Bridging the divide between school and university geography: Mind the gap!

This chapter discusses the known ‘gap’ between the curricular content of school and undergraduate geography courses, as well as considering the variation in expected student skills between the two. The text draws on global ‘reviews’ of the state of geography education – including issues of transition from school to university – to provide a comparative perspective across jurisdictions (see Butt and Lambert, 2014). The experiences of transition reported by geography students themselves are noted. Previously the ways in which students have negotiated the perceived gap has been largely overlooked, although some work has been completed on self-reflection (Bryson, 1997), on developing transferable skills (Haigh and Kilmartin. 1999), and on approaches to learning in geography (Maguire et al., 2001). Although attention is given to the impact of recent education policy shifts in England, which have required university academics to help revise the content of geography ‘A’ (advanced) levels, the approach taken here enables the reader to make comparisons with educational situations in other countries. A small case study is provided, highlighting the convergence and divergence of content and skills in schools and universities in England, noting the recent work of the A Level Content Advisory Board (ALCAB). The provision of a complete global overview of the gaps between school and university geography, and of their potential solutions, in different jurisdictions is impractical. Therefore, the English case study is designed to highlight common issues and to suggest how similar transition problems might be addressed in different national contexts. Implications for the effective transfer of students from school to university geography courses are discussed and perennial concerns about the range of geography content taught to pre-university students are considered.phy content taught to pre university students is considered

Debating the place of knowledge within geography education: Reinstatement, reclamation or recovery?

This chapter explores the recent debates about knowledge among sociologists in education, subsequently narrowing its focus to consider the response to such debates from within the geography education community. It starts by reflecting on the development of ideas about both the place and function of knowledge in schools towards the end of the last century, drawing in turn on the social constructivist and social realist positions adopted by Michael Young, and others. After considering Young and Muller’s concepts of Future 1, 2 and 3 curricula the chapter concludes by pursuing the connection between the theoretical conceptions of powerful knowledge, different models of curricular futures and geography education. It is apparent that for many geography educationists the importance of the connection between powerful knowledge and ‘everyday’ knowledge in the school curriculum is not yet successfully articulated in the geography curriculum

Fateful Aspects of Aspiration among Graduates in New York and Los Angeles

Fateful Aspects of Aspiration among Graduates in New York and Los Angele

Globalization: a brief exploration of its challenging, contested and competing concepts

This article explores the often challenging, contested and competing concepts associated with globalization. It examines the foundations of ideas commonly advanced to explain globalization, recognising that these may have roots in disciplines other than geography. The underpinnings of globalization are discussed in relation to both processes and networks - as opposed to any narrow consideration of globalization as a singular condition - highlighting the significance, for geographers in particular, of its spatial aspects. Here education is selected for particular consideration - both as an activity that is prone to the forces of globalization, and with respect to what is taught to young people about globalization. The conclusions draw together some of the different approaches to, and understandings of, the concepts of globalization

Non-native fold of the putative VPS39 zinc finger domain

Background: The multi-subunit homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS) membrane-tethering complex is involved in regulating the fusion of late endosomes and autophagosomes with lysosomes in eukaryotes. The C-terminal regions of several HOPS components have been shown to be required for correct complex assembly, including the C-terminal really interesting new gene (RING) zinc finger domains of HOPS components VPS18 and VPS41. We sought to structurally characterise the putative C-terminal zinc finger domain of VPS39, which we hypothesised may be important for binding of VPS39 to cellular partners or to other HOPS components. Methods: We recombinantly expressed, purified and solved the crystal structure of the proposed zinc-binding region of VPS39. Results: In the structure, this region forms an anti-parallel β-hairpin that is incorporated into a homotetrameric eight-stranded β-barrel. However, the fold is stabilised by coordination of zinc ions by residues from the purification tag and an intramolecular disulphide bond between two predicted zinc ligands. Conclusions: We solved the structure of the VPS39 C-terminal domain adopting a non-native fold. Our work highlights the risk of non-native folds when purifying small zinc-containing domains with hexahistidine tags. However, the non-native structure we observe may have implications for rational protein design.This work was supported by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (098406), jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (to SCG). BGB is a Wellcome Trust PhD student. Remote synchrotron access was supported in part by the EU FP7 infrastructure grant BIOSTRUCT-X (Contract No. 283570

Innovation, originality and contribution to knowledge : building a record of doctoral research in geography and environmental education

This article explores the possibilities for International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education [IRGEE] to facilitate the composition of a new strand of information on contemporary education research. The opportunities for further informing our community about successful doctoral research studies in geographical and environmental education, by providing brief synopses and related information about recently completed theses, are exemplified. The authors believe that IRGEE might enable thesis writers to communicate their research to others in and beyond their field, increasing our knowledge and understanding of the range of topics studied by geography and environmental educators. Twelve summaries of theses completed between 2011 and 2014 are appended to this article, as exemplars. It is hoped that publishing them might stimulate further interest in submitting summaries of recent and future theses for publication. Information about how to do so can be found on the International Geographical Union Commission on Geographical Education [IGU CGE] website

To what extent are Teaching Assistants really managed?: ‘I was thrown in the deep end, really; I just had to more or less get on with it’

The main aim of this research was to secure a better understanding of how Local Authorities (LAs), Senior Leadership Teams (SLTs) and teachers in state schools perceive their responsibilities for the deployment, leadership and management of teaching assistants (TAs). Current research in the field - some of which has been highly influential on policy – has largely focussed on aspects of TA performance and pupil attainment. Importantly, we have chosen to investigate how TAs and SLTs themselves describe their experiences of management. A total of 71 teaching assistants, together with teachers, senior leaders in primary schools and LA advisors across two Local Authorities, were surveyed. Based on 55 questionnaire responses, 11 interviews and a focus group (n=5) we found evidence of a dislocation of management priorities for effective TA deployment. What emerged was a strong sense of ‘otherness’ felt by many TAs, who believed themselves to be dissociated from their own management. We conclude that TAs make up a workforce that appears to be closely managed but which is in fact often poorly led, resulting in feelings of detachment