This is one of my former pupils, who I helped teach Meteorology, and showed an early interest in doing something in weather forecasting... Iain Stewart helped her in the next stage of her education...
Any stories to share of former pupils of yours who have become prominent in some line of work?
I can name some others (and will do in this occasional series)...
I can name some others (and will do in this occasional series)...
Comments
It may come as a surprise to understand the breadth of the readership of the livinggeography blogspot. I found myself swiping through a few posts last weekend and stumbled upon the #formerpupils blog that documented the successful attainment of Lucy Verasamy (https://livinggeography.blogspot.com/2018/09/former-pupils-1-lucy-verasamy.html), meteorologist, together with a call for readers to “share any stories of former pupils who have become prominent in some line of work?” This led me to pause and ponder for a moment about positions worthy of reporting. Do I know any former pupils deserving of a mention? And are any of them reading this blog thinking that could be me?
This made me stop to consider ....
What is it that defines a profession, career or activity ? What is it that makes one path more deserved to be described as a geographical contributor than another? As a former teacher of the subject, I have long since argued that geography is at the very heart of everything we do - in academic terms the glue that binds things together - Pick a topic and explore it’s geographies.
In employment I can relate to this. On a personal level - I have held positions as a Crime Analyst, Teacher of Geography and most recently an IT Manager. In my experience I have discovered people are much more comfortable relating geographical competency to the duties required of a teacher than they are non-academic career paths that tend to have less explicit geographical associations. I have defended on many occasions the assertion that a Geography qualification is a ‘generalist’ qualification - quiet the opposite in fact, I would assert that it is both multi-skilled and complex. The perception of “geography” as an academic discipline with the demarcation of a certificated syllabus is an anathema.
As such I would return to the challenge - “Pick a topic and explore its geographies”. I would challenge anyone to pick a career that doesn’t contribute.
This week alone I have supported colleagues working on brownfield regeneration and urban planning, introduced technical innovation to support environmental improvements, assisted staff providing social housing and community events, facilitated rural transport services and leisure facilities. Although, I concede, very few of my colleagues would describe themselves as Prominent Geographers - in their own right, I would seek to disagree.
In fact I would offer that we should recognise the unique breadth of our discipline and celebrate each and every contribution - we are all inhabitants of the places we reside and by our very existence shape their story - after all this really is how Geography Works !
Lots of jobs involve geography of course, and I hope that we reflect on the use that many former pupils will make of what we taught them. I recently had an e-mail from someone I taught 20 years ago with a query on Ordnance Survey maps.