The Geography teacher's guide to the classroom

The book is written in a practical easy-to-read style. Each chapter contains a common structure, starting with a stimulating scene-setting introduction. This is followed by practical "how-to-do" advice on the theme of the chapter. Problems that need to be considered and ways of overcoming them are suggested. Frequent examples of classroom ideas, lesson samples, short exercises and transcripts of students talking are provided and much of each chapter is "straight from the chalk face". The spread of examples reflects the breadth of experience of the author in classrooms in many parts of the world, including Asia, Australia, North America, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The various chapters reflect a variety of approaches to geography teaching including: field, classroom and library research; student thinking and inquiry; communicating through maps, graphs, statistics, speaking and reading; values and decision-making activities; catering for mixed ability, less-able and gifted students; developing social and political literacy; teaching controversial issues; and computer assisted learning. The opportunities and challenges of school-based curriculum development in geography are explored through specific chapters on unit writing, lesson planning, resource selection assessment and course evaluation.