I can freely admit it has been a long time since I had done any Geography PL, and the chance to spend some time in a place that I’d never been to, as well as upskill in an area that I love teaching, was too good an opportunity to not throw my hat in the ring for a TGTA scholarship. Upon applying, I was hopeful, yet realistic in that there would be many more people around Tasmania who would take up such a great offer, so I was incredibly excited and grateful upon receiving the scholarship and keen to get stuck into learning how I could enhance Geography in my role as Middle School faculty leader.
The conference started with a keynote speech by Ian Morris OAM, a biologist, conservationist, and author. His speech reminded me of the passion and expertise that we have in the people living amongst us, and wherever possible, as teachers, we should be leveraging this. His insights into the local area were fascinating, and his history of embracing and engraining himself in First Nations culture and way of life in the NT was incredible to listen to.
Over the next three days, we participated in a series of workshops and field trips. I will focus on the sessions that really stood out to me and have already made a difference in improving practices at my school. Firstly, for anyone unaware of Kathy Jones’ “Fieldwork Connections” program, this is an absolute must for re-invigorating fieldwork in your schooling context. Kathy brought with her some simple tools to be used in fieldwork investigations in the middle years, albeit these could be used in any grade level. The idea of collecting raw data to support some of the skills-based work that we do in Geography (such as graphing, mapping, weather charts etc) is really powerful, and fun! My own goal as a head of the faculty is to provide opportunities for students to get more “hands-on” and fieldwork is the perfect way to do this. Kathy showed us tools that you can pretty much pick up from any hardware store (like a temperature gun to measure surface temperatures) in the context of curriculum areas such as place and liveability. I’d highly encourage anyone looking to level up their fieldwork programs to reach out to kathy@fieldworkconnections.com.au. Whilst I mentioned that you can pick up these fieldwork tools from local hardware stores, Kathy does them cheaper! So reach out to see what she has got on offer!
The next session that spoke to me, was taken by Mick Law, who focuses on Interdisciplinary teaching in junior secondary. Mick teaches at Brisbane South State Secondary College where Geography is taught alongside English, Civics and Citizenship and Technology programs in their Middle School. The ability to work smarter, not harder, in the HaSS space, should not go unstated, as there are so many opportunities to link what we do in HaSS, particularly Geography, with other subjects. The main aspect that Mick presented was linking English with Geography, and sharing his Water in the World unit, it was easy to see how this could work in our context and others. Mick spoke of using the text “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park to integrate Geographical and Historical concepts into English, I can personally recommend this book, a great “dual narrative” read that students really engage with. “Blueback” by Tim Winton, is another that works well with the Year 7 curriculum.
Ultimately, if we integrate more effectively, this leaves time in the curriculum to cover new topics and explore existing topics in-depth. This creates an environment where all learning is purposeful, as this integration of multi-disciplines ensures that learning is not siloed, promoting real-world connections daily. I would encourage people to reach out to Mick and ask for a copy of his unit plan, an excellent resource. I was lucky enough to be involved in two fieldwork opportunities, with the amazing Kakadu National Park visit the obvious highlight. The opportunity to be guided by Ian Morris who I mentioned earlier, was an amazing first-hand guide to an incredible area. Further to this, we were lucky enough to be guided by local indigenous leader Natasha Nadjii. This was quite possibly the best part of the entire trip, Natasha was an amazing guide who knew so much of the local history and was an outstanding orator combining humour, emotion and historical and geographical First Nations understandings seamlessly at each stop of our journey. My learnings from this place are endless, but ultimately I believe as teachers we have the responsibility to provide opportunities for local historians or geographers as experts in their field, particularly First Nations peoples, to present to our students wherever possible. The learnings and insights gained are so much more powerful than what can be read in a textbook or viewed via a YouTube video! I’ve included some photos below to try and express some of the beauty that I experienced in this wonderful part of the world, my words can definitely not do it justice! I will comment upon the heat however, and as a born and bred Tasmanian, a jumper is always one of the first things packed in the suitcase wherever we go, HOWEVER, don’t bother in Darwin!
Ultimately, like in any PL opportunity, you really have to be there to witness and feel the energy that comes from hearing from and networking with experts in our field. It was an epic way to recharge my batteries, and as I sit here writing this, I’m also working on unit plans that involve the learnings that I’ve taken, which is what it is all about. Speaking of networking, the people that I’ve met on this trip have also been a highlight, we as “Geographers” are interesting, intelligent, humorous people, and when you get us all in one room (or Nightclub….) great things happen. My message for anyone reading this is to save up your PL tickets and spend them on this wonderful conference! I’ve had the best time and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to represent TGTA at this event. I’m more than willing to hear from anyone who would like to learn more about this conference, and I can be contacted via email alex.wadley@stpatricks.tas.edu.au.
