Teach Secondary Issue 13.6

INTREPID EXPLORATIONS Steve Brace serves up a primer on the crucial ingredients and processes that produce effective fieldwork for geography students F ieldwork is one of geography’s key elements. As Dr David Lambert, one of my predecessors at the Geographical Association, once wrote, “It is absolutely essential… It expresses a commitment to exploration and enquiry, and geography’s concern to discover and to be curious about the world.” Geographical field explorations can take place in a school’s grounds, local area, elsewhere in the UK or further afield. Regardless of location, duration or setting, fieldwork helps young people apply their geographical understanding and skills to better understand the real-world interrelationships between people and their environment. Thinking like geographers And yet, fieldwork is under pressure, with a 2023 Teacher Tapp survey of secondary teachers finding that 40% reported seeing reductions in their fieldwork since COVID. Additionally, Ofsted has identified that fieldwork is ‘underdeveloped’ in almost all schools (see bit. ly/ts127-G3), rarely extending beyond the requirements of exam specifications, with little differentiation between a ‘field trip’ and fieldwork . A focus on the latter is what will deliver the greatest impact on the ability of pupils to think – and work - like geographers. So what exactly elevates fieldwork beyond simply ‘visiting’ a place? The answer lies in fieldwork’s emphasis on geographical enquiry . As geographer Dr Margaret Roberts notes (see bit.ly/ ts136-FW1), there are a series of key questions through which you can frame your fieldwork – those being ‘ Where...? ’ , ‘ What...? ’ , ‘ When...? ’ , ‘ What ought...? ’ , ‘ What might...? ’ , ‘ Who...? ’ , ‘ Why...? ’ and ‘ How...? ’ You’ll also need to carefully consider precisely where your fieldwork should take place and why. What location will best support the learning you want your pupils to achieve, and what are the cost and time implications of organising a visit there? If your school (and your students’ parents) are willing and able to organise a first-hand experience of tectonic processes for your pupils, Iceland may well be the perfect location. If, however, you want to explore flood risk, then youmight not need to expend the costs and time required to travel to an iconic fieldwork site. Conducting fieldwork at a local river will be cost effective, and could even be more relevant (especially since 10,710 schools in England have been identified as being at risk from flooding, according to the DfE’s ‘Sustainability and climate strategy’ – see bit.ly/ts117-TP1 for more details). Repeat visits Many teachers will schedule repeat visits to familiar sites. This can be helpful in building up your department’s depth of experience and knowledge concerning a particular place and its processes. It will also enable your pupils to explore geographical change over time – by, for example, comparing land use data gathered from their local high street to 64 teachwire.net/secondary