Monday 9 May 2011

Geography in Australia

Firstly, my apologies. As is clear, I have neglected writing anything on here for a while for two main reasons, one was our families visiting, which was great and the other was me actually having work to go to!and perhaps even more shocking was that the work actual involved Geography teaching!
It has got to the point that when people ask me what kind of teaching I do, I feel obliged to tell them that my profession is ever so slightly useless in Australia as so few schools teach it and all the Australians I have spoken to agree with me! I have been lucky enough to be doing some social sciences relief work in a very good all girls private school in Brisbane and they were kind enough to let me do what I liked in the subject as long as there was progress in the areas they required.
Finally teaching Geography was a massive delight as I could actually no go into a classroom with the confidence that I knew exactly what was going on. Funnily enough, the teacher I was covering for is also English and we talked at length about the problems that the subject faces in Australia and its differences to home.
The subject matter itself is very similar, especially as the main exposure to it is within years 10,11 and 12 and it follows a similar pattern to GCSE and AS level teaching. Familiar themes popped up such as Flooding, River profiling, Global Warming and the carbon cycle. These elements were not surprising, however, how the pupils reacted to them was interesting. The lack of a base level knowledge in Geography was evident. Even though the majority of the girls were very clever and grasped the main issues quickly and could understand them clearly, nearly all the information was brand new to them and I feel that it could create an overload of facts in such a short space of time. This reminded me of the worries that the same group of girls had the last time I covered at the school, which I mentioned in an earlier post.
The girls seemed, and I emphasised the element seemed, to be focused on the completion of the tasks and collecting the correct information rather than the enjoyment or interest in the actual subject. I wondered whether this may be a result of packing a large amount of information into a already hectic schedule. I think the girls who were in year 12 seemed to enjoy the subject a great deal more than those in younger years, possibly because they have had longer to learn more about the subject, possibly because the subject matter at that time was more engaging, but they definately seemed to appreciate the fact they knew more about the subject and as such could engage in more open questioning and debate than the younger years. Personally, I feel that the base Geographical knowledge that is given to pupils over years 7,8 and 9 in the UK allows pupils to enjoy the Geography they choose to undertake in the GCSE and A level and this could be an area where the Australian curriculum could extend itself. Especially in a country with such varied Geography and wonderful geographical interactions as Australia, I do feel it is a shame that the pupils do not get to experience much of this before they are tested in it.
I had a very interesting conversation with a set of year 12 girls, of whom, 3 were considering going to University in England. All 3 were very worried that the learning that the Australian system had given them would leave them unprepared for the English system. This was an informed opinion after they had read what was contained in a A level paper and curriculum. In this regard, I was unsure about their worries as they were very intelligent girls and would no doubt flourish under the circumstances but it did highlight the prestige that an English education still holds in many countries and even though thousands complain about the lack of rigour in UK testing, it still worries the very bets of other countries that they will be unable to cope with the standards expected. Geography, particularly, for the girls was the big worry and I can appreciate that, from what I have seen, the subject is not as thorough here as it is at home, which may be down to the lack of time that is put into the subject.
The Geography teaching was easily the most fun I have had teaching here and it hammered home the notion that although I do love teaching, no matter what the subject, it is most certainly more enjoyable to teach your own subject and project your own passion and interest to the pupils when you are fully aware of most possibilities within the realms of the subject.
I am now applying for jobs to start at home in September, but there are a few stumbling blocks, namely that due to financial restraints, I will be unable to fly back for any interviews I secure, which may limit my opportunities. Of course I hope not and I would love to sort something out to come home in August to start work in the new term!
Hope everyone is well and not long til the end of term now!