SAGT 9 of 10: Edinburgh

Sunday morning was spent heading over to Edinburgh, where I had a couple of hours before my train south. There was sunshine on Leith...

Edinburgh is still undergoing disruption for the building of the tram network. This has been ongoing for as long as I can remember...

I managed to get into the National Gallery of Scotland, and wander through some familiar streets in the old city, and do a bit of shopping before getting the train south. A pity I was laden down with luggage as I could have done a little more exploring. Looked up to the ramparts from where Danny MacAskill jumped in a video which started off my career back in the classroom at the start of September...

Image: Alan Parkinson

SAGT 8 of 10: Dundee

After the conference proceedings closed, it was over for the AGM of SAGT, notable for its free glass of wine. Val Vannet handed over the Presidency to Liz Crisp (see previous blog posts for my visit to Aberdeen to work with Liz)
Then I helped 'take down' the various materials and we headed for Dundee in the rain. We went through the Carse of Gowrie, which has plenty of soft fruit being grown to supply preserve manufacturing and also supermarkets with raspberries and other fruit.

I visited Dundee for three years while the conference was held there and know the city quite well.

That evening it was over the Tay Bridge to a restaurant called 'The View' in Wormit, which had a rather good view back across the Tay. We also passed several large oil rigs which were being commissioned, one of which had apparently recently arrived from Singapore !
Since the last time I'd visited there had been a few changes: a huge multi-storey block had been demolished, near to RSS Discovery (where a previous conference reception had been held)
This is a city that is changing and will continue to change for many years to come.

Back to have a whisky in front of the fire and doze off, knowing that we had an extra hour to lie-in as the clocks went back....

SAGT 6 of 10: My seminars...

My seminars are available to view on my SLIDESHARE page.

SAGT Presentation from GeoBlogs

I referred to Paul Cornish’s useful diagram from the GA’s curriculum planning site, which asks questions relating to the choice of case studies.

Hopefully these move away from ‘the one in the textbook’… and are influenced by student and teacher choice and also experiences.

I used the idea from Doreen Massey’s lecture where she referred to mountains themselves as ‘migrants’ in that they were constantly moving and changing, and how maps are a surface on which millions of stories are told.

The idea of curriculum making came through, as did the idea of telling stories. Geography means 'writing the Earth' of course, and there are lots of opportunities for this to happen in familiar landscapes. I talked about teaching about mountains in the Fens, where the highest point was only 26m above sea level.

I used an extract from Robert MacFarlane's 'The Old Ways' along with 'Digimap for Schools'

There were also some ideas from Noel Jenkins on ‘grabbing’ and appropriating landscapes using Google SketchUp – which he added to with models from the SketchUp Warehouse.
I mentioned Tony Cassidy's Facebook idea with Liz Smith examples.

Dropbox folder of resources was shared with the delegates. Thanks to the fifty or so delegates who chose to come to my session...

If you would like to have access to the main written resource, drop me a line...

SAGT 4 of 10: Val's Presidential speech and morning keynote...

After the awards, delegates moved into a lecture theatre for the morning session: a welcome by Shelagh Hansom the conference convener, and a local officer from the 'education authority'.

Val Vannet, the outgoing president gave an excellent speech: 'It's not what you're looking at, it's what you see that matters', which had some of the images from her recent holiday in the USA, and gave the message that geography changes your view on the world.

She entertainingly went through the progress (or not) that has been made in Scottish education towards 'Curriculum for Excellence', which has had a long gestation period, and also the recent updates at National 4 and 5 level and the Advanced Highers.
The conference was on the theme of Physical Geography, and Val's contention was that this has largely disappeared from the specifications, and is not leading to a joined-up offering for students. She showed the advice on studying soils (which has virtually disappeared), such as 'dig a soil pit on the school grounds' (which will of course have been disturbed when the school was built...) or use a Russian corer (which is apparently completely inappropriate for the task as well as being potentially dangerous - assuming you can find one...)
There were lots of nodding heads in the audience. It was a powerful and passionate speech, and set the tone for the day nicely: Physical Geography matters...

The morning keynote was given by Professor Iain Stewart

Called 'Scotland Rocks', it explored the way that Scotland has been at the centre of many geological discoveries as well as industrial developments based on these.

Oil shales – lighting the streets of London, and the link with exploring climate change were all part of the mix, beautifully presented with attractive images and text.

At the end, there were questions about fracking, and whether it was a suitable development.

Iain also said he's working on a three part series on North Sea Oil, ahead of the 50th anniversary of its discovery and exploitation - this changed large parts of Scotland utterly...
A really good start to the day...

