There is a plethora of cutting-edge resources for geography teachers but budgets often don’t stretch far enough to buy them. However, I have found a solution - the newspaper.
Cheap, versatile and relevant, the daily rag is a fantastic resource for an array of purposes. Cuttings adorn a large border surrounding a map of the world so as to display “global geography news”. Articles are categorised and amassed in box files to use as GCSE and A-level research sources.
Students are encouraged to recognise bias and challenge views about current geographical issues by comparing editorials from broadsheets and tabloids.
A recent paper reported news of “London’s Olympic bid” (the World of Sport at key stage 3 and the Geography of Sport at A-level), Aids in Botswana (Population and Development at KS3 and 4 and health at KS5), Post-war Control in Iraq (Energy and Resources at KS3 and 4 and Geopolitics and Globalisation at KS5), Britain’s reluctance to adopt the euro (the European Union at KS3, 4 and 5), and unseasonably poor weather conditions in south-west Britain (Weather and Climate KS3, 4 and 5). Newspapers are a great resource that can save departments a lot of money.
John McKee, head of geography, Angmering School, West Sussex
