Pgce Secondary Geography
PGCE SECONDARY GEOGRAPHY
Welcome to the PGCE Geography course and what, hopefully, will be an interesting and rewarding year, leading to the recommendation for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). During the year you will be spending a considerable amount of time in specially selected partner schools working with trained mentors.
The course is very pressurised and the more you can get done before you arrive, the easier you will find things. I would strongly recommend the following where you feel such action is necessary:
Work on your subject knowledge. The school curriculum basically comprises three principal elements of Geography: Human Geography; Physical Geography; Environmental Geography
If you have done little Human Geography since ‘A’ Level, I would recommend:
C.Rawding: Contemporary approaches to Geography: Vol 1 Human Geography, Chris Kington Publishing, London, 2010.
If you have done little Physical Geography since ‘A’ Level, I would recommend: S.Suggitt: Contemporary approaches to Geography: Vol 2 Physical Geography, Chris Kington Publishing, London, 2010.
If you have done little Environmental Geography since ‘A’ Level, I would recommend: C.Rawding, V.Holden & A.Worsley: Contemporary approaches to Geography: Vol 3 Environmental Geography, Chris Kington Publishing, London, 2010.
You should also read:
H de Blij: Why geography matters: more than ever. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012
A.Bonnett: What is Geography ? Sage Publications, 2008.
C.Rawding: Effective innovation in the secondary geography curriculum: a practical guide. Routledge, Abingdon, 2013.
In addition, you should familiarise yourself with the work of the Geographical Association:
You should research the National Curriculum at Key Stage 3 (available online at GCSE / AS and A2 syllabuses (available at examination board websites; , Using the detail that is set out at these sites, you can start to audit your own subject knowledge and skills, identifying areas that you feel need further work in order that you can teach them with confidence.
It may be necessary to enhance your ICT skills, to develop confidence in using word processing, databases, spreadsheets, internet searching and other commonly used packages
You should look at the document that underpins all of the work which you will do on the course: Professional Standards for the Award of QTS available on line at and appendix 10 of the generic pre-course materials.
If you have not already done so, you should gain observation experience in secondary school Geography departments.
An important aspect of the course involves fieldwork. During the course of the year you will have the opportunity to carry out sixth form fieldwork in conjunction with local colleges and schools and also undertake a residential field trip to Castleton in the Peak District between your first and second school placements in late February / early March. The purpose of the residential trip is to give you an insight into planning fieldwork for a range of purposes, undertaking risk assessments and becoming familiar with the opportunities available for teachers to do fieldwork. We will not be standing in streams measuring channel depths in wellies!
It is important that you come to the course feeling confident in your own subject knowledge and with a genuine enthusiasm for the course. If you don’t like Geography, what chance have you got of enthusing the children! If you have any queries between now and September, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Charles Rawding
PGCE Secondary Geography Course Leader
Tel: 01695 584207
Email :