SAGT 3 of 10: Arrival at the conference and Awards....

After breakfast it was over early to the conference venue: the North Inch Community Campus. The first of three years that it will be held there. There were over 200 delegates attending, and there were the traditional bacon butties and coffee to start...

The exhibitors were already setting up the stalls.

The delegates were collecting their goodie bags. These are always excellent at the SAGT - I remember the ones in Dundee that had a jute bag, pot of jam and a copy of the Beano (journalism) to represent the 3 Js that built the city....
This time round they included a calendar, books, copy of 'The Geographer' (the RSGS journal), a pencil and a poke of sweets, all in a rather good jute bag...

I set up my seminar room that I was going to be using, and made sure that the ICT all worked and the handouts were placed on the desks, and then went back downstairs for a coffee, and chat to Duncan Hawley. It was then time for the SAGT awards.

The SAGT awards are similar to the GA awards.
There are non-book and book categories, and I ended up being quite well represented here....

In the SAGT awards, our Mission:Explore pack on Iceland, which was written for Discover the World was commended.

Well done to John Sayers, who co-wrote the missions, and Helen Steer and Tom Morgan Jones for design, editing and illustration work.

... and then it came to the winner of the SAGT BOOK AWARD....
The overall winner of this was 'Fieldwork through Enquiry', which I co-wrote with John Widdowson...
The certificate was picked up by Hazel Barrett, the president of the GA.

A good start to the day !

Images: John Vannet and Alan Parkinson

SAGT 2 of 10: Perth and the RSGS

Up after a good night's sleep and opened the curtains onto a soggy scene...
Had breakfast and worked as the traffic swished along the M8 through the city...

Wandered to the station - was intending to wander up Sauchiehall Street and enjoy the city but it was pouring with rain...
Into the Buchanan Galleries for a while, then got on the train to Perth. Arrived to find it was, er... pouring with rain...

Hung around for a while then walked into the city centre, and sat out the rain in a pub....
It finally stopped raining, and I had a wander around Perth, which was once the capital of Scotland. The Tay was high and turbulent under the bridge, which had the levels of previous flooding (some quite recently) marked onto it.
Taxi out to my hotel, and worked through the afternoon, then met up with Val and John Vannet, and down to chat to Iain Stewart, the Caldwells and the Hansoms who are familiar faces from previous trips up to SAGT conference.

We were off for a pre-conference reception at the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
They have headquarters in Perth in a building which is the oldest in the city, and has been renovated wonderfully. It's the sort of base that the GA should have, rather than Solly Street. It's a gem of a building, and has fascinating exhibits which are shown off for the visitors (I remember coming across various wonderful Vaughan Cornish prints in the basement of Solly St which would have been better on the walls...)

We had a few glasses of wine and chatted - good to see another friend Duncan Hawley had come up for the conference too.
Chatted to Mike and Fiona from the RSGS and had the tour of the building.
Up to the rather wonderful Explorers Room, which had some wonderful artefacts from the past, including when Sir Ernest Shackleton was the secretary of the Society, and also a globe marked with the initials of Roald Amundsen. The room is lined with books and quotes and remnants from previous explorations - a fascinating and atmospheric room.
This was followed by a meal in Perth, and back to the hotel for a wee dram of Laphroaig - then bed to prepare for the conference tomorrow...

Image: Alan Parkinson / RSGS

SAGT 1 of 10: Glasgow and Gabriel

This is the first of 10 posts summing up my trip to the SAGT conference at the North Inch Community Campus in Perth.
I've been heading up to SAGT since 2005, but this trip was extra special.
As part of the conference, I was presented with the Joy Tivy Education Medal and an honorary fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society by Professor Iain Stewart.
More on that in a future post.

The journey up was very smooth. A very early booking of tickets meant a bargain first class seat, and although I risked 'getting used to it' as Bob Digby said it was nice to be served with food and drinks and drink a chilled ale while watching the Northumberland coast go by.

On arrival at Edinburgh, I caught the connecting train to Glasgow - cup of tea and shortcake while crossing to Queen Street, from where I walked to the hotel where I was staying, which had an excellent wide ranging view over the western side of the city.

