By Grant Westoby pound;46.99. Nelson Thornes. Longman Geography for GCSE (new edition).

By John Pallister, Ann Bowen, Roger Clay, Carmela Di Landro and Olly. Pearson. Longman pound;11.99. Understanding GCSE Geography (2nd Edition) for AQA.

By Ann Bowen andJohn Pallister. Heinemann pound;14.50. A New Introduction to Geography for OCR.

Edited by Keith Flinders. Hodder amp; Stoughton pound;13.99. Climate, The Environment and People. People and Place.

By Gary Cambers and Stuart Currie. Heinemann pound;7.50 each. GCSE Geography In Focus.

By John Widdowson, John Smith and Roger Knill. John Murray pound;14.99. It’s A World Thing.

By Bob Digby, Dan Cowling, Jane Entwhistle, Carole Goddard, Peter Goddard and Sue Warn. Oxford University Press pound;14.50.

If geography textbooks suddenly transformed themselves into geography teachers, what style of teaching would they adopt? This thought occurred to me as I looked through the latest offerings for the updated GCSE specifications.

First, the traditionalists. They rely heavily on the transmission model of teaching, but with some good visual resources thrown in. If you are lucky, they make geography interesting because they reflect real enthusiasm for their subject, but if you are unlucky, the teaching style is turgid and the activities superficial.

The New Wider World Foundation Edition andLongman Geography for GCSE are such teachers. They will get you through the content, but there might be a lack of creativity in the activities. At a time when current work in literacy and thinking skills is scaffolding learners to reach ever higher level texts and activities, The New Wider World Foundation Edition, in particular, seems to be going in the opposite direction. Along with a few bright ideas such as the plates jigsaw, its Teacher’s Resource Book contains lots of classifying activities. Classification is a fundamental geographical concept, but if used without thought, these worksheets would be highly repetitive.

Moving on to the stalwarts of the geography department, we have the conscientious teachers we can always rely on. Understanding GCSE Geography leans towards the traditional and is similar to the two previous books, though the activities are interspersed with the text rather than at the ends of chapters. Aimed at AQA A, most of the questions are of the “describe and explain” type.

A New Introduction to Geography for OCR A has a slightly more upbeat format with lots of newspaper extracts, large photographs and suggested web links. Its real strength is in exam and coursework preparation - lots of advice and sample answers - and it is the only textbook to include sections for those taking the Entry Level Certificate (old Certificate of Achievement).

Climate, The Environment and People and People and Place are two of the four books designed to serve the OCR B specification. As befits their Avery Hill heritage, these texts have a lively approach and are strong on values clarification and physicalhuman interaction.

The real stars of the department are GCSE Geography in Focus and It’s a World Thing, with their balance of fresh and up-to-date geographical content and engaging tasks. Of the two, GCSE Geography In Focus has the edge for imaginative activities, with its original “Think” panels which encourage students to recognise links between different topics and understand the rationale for their work. If this book was a geography teacher, I would definitely employ it.

It’s a World Thing (designed for Edexcel B) is equally strong on extended case studies and uses interesting resources.

Don’t blinker your approach by automatically choosing the book which addresses your specification. Most teachers draw on a number of resources, and there are both excellent and mediocre textbooks within the single-specification and generic categories. Of course, there is much more to exciting geography teaching than having the right textbook, but once the decision has been made, it can be expensive to change.

Liz Taylor is lecturer in geography education at the University of Cambridge.