Looking forward to the new A levels Bob
Looking forward to the new A levels Bob Digby University College School, London
Acknowledgments and thanks to: – Subject officers at the 4 main English and Welsh subject boards; – Sue Warn, for insight into candidate numbers post-16; – Simon Oakes for the use of his research into HEI attitudes towards school geography; – Matt Gregory at Edexcel for the use of Edexcel 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
1. Where we are now – Revisions to the new A levels for the first time since 2000 – More than just new specifications – an expression of the subject for the next few years – Time scale: submission now, approval June, in schools September 07, first teaching 2008, first AS/A 2 awards in 2009/2010 – Compliance with QCA subject criteria e. g. ‘stretch and challenge’ – One specification per Board, and the implications of that. The death of specifications with low take-up e. g. OCR B? – 4 modules not 6; when will candidates take these?
2. Questions – Will change actually reduce the burden of assessment? Or will the Boards shoe-horn 6 modules into 4? – No coursework permitted: will this impact upon the number of candidates in Geography? – What happens to fieldwork? How will the different Boards preserve fieldwork as an integral part of Geography? – How far has the introduction of AS/A 2 and modularity benefited Geography? – Time to reflect - what have been the advantages and disadvantages of the present system? – We now have a generation of exam-wise 16 -18 year-olds – but are they better geographers?
3. Where have all the Geographers gone? Decline in Geography candidates at GCSE 2000 -2006 Now 8 th most popular subject at GCSE in England Wales (though 5 th in Wales itself)
Decline in A level Geography Candidates 1989 - 2006 The 9 th most popular at A 2
Geography’s popularity decreases from GCSE (8 th) to AS (12 th) But it increases into A 2 - where retention is good So - those who ‘get it’ enjoy it and stay with it The problem is getting students on board in the first place - at age 14, then at 16
4. Several factors in play – All specifications down except WJEC – Edexcel B is down by about nearly 2000 to 10000 a) The loss of large post-16 colleges; AS fieldwork requirements in year 12 a big problem if you have 200 titles to arrange b) The loss of large colleges alone resulted in a loss of nearly 500 candidates in this one specification c) Increases in fees. In my own school; AS units Edexcel B are double the cost; about £ 1000/year on a 2 year cycle. In a large college, that’s one teacher. – The ability to get modular marking and appeals right at an early stage in 2001, and the attitude of subject officers to this – School location and catchment, particularly multi-ethnic schools and colleges, in which Geography is a non-option – The impact of changes to KS 3 and 4, particularly post-1996; the impact of falling GCSE numbers; numbers fell 10 000 between 1998 - 2002
5. What’s the competition? – The move to IB, especially in independent and traditional schools – Bigger range of subjects available - e. g. the continued rise of psychology – Sexier subjects! Increase in candidates 2003 -4: Media/Film/TV studies; 12. 5%. Business and Communication Studies; 8. 7%. Information and Communication Studies; 6/9%. Home Economics; 5. 9%. – Vocational courses
6. The Fieldwork problem – The removal of coursework; how will post-16 fieldwork survive? be assessed? – The issue of coursework and whether its removal will be seen as a plus or a minus by students – Fieldwork and examinations do not have a good track record; exam fieldwork questions tend to be predictable and routine – Will schools and colleges preserve fieldwork as a part of the curriculum - or will it be ‘extracurricular’?
7. What kind of Assessment? • Will it matter if two specifications merge? • Edexcel researched teachers of the current Specifications A and B; what did they feel were the most appropriate means of assessment at AS?
8. What kind of assessment? Edexcel research at A 2 into what schools thought was the most appropriate means of assessing candidates at A 2 So - marrying two specifications should not present difficulties in terms of assessment style
9. How far will the subject get a facelift in the new specifications? Eleanor Rawling’s lecture at the 2005 conference highlighted ten concerns • Forces of change & public concerns about e. g. globalisation, global warming • Spatial awareness of e. g. the ‘new’ Europe • Scale & scale linkage – inter-connectedness • Environmental Interaction – footprints and management • Technology – opportunities for GIS • Greater curriculum flexibility, choice & freedom needed • Special contribution to global concepts e. g. sustainability • Geographical enquiry – active questioning approach, less didactic • Significant changes in university geography (cultural, ethnographic, place…. ) • ‘ 14 -19 awarding bodies have tended to standardise content…fear that innovation will lose customers anxious to play safe & maintain high grades’
10. How should the subject be updated? • The GA’s Action Plan and the curriculum work within the GA and the RGS • Time for place-focused learning - NOT case studies! • Simon Oakes research into the School-HEI ‘Gap’ (2006) highlights several issues including: • Human geography in school ‘out of step’ • Theory levels are poor (compare Sociology) • Learning tends to be ‘case-study based’, not theoretical - focused on ‘facts, not thinking’ • Little critical questioning of concepts - e. g. of sustainability
The new specifications • • Content of AS versus A 2 Assessment type at AS and A 2 Styles and Flexibility of assessment Assessment load Where’s the fieldwork? Guidance for teachers? How fresh or up-to-date? How much choice?
What kind of content at AS?
What kind of assessment at AS?
What kind of content at A 2? Unit 3
What kind of content at A 2? Unit 4
What kind of assessment at A 2?
Progression in assessment AS to A 2?
How much assessment? How flexible?
Where’s the fieldwork or research?
How much guidance is there for teachers?
How fresh or up-to-date are the new specs?
How much freedom of choice is there?
Final thoughts?
11. What of the future? Strengths of the subject – Strengths of the subject shown in RGS findings; numbers hold up once students are on board– but it is getting the students in the first place. – Post-16 teaching is generally good, and remains better than at KS 3 – At HEI, geographers retain their employability, and relatively few drop out or switch courses – Teaching quality in HEI is very good
12. What of the future? Weaknesses – Geography is perceived as difficult / hard work by students in school. Different subjects make differing demands - my own students claim that responses in Economics require less explanation and content than Geography. – Will coursework do us a favour in disappearing? At GCSE, geographical enquiries tend to be far more lengthy compared with e. g. requirements for History. Dos this put some students off? – The continued encroachment of our own subject – e. g ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ used in English GCSE and Media Studies
13. What of the future? Opportunities – Is this the right time to for Exam Boards to present more of the same? – Or should specifications create a new view and definition of geography for the 21 st century? – There is a market for traditional geography. But – it is worth reminding ourselves that the greatest growth in candidate numbers occurred the 1980 s with the 16 -19 syllabus. The risks in updating might be worth taking. – A new generation is gradually replacing an ageing profession. What are recently qualified teachers best qualified to teach? Should we close further the� gulf between school Geography and HEI?
14. What of the future? Threats. – Is difference between specifications OK? – Do we want to be a subject that presents different interpretations of itself via different specifications? It’s not uncommon in other subjects! – In selecting what should be taught, should we go for ‘popular’ themes? Historians have turned this into strength. – The debate among geographers remains as ever – the pursuit of breadth? or depth? Traditional - or modern? – Whatever we decide will live with us for the next 5 -8 years. Let’s get it right!
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