It was a glorious evening and sunset, and wandered along the Clyde. A previous time I'd been here was for the SAGT conference, and spent a very chilly evening taking pictures with Noel Jenkins. This time round, it was warmer and I wandered and had some food and very nice Innis and Gunn ale in a nearby bar. I then made my way over to the Hydro. A few of the pictures I took below:



The Hydro is a new venue.
It will host the gymnastics for the Commonwealth Games, which will take place in 2014. It was lit up from the outside. Got my seat and after a wait, and support, it was Peter Gabriel.
I saw him live in 1987 for the 'So' tour, and this was a tour to celebrate that album 25 years on with a full run through of the album, plus some very special other songs...
It was a great evening, and a great way to start a special Scottish weekend...

Cairngorms Pinterest page...

Ready for SAGT at the weekend...
Images and ideas for teaching about The Cairngorms.
Curation and pupil agency ahoy!

Heading North...

Packing my case for a trip North... first overnight trip since I started back in the classroom at the end of August.
It's my annual trip up to the SAGT conference.

This will be made extra special by the bonus of being awarded the Joy Tivy Education Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society at some point in the conference...
Heard about this a couple of weeks ago, which was a great surprise, and a wonderful honour. I'd better take my suit...

My presentation is on the Cairngorms, using Digimap for Schools to explore them...

Check out my Cairngorms PINTEREST page.

Resources will be available online after the event....

SAGT Conference

Now booking...

North Inch Community Campus, Perth
See you there I hope ! I'm leading Seminar 2
Booking/registration form available HERE

SAGT Conference 2013 Programme by SAGTeach

SAGT Conference 2013

One of my favourite CPD events of the year is the SAGT conference. 

It's a one day conference held on a Saturday. I've been speaking there since 2005, when my public speaking was in its infancy and rare...
This year's theme is below:

My seminar is going to be on the Scottish Highlands.

Peak Practice – Exploring Scotland’s Upland Landscapes
This presentation will make use of EDINA's Digimap for Schools service. A new resource will be created for the conference and as always, there will plenty of ideas, and a sprinkling of technology.

‘For anyone that likes wild and beautiful scenery there is nothing in Britain to equal the grandeur of the Bens and glens of Scotland, and those peaks that frown upon the western seas have an elevation and individuality that makes every climber anxious to explore them’

(Poucher 1964)

Mountains are an important part of Scotland’s national identity. The 282 peaks in Munro’s list, and those that didn’t make it, have inspired generations of artists, writers and tourists. Mountains feature in the Geography curriculum at all levels. This session will provide a range of approaches for exploring, explaining, interpreting, and teaching enquiry
based lessons about Scottish mountain landscapes.
Mountains are features of the physical environment, but they are inevitably influenced by human decisions. The Cairngorm Funicular, GeoPark designations, new National Trails, growth of fieldsports and the speculative listing of the Cuillin Hills for sale are just a few of many possible contexts for learning.

‘There’ll be ideas Bheag and small - remember to keep Sgurr of how many. We’ll be on just before or after the mid-day Mheall.
If you’re ready, then Buachaille up. Hopefully you Cárn keep up. I’ll Stob if you can’t, and there’ll be no Bheinn diagrams...
It will leave you wanting Mhor...’

Hope to see some of you there...

Scottish Highlands for SAGT

I am currently pulling together materials for later in the year, when I am doing a session at the SAGT conference - the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers' conference, which will be held in Perth this year.

Val Vannet, current President of SAGT gave the fraternal greetings to the GA Conference at the dinner on the Thursday, and also sat on a forum which had views on curriculum change from the various countries of the UK.

My session is on landscapes, and specifically the various Scottish mountain chains. It's called:

'Peak Practice - Exploring Scotland's upland landscapes' 

Scottish mountains have been in the news in the first few months of 2013, but not for a good reason unfortunately. Avalanches have claimed several lives in separate incidents. This is not uncommon, and in fact lives are lost every year.
The sportscotland avalanche Information Service have quite a lot of useful resources for teachers on their website.
They have avalanche maps for the different upland areas, such as the Cairngorms.

Avalanches in Scotland tend to be different to those found in locations such as the Swiss Alps due to the nature of the snow and the temperatures that the snowpack is subjected to.

I'll also be mentioning the John Muir Trust project which we've been involved with (see earlier blogpost) for Mission:Explore.

One of the elements of the session will be to look at the way that the physical geography of Scotland combines with other elements to create a very special sense of place.

The SAGT Conference will take place on the 26th of October 2013
There'll be a keynote from Professor Iain Stewart.

Here's an extract from my session proposal:

There’ll be ideas Bheag and small - remember to keep Sgurr of how many. We’ll be on just before or after the mid-day Mheall.

If you’re ready, then Buachaille up. Hopefully you Cárn keep up. I’ll Stob if you can’t, and there’ll be no Bheinn diagrams...

