Geography needs to be relevant if it is to capture the interest of young people. Protest - whether direct action by Greenpeace or a demonstration against the building of a new airport runway - is a potential stimulus to engage and motivate.
Key stage 3 pupils are required to study issues of topical significance (PoS 7d). They should also be taught to “appreciate how people’s values and attitudes, including their own, affect contemporary social, environmental, economic and political issues” (PoS 1d). These are also a requirement of GCSE and A-level specifications.
Environmental change and sustainable development is an aspect of the programme of study at all key stages (PoS 5a and 5b). Although the Countryside Alliance march in London may be inappropriate as a topic for study for very young children, they will have views about their local area and what happens in it, eg the vandalism of a playground, or a dangerous road.
Many other topics have a political dimension and have led to protest, eg at KS3, squatter settlements (6f “the changing characteristics of settlement”), globalisation (6i “factors, including the interdependence of countries, that influence development”) and nuclear power (6k “the effects on the environment of the use of a resource”).
Geography does not aim to produce a generation of protestors, but will help to make young people aware of controversial issues and thus make informed decisions.
