This blog is written by Catherine Owen, Head of Geography at a UK secondary school with a BSc (Hons) in Geographical Science.
Numbers of students studying Geology and Geosciences at A level and university are in decline and Geoscientists are keen to know why. As a head of Geography in a secondary school in the UK, I am happy to share my thoughts on this issue.
- Geo-what? There is a lack of awareness of what the Geosciences involve amongst students and many teachers. The perception is that it’s all about rocks, with little awareness of the breadth and depth of the subject.
- Geo-yawn? Not helped by the perception that ‘it’s all about rocks’, Geoscience may seem less exciting than other options. Large numbers of students are interested in marine science at the moment because of the ‘Blue Planet’ effect and awareness of issues such as plastics in the oceans. They are excited about these issues and aspire to ‘make a difference’ in the future.
- Geo-jobs? The perception of Geoscience could be improved if students had more idea about the jobs on offer in terms of Geoscience in the UK. They often seem to know more about overseas opportunities, but much less about what is available closer to home. It would also be useful to know about jobs at different levels, apprenticeships etc. The increase in tuition fees for university courses has made students more risk averse – particularly working class students – making them worry about specializing too much.
- Geo-graphy? Curriculum reform has led to more emphasis on human Geography and less adventurous physical Geography. A few years ago I taught a whole topic on mountains at GCSE, but now I teach the more traditional topics of natural hazards, living world and UK landscapes. A level physical Geography topics are strongly linked to human interactions, which is good in many ways, but means that some of the exploration of pure physical processes has been lost. There is also little about Geology in Geography textbooks, although there are some good spreads in the new ‘Progress in Geography’ KS3 book from Hodder (disclaimer: I am one of the authors).
- Geo-logy? Few schools offer A level Geology. Some would like to but can’t afford it, others would struggle to staff it. Students used to study four AS levels in year 12, but following the exam reforms few schools/colleges offer AS levels anymore. In the past students may have chosen three subjects, then added Geology as an interesting extra, which could then become their passion. As most students now study three A levels this flexibility to try new things is no more.
- Geo-teachers? Some Geography teachers may be more confident in teaching human Geography than physical Geography and there is a shortage of Geography teachers, meaning that many Geography lessons across the country are taught by non-specialists. To tackle the shortage, trainees without relevant degrees may be accepted onto training courses as long as they do a subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) course prior to starting. For whatever reason, if Geography teachers aren’t confident in teaching physical Geography it is likely to have an impact on their students’ perceptions of geosciences.
- Geo-STEM? The focus on promoting STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in schools generally excludes Geoscience as so much of it is taught in Geography. Should Geography be included as a STEM subject?
- Geo-hope? Geoscience often gets bad press through its association with oil (spills), mining (on indigenous land), fossil fuels (enhanced greenhouse effect) and more. However, Geoscience will be vital in creating a sustainable future. Materials need to be mined to build sustainable infrastructure and we need an understanding of the earth to be able to develop our world. The Earth Science Teachers’ Association (ESTA) and Geologists such as Pete Loader do a great job in working with teachers across the UK and deserve support – I benefitted hugely from attending the Geoscience Academy hosted by Pete at the Geological Society a few summers ago. It is great to see efforts to make Geoscience more inclusive, including @GirlsIntoGeoscience and @BlackinGeoscience on twitter and the work of the wonderful Dr Anjana Khatwa and Prof Chris Jackson.
We need Geoscientists. Schools are the pipeline for future Geoscientists. Unblocking this pipeline is the responsibility of all – educators, Geologists – anyone with a passion for the subject.
Catherine at the Natural History Museum learning about micro fossils as part of the 2015 Geoscience Academy
Hi Catherine
I liked your post and believe you have made some excellent points.
I posted these comments on LinkedIn but thought I should add them here and hope they contribute to further discussion and sharing of ideas.
I totally agree with your first point and had nothing else to add.
With respect to Geo-Yawn
No way should any studentI be bored by geology. If they are uninspired and unexcited by the geology they are taught, the problem is not the subject matter but how it is delivered.
Regarding Geo-jobs.
We geoscientists and geologists fall into the trap of believing, and therefore promoting, the idea that the jobs related to the minerals industry are centered on us. However, our work, although hugely important, is a small portion of the employment opportunities within the minerals industry. I agree more can be done and the industry needs to do a better job. Schools should be showing students how teams of experts in the various geoscience fields and engineering come together to find and extract minerals, bring the products to market and the strategic importance of each to their every day lives.