It will leave you wanting Mhor...

SAGT - Lectures and Sessions

After the excitement of the awards, I had a chat with various folks on the stands. Because of my various work with publishers and other organisations over the years, I knew a fair few of them. It was good to see the Digimap for Schools crew as well as Ken Lacey, Steve Brace and colleague from the RGS-IBG were there too, as was Jamie Buchanan Dunlop from Digital Explorer.

I also met with Anne from Collins, and we talked about the excellent new Atlas by Collins app which is now available for the iPad and iPhone.

After chatting, I went for lunch, which was very nice, and then went to set up for my two seminars. Duncan McLean from Kindrogan Field Study Centre had some good ideas for Google Earth, which I learnt a few things from. Thanks to those folks who came to my seminars....

A version of my presentation (without a whole host of images which are copyright Disney / Pixar) are not included in this version...

Brave Geography Edited from GeoBlogs

Thanks to Edina for the excellent freebies for delegates...

UPDATE
Thanks to Sharon Somerville for lead to the National Trust for Scotland page for the film...

SAGT 2012 - Arrival and Awards

The first of a number of posts relating to the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers' Conference which I visited for the 7th time last weekend.
It was a long way from home - drove to Peterborough, train to Edinburgh then change at Waverley for Glasgow. Sounds straight forward, and would have been if not for delayed train to Edinburgh, the usual chaos at Waverley, and then a train failure followed by being packed on the slow train to Glasgow.

Arrived later than planned, which meant no sight-seeing, and met up with Ken Lacey from the Ordnance Survey, and popped out into town for food and Arran ale.

The following morning, the train to Crossmyloof followed by a short walk into Hutcheson's Grammar school. After saying hello to a fair few familiar faces, it was time to set up the room for my session.
Before that though, there was the SAGT awards.
There was good news here as two books that I edited for the GA, written by Bob Lang and Paul Cornish picked up an award from SAGT.

Bob Digby (current GA President) and myself with prize certificates - picture by David Rogers

National 5 Geography - new Twitter feed

Up to Scotland in two weeks time for the SAGT Conference. I'm doing a session using Digimap for Schools.
The context is the Disney Pixar film BRAVE.
The following monday I'm doing some INSET for teachers in Aberdeen.
This is on free GIS and related matters.
The context is the arrival of a new qualification for Scottish teachers, administered by SQA. It's the NATIONAL 5 GEOGRAPHY qualification, which is an examination course.

I've gone through all the resources which have so far been produced, and started a new TWITTER feed that I'll keep up during the next year, to support Scottish colleagues preparing to teach the new course. I believe some schools are already underway with it, and will keep an eye out for what has been produced.

The feed so far has links to all the supporting materials, and a few things that I have produced and put on Slideshare. I have also started three twitter LISTS to link to related accounts based on the information that SQA have provided about supportive sources of additional information for teachers planning resources.
There will also be some further materials added as I become aware of them...
Please sign up if you're going to be teaching this course, and let other colleagues know about it whether you're teaching the course or not...

SAGT - book early

SAGT Conference this year will be held at Hutcheson's School, Glasgow.

My good friend Val Vannet is President of the SAGT for the next three years.
I will be presenting a workshop in association with EDINA on the work that I did for Digimap for Schools.
Here's the description in the programme.

Writing on the Map Alan Parkinson 

Using OS Digimap for Schools to help guide global citizens.

This hands-on session will make use of materials produced in 2012 for subscribers to the Ordnance Survey’s map service, operated by EDINA at the University of Edinburgh. Digimap for Schools won the Geographical Association’s Gold Award in 2011.Alan was the author of a major Secondary resource pack for Digimap for Schools, and will investigate ways to use OS mapping of Scotland to encourage an enquiry approach to teaching about the landscape, and students’ place within it. Understanding the earth starts by understanding our own place. There will also be an opportunity to learn about other GIS-style activities to bring maps to life.

If Geography means ‘writing the earth’ then a lot of that writing should be done on maps…Delegates will leave with a pack of ready-to-use materials and plenty of ideas and tools to take this type of work further.

Download the programme and booking form from the SAGT website. It's only £60 for non-SAGT members and £35 for members (membership for a year costs £35)

Will also be good to catch up with Bob Digby (President of the GA from September), Steve Brace (RGS), Jamie Buchanan Dunlop (Digital Explorer) and Iain Stewart (off the telly) who are among the presenters, and of course plenty of Scottish teacher friends...

I will then be moving up via Dundee to Aberdeen to lead a day's CPD the following Monday...