I've not seen the articles inthe Mail and Telegraph that this piece was a
response to so it is a little difficult to know what exactly is being
proposed for school curricula. However, I have some sympathy with the
central point that Moss makes about the need to retain both content and
concepts in geographical teaching. No-one wants what he calls the
general-knowledge-quiz style of geography where the subject is no
more than a list of facts. On the other hand, I agree with him that the
teaching of arguments without reference to the factual materials upon
which people must call in advancing or rejecting arguments would be
irresponsible. I can't imagine that either of these polarities are
seriously intended for school geography.
As for his comments about the status of geography, we may bemoan it but we
can surely also take it as a warning. For those who have not read the
Guardian piece, I should add that Moss says he took history rather than
geography at University because he thought it was a subject with a higher
status.
Gerry Kearns
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