Students should be shown that alongside geoscientists there are engineers, technicians, drillers, miners, mechanics, as well as administrative, HR personnel, and finance and commodities experts. In addition, todays students are well aware about diversity and the importance of environmental and socially acceptable practices and that should be shown as an integral part of the future of the minerals industry.
With respect to Geo-graphy.
Yes, teaching kids about the affects of human interactions without building a basic understanding of the physical geological processes is a short-sighted approach that needs to be addressed.
With respect to Geo-logy?
Maybe I am missing something, but
you might attract more students if universities stressed geology as a required course over physics and calculus. Then, if universities want geology as a pre-requisite, high schools will be more likely to offer it and attract more students. I took O-level and A-level geology back in (oh way back in the late 70’s). I went to to a comprehensive school and I was the only student doing A-level geology!
Geo-teachers?
I see the problem is self fulfilling. UK schools and likely schools in Canada and the US, are producing students that go on to become teachers who have often never learned geology.
Why not hire retired geologists who love the subject, have industry experience and connections that can be utilized to give kids additional knowledge of employment opportunities?
Geo-stem?
This is similar to what I said above.
Universities are creating a problem by not requiring geology/geoscience as a pre-requisite. They are focusing on other sciences and math but ignoring the importance of a geoscience.
Geo-hope
It’s great that teachers are receiving support from ESTA in the UK but one very important aspect you have missed is taking the step to support the high school students, especially those with the greatest needs. This should be done by bringing in mentors and role models. This is especially important for Black students whose potential is so often left untapped.
Hi Andy, thanks so much for your comment on Catherine’s blog. You raise some interesting points. Delivery is a tricky one- if the teachers are not trained to deliver geoscience materials, it will be harder for them to deliver with passion (with the blame for that not at their door). Also, a note on uni requirements- many schools no longer offer A Level geology, so if unis asked for a pre-requisite, we would reduce our potential student pool significantly. Also, it’s worth bearing in mind that there is no evidence that students who do not study geology at A Level have worse outcomes in a geoscience degree. I wanted to add to this discussion with a thought about resourcing- whose responsibility is it? Schools are pushed for time and funding, and they don’t control the curriculum set- so it must come from above- geological associations raising pressure at the highest level of society to push for more geology in the national curriculum…as well as universities AND companies investing resource (be that staff time or money) in outreach/ambassador schemes in local schools- we believe that this would likely work best as a centrally coordinated, large-scale initiative. I completely agree that it is key to get more DIVERSE professional geoscientists interacting with schools, but many academics and industry geos have little time to organise/take part in voluntary outreach. We’ve recently launched our #AskAGeo Hub to try to bridge the divide between schools and professionals; this is a voluntary effort but hopefully something that will make it easier for geos to get involved and can be built on in future. Thanks again, Natasha (Editor)
Fantastic…love the blog and so true. I think academic geoscientists could have done a lot more to encourage Geoscience at school levels. Some even discouraged school take up disregarding the 99% plus who do not take Geoscience at university levels. . Looking forwards attitudes must become more progressive and helpful to survive extinction. You point to many key pertinent issues…the image issue and application of Geoscience throughout society are areas that must be actively worked on. I have just built a special interest group within the Geoscience Society of NZ evolving abd older Geo- education group into GeOID group by adding outreach and international development and hopefully broadening horizons ‘re Geoscience applications and potential.
Thanks so much for this comment Michael. We couldn’t agree more about the need for more progressive attutides. Have you see our new #AskAGeo initiative? Given your interest in outreach, it may be up your street! Cheers, Natasha (Editor)
geography=humanist careers
geology= In many faculties as part STEM career
Need some of the retired enthusiastic geoscientists to pass on what fired them up.
Thanks for this Ron- We need everyone to pass that passion on, not just the retired geos! Cheers, Natasha (Editor)
Great blog! Your point 5 is exactly how I ended up in geoscience. I picked up geology as a 4th AS-level as something a bit different and interesting and loved it so much I did the full A-level and ended up studying geopysics at uni. I hadn’t even studied geography at GCSE (hated the human stuff…) so I doubt I’d be a geo now without that option. Its such a shame that the system now doesn’t really allow that flexibility.