Making Every Geography Lesson Count: Six Principles to Support Great Geography Teaching (Making Every Lesson Count) (Making Every Lesson Count series) - Softcover

Mark Enser

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1785833391 ISBN 13: 9781785833397

Publisher: Crown House Pub Ltd, 2019

Synopsis

Mark Enser's 'Making Every Geography Lesson Count: Six principles to support great geography teaching' maps out the key elements of effective geography teaching and shows teachers how to develop their students conceptual and contextual understanding of the subject over time.

What sets geography apart from other subjects is the value placed on seeing the connections between the different parts of its broad curriculum, on building links between different topics, and on thinking like a geographer. Writing in the practical, engaging style of the award-winning 'Making Every Lesson Count', Mark Enser has set out to help his fellow practitioners maximise this value by combining the time-honoured wisdom of excellent geography teachers with the most useful evidence from cognitive science.

'Making Every Geography Lesson Count' is underpinned by six pedagogical principles challenge, explanation, modelling, practice, feedback and questioning that will enable teachers to ensure that students leave their lessons with an improved knowledge of the world, a better understanding of how it works and the geographical skills to support their learning.

Each chapter looks at one of the six principles and begins with twin scenarios which illustrate some of the real challenges faced in geography classrooms. Mark then delves into a discussion on the underpinning theory and offers a range of practical, gimmick-free strategies designed to help teachers overcome these obstacles. Furthermore, each chapter also ends with a case study from a fellow geography teacher who has successfully employed the principle in their own classroom.

Written for new and experienced practitioners alike, this all-encompassing book offers an inspiring alternative to restrictive Ofsted-driven definitions of great teaching and empowers geography teachers to deliver great lessons and celebrate high-quality practice.

Suitable for geography teachers of students aged 11 18 years.

About this title

About the Author

Mark Enser has been teaching geography for over a decade and is currently a head of department at Heathfield Community College. He contributes articles to TES and to the Guardian Teacher Network and often speaks at education conferences. Mark also writes a blog called Teaching It Real and tweets @EnserMark. The rest of the time he spends reading, drinking coffee and running in the hills.

Review

In 'Making Every Geography Lesson Count' Mark Enser provides a valuable addition to an already fantastic series. Two things in particular radiate from the book. First, it becomes evident very quickly that Mark is a fully committed subject practitioner: he says at one point that “passion is contagious”, and this comes across in every case study and example he shares. Second, he is as well-versed in current pedagogical thinking as any teacher could wish to be. Whether it’s using examples from Rosenshine and the EEF, or delving into metacognition and self-regulation, he’s got every base covered as he synthesises theory and practice into a text that is inspiring, practical and very readable.

'Making Every Geography Lesson Count' will breathe confidence into every geography teacher that reads it.

- Robin Macpherson, Assistant Rector, Dollar Academy

In this sharp, beautifully written account of what constitutes high-quality provision and practice in the teaching of geography, Mark Enser scopes the subject’s big picture – its history, narrative and fertile questions – while holding in balance the detail of the small stuff which leads to authentic learning. This is no mean feat, and 'Making Every Geography Lesson Count' succeeds by cleverly interweaving into Mark’s lyrical commentary some hilariously funny anecdotes and a range of classroom scenarios to lift the lid on this great subject.

If you weren’t already in love with geography before reading this book, you will be by the time you finish it.

- Mary Myatt, education adviser, writer and author of Curriculum: Gallimaufry to Coherence

My own experience of geography lessons in school was one of boredom and ennui. All I can really remember is labelling drawings of blast furnaces and designing a poster about Malthus’ “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”. Needless to say, I quit the subject as soon as I could.

Reading 'Making Every Geography Lesson Count', however, fills me with regret for what might have been – as Mark Enser’s deep knowledge of, and irrepressible enthusiasm for, his subject is a thing of joy. But this book is not just a treasure trove of geographical teaching tips; it is also underpinned by a finely honed understanding of how children learn and the most effective ways to help them make progress.

Put away the colouring pencils, this book has everything you need to make every geography lesson count!

- David Didau, author of Making Kids Cleverer

One of the major pitfalls of implementing research-informed advice from cognitive psychology is that the subsequent strategies are often applied too generally. 'Making Every Geography Lesson Count' takes a subject-specific approach, brilliantly appropriating some of the most important discoveries in the field in a concise and practical way. If I were a geography teacher, this book would be my bible.

- Carl Hendrick, co-author of What Does This Look Like in the Classroom?

If only I had been able to read 'Making Every Geography Lesson Count' when I started out as a geography teacher. I’m sure it would been thumbed to bits by now. Mark Enser’s love of geography shines through this remarkable book as he thoughtfully combines his subject knowledge and deep pedagogical understanding with the seminal work of the likes of Daniel Willingham, Rob Coe, Barak Rosenshine and, of course, Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby. The result is a very well structured, beautifully exemplified and helpfully challenging book brimming with practical strategies for teachers to consider. I particularly enjoyed the twin scenarios presented at the start of each chapter, which cleverly bring to life some of the real challenges involved in ensuring all pupils make great progress in geography.

Central to Mark’s message is the professionalism of the teacher, but there are no silver bullets here. Rather, what Mark offers in this book is a rich array of approaches that geography teachers can adopt and adapt to suit their own contexts. I also love the range of case studies provided.

'Making Every Geography Lesson Count' is a must-read for any geography teacher, experienced or novice, as well for those charged with training our next generation of teachers.

- Andy Buck, CEO, Leadership Matters, Honorary Vice President, Geographical Association

Edition details

• Publisher: Crown House Pub Ltd
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1785833391
• ISBN 13: 9781785833397
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 152
• Editor: Shaun Allison, Andy Tharby