Geography

"Geography is a subject which holds the key to our future."

Michael Palin, English Comedian, Actor, Writer, Television Presenter and President of The Royal Geographical Society

The new National Curriculum defines Geography as ‘the why of where’. In an increasingly globalised world, the investigation and understanding of the places that make up our world, answering students’ questions about why there are particular environmental and human characteristics, how and why these characteristics vary from place to place, how places are connected and how and why they are changing has never been more important. School leavers increasingly work in the World, not just their little patch of it!

With that in mind, Geography at Barker College examines these questions at all scales from the local, national to the global. It also looks forward, and explores ways of influencing and managing the future of places including their environmental, economic and social sustainability.

In order to do so, our students are involved in learning inside of and away from the classroom.

The Classrooms

Geography students work in a resource-rich environment. Most lessons are taught in Geography labs. These are rooms with a minimum of 15 desktop computers positioned around the outside of the learning space. These provide access to the internet, the College’s electronic resources and on-line resources via the Library website. These rooms also contain a number of noticeboards upon which maps, posters, diagrams, magazine/newspaper articles and examples of finished pieces of student learning are displayed. Each room has a digital projector, linked to a computer, a VCR and a sound system, to display learning stimuli, documentaries, diagrams, and multi-media presentations. This helps create a vibrant venue for teaching and learning.

Out and About

Learning about our world means getting out and seeing it in action! Fieldwork is a crucial part of Geography at Barker. Homebush Bay, the Hunter Valley, Minnamurra, Sydney Tower, Mt Victoria, Newnes, Myall Lakes, Pyrmont and Vietnam are but some of the venues for our fieldwork. Seeing is believing as we equip our students with a capacity to be active enquirers.

Teaching and Learning

The Geography Staff are well-versed in the Teaching for Understanding program run by Harvard University. Our units of learning have been modified in order to embrace this philosophy. Units like Gone Fishing (8), Go With the Flow (9) Mad Maps (10), Waste Not, Want Not (11) and Cheaper by the Dozen (12) help ensure that our students have the best chance of a rewarding and interesting learning experience in this increasingly important subject.

We look forward to learning with you.

Matthew Lloyd

Head of Geography