation, Contemporary conflicts and challenges – very open choice
Concepts AS: globalisation, climate change, re-branding places, unequal places and spaces
A2: new superpowers, energy security, water conflict, consumerism, technological fix.
Biodiversity, not ecosystems
Very up-to-date exemplars used in Guidance
Concepts AS: energy issues A2: Environments under threat, globalisation
Concepts AS: climate change, urban process & change in MEDC, sustainability and flood risks etc
A2: New Superpowers; plus options e.g. Crime, Deprivation, Geography of Disease, Environmental Psychology
Unit 4 focus explicitly on sustainability
How fresh or up-to-date are the new specs?
How fresh or up-to-date are the new specs?
Criteria The IB Pre-U Contemporary approaches / content / concepts; inclusion and importance of contemporary topics?
Concepts Until 2008-9 revisions, very little Post-2008 revisions for 2009 are much more forward thinking
Concepts Geography of crime, Health and Disease, Spatial inequality and poverty
Tourism spaces, Housing the People.
Where’s the commonality? Where’s the commonality? Purple = compulsory, yellow = optionalPurple = compulsory, yellow = optional
– 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 the gulf between school and HEI Geographies?
6. And the future? Questions: 1
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?
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.
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