A useful lead from Steve Brace to a post on the RGS's Geography Directions blog about numeracy in geography.
Geographical teaching recognises that data skills are core to geography, not merely as an end to themselves, but because of what it means to ‘do geography’, to learn geography & to be a Geographer @profrichharris@GeogBristol#coremaths #geographyteachers https://t.co/7IfdUBpqvi
— Steve Brace (@SteveBraceGeog) April 19, 2023
Richard Harris discusses the plan that was recently announced by Rishi Sunak to increase the teaching of maths as part of the mythical 'levelling up' agenda and how that fits with the need to be numerate to access certain aspects of (particularly 'A' level) geography.
In the piece he refers to SHAPE rather than STEM.
Governments often place a lot of emphasis on STEM skills, but SHAPE (Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts for People and the Economy/Environment) skills are equally important for learning, people and the economy – skills such as problem solving, adaptability and creativity, communication and working with others.I discussed this in my book 'Why Study Geography?' (still available to buy and highly recommended)
The piece finishes with two useful references which are worth repeating here - check them both out!
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). Data Skills in Geography – Useful Links: https://www.rgs.org/schools/teaching-resources/data-skills-in-geography-%E2%80%93-useful-links/
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