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International Perspectives on Geography Education Research

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Geography Education Research in the UK: Retrospect and Prospect

Part of the book series: International Perspectives on Geographical Education ((IPGE))

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Abstract

This chapter offers an analysis, at the international scale, of ‘why things are the way they are’ in geography education research—although it comes with a caveat that achieving an overview of research across different national jurisdictions is problematic, and possibly even unhelpful.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    At the time of writing, the (renamed) UK Committee of the IGU CGE is in close discussion with another UK group—the Geography Education Research Collective (GEReCo)—with a view to a probable merger. This is both practical and sensible, given that the membership of the groups overlaps considerably. Nonetheless, each group has different strengths and intentions—particularly with regard to international reach, research ambitions and publication interests. Significantly, neither group receives any form of sustained funding.

  2. 2.

    There are other specialist journals dedicated to research in geography education, including Research in Geographic Education, founded in 1999, edited by Richard Boehm and David Stea in the US and based in the Gilbert Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education at SW Texas State University, at San Marcos.

  3. 3.

    A number of other publications of influence—not least the proceedings from the IGU-CGE’s international conferences and symposia, and related spin off books such as ‘Teaching Geography for a Better World’ (Fien and Gerber 1988)—have also been produced.

  4. 4.

    The breakdown of authors is taken from the book’s stated ‘List of Contributors’ (pp. ix–xii); however, many chapters include sections contributed by authors not stated in this list—including section contributions from Taiwan, China, Brazil and Singapore—such that the actual total of authors is 33, not 26. We must also remember that for texts such as this some prospective authors will have had their contributions rejected by editors, and that the authorship of publications that emerge from conferences is sometimes rather ‘weighted’ by numbers of delegates from particular countries having being attracted by the conference theme. Ease of access to funding is a significant factor in attendance, of course.

  5. 5.

    Brooks (2017) makes the interesting point that we may be guilty of striving to be ‘overly inclusive’ in our small community of geography education researchers worldwide, given that conference papers that are lacking in rigour and culmination may be accepted for presentation at international research conferences. The reasons for this vary—from noble attempts to support academics from jurisdictions that do not normally contribute papers to international conferences (for reasons of finance, organisation of research, lack of support, etc.), to less altruistic reasons of wanting to maximise conference attendance and revenue!

  6. 6.

    Descriptions of geography education and geography education research within different national contexts are relatively common; see, for example, Reinfried (2001a, b, 2004) on Switzerland, Graves (2001) on France, Birkenhauer (2002a, b) and Schrettenbrunner (1990) on Germany, Butt (2008) on the UK, etc.

  7. 7.

    Wrigley and Kalambouka’s (2012) research identifies that in a case study of four academies, only 12% of pupils studied History or Geography at GCSE, compared to 57% in other schools locally. In one academy their research found that only a single pupil took history, with no one taking geography, at GCSE.

  8. 8.

    The Appendix includes the following sections: Executive summary, Preamble; Nature, Value and focus of geography education research; Contexts of and challenges in geography education; The development of researchers; Strategic development; Methodology; Dissemination; and Impact. The Annex includes some examples of topics for research in geography education.

  9. 9.

    Morgan (2017) interestingly considers the concept of ‘geographical ignorance’, through reflecting on the need for a ‘knowledge turn’ in school geography. By applying the work of US geographer Martin Lewis, he discusses that a certain level of public ignorance of geography is inevitable, but highlights that modern versions of the geography national curriculum in England and Wales may ironically serve to promote this state of affairs.

  10. 10.

    The international publications in English analysed by Bagoly-Simó (2014) encompass, as one sample, the journals International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, Journal of Geography and Geography. In addition, publications in German from Geographie und ihre Didaktik, GW-Unterricht, Praxis Geographie, Geographie und Schule, and Geographie Heute, along with journal articles, monographs and book chapters from Hungary, Romania, Spain and Latin America (including Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba) were represented in other samples.

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  1. School of Education, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

    Graham Butt

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Butt, G. (2020). International Perspectives on Geography Education Research. In: Geography Education Research in the UK: Retrospect and Prospect. International Perspectives on Geographical Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25954-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25954-9_7

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