Whether you are a non-specialist teacher of geography, an ECT or an experienced geographer this series of webinars will support you in planning and teaching key concepts and themes common on most GCSE specifications. Denise will share practical teaching ideas as well as providing subject knowledge updates. The course will also look at the connections that can be made between topics and how students can be supported to recall and revise content.

Supporting research / references

Enser (2018) highlights the importance of teachers’ subject knowledge in positively impacting student outcomes and points to other research in this area, most notably Coe et. al. (2014).

The importance of geography teachers’ subject expertise is further explored in this article by Brooks (2010) which draws on the experiences of two geography teachers.

Key learning aims

• To better understand key subject knowledge central to the teaching of common GCSE geographical concepts, themes and topics.
• To better understand how this subject knowledge can be taught effectively to students and how common misconceptions can be avoided.

Expected impact on teachers

• Increased knowledge, confidence and understanding of the key knowledge central to the teaching of common key stage 4 geographical concepts and topics.
• Increased understanding of how subject knowledge can be taught effectively to students.
• Increased understanding of how to effectively address common misconceptions amongst students.

Expected impact on student outcomes

Of the six components of great teaching i.e. teaching - that which leads to improved student progress -  strong subject knowledge is the component which has the strongest evidence base. ‘The most effective teachers have deep knowledge of the subjects they teach… teachers must also understand the ways students think about the content, be able to evaluate the thinking behind students’ own methods, and identify students’ common misconceptions’ (Coe et.al., 2014, p. 2).

Course programme

The course will run as six twilights from 4.00 – 4.45 on each of the specified dates: