Australian Geography Teachers Association

AGTA News 2017

Latest issue of AGTA’s Geographia

The October 2017 issue of AGTA’s newsletter Geographia is now available. Contents include

  • AGTA Membership
  • AGTA Conference 2017
  • AGTA Conference 2019
  • Geography Skills Unlocked Textbook
  • The GeoSix and the Bushfire Story
  • New resources for teachers: Hunger in a world of plenty
  • Affiliate Contribution
  • Around the affiliates

AGTA 2017 Conference

A highly successful conference was held during January 2017 at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne. The conference attracted two hundred attendees from all Australian States and Territories as well as the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Singapore and New Zealand. A pre-conference tour of western Victoria was one of the highlights as were the full and half-day fieldwork trips. Keynote speakers included Dr Rachel Carey, Professor William Cartwright, Professor David Lambert, Professor Bruce Rasmussen, Dr Michael Solem. Keynote, workshop and field trip presentations are available for download from this website.

New AGTA publication

Geography Literacy Unlocked has been written for secondary geography students seeking to improve their literacy skills. It includes a focus on written, visual and oral literacy.

Geography Literacy Unlocked is published by the Australian Geography Teachers Association and written by Dr Grant Kleeman. One of Australia’s leading geography educators.

Key features:

  • An engaging, easy-to-navigate design
  • A student-friendly approach featuring step-by-step explanations and annotated exemplars
  • A focus on the basics of effective written communication – spelling, punctuation, tense and the use of connectives
  • Descriptions of the principal text types used in geography, supported by annotated examples
  • Guidance for writers in quoting, paraphrasing, summarising and referencing the work of others
  • A focus on the responsible use of social media
  • A comprehensive coverage of the principal forms of visual and oral texts students encounter in geography
  • Templates or scaffolds to support the interpretative skills students are expected to demonstrate.

Geographer awarded Order of Australia (AM) in Queen’s Birthday Day Honours

Associate Professor Alaric Maude has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday honours. The AGTA Board congratulates Alaric on receiving this award which recognises his significant service to education in the field of Geography as an academic, researcher, author, and mentor. Alaric made a notable contribution to the development of the Australian Curriculum: Geography as a Lead Writer and Writing Coach. He has authored an impressive list of peer reviewed papers and numerous books as well as having provided presentations at national and State Geography conferences.

Evidence for learning and feedback resources

Effective feedback practice is shown to increase student progress by as much as an extra eight months over a year. AITSL in partnership with Evidence for Learning have developed new materials to support teachers and school leaders to enhance feedback practices with students in their context.

The resources draw upon global evidence and research-based approaches, including from AITSL’s own Board Chair and world-renowned education researcher, Professor John Hattie. The suite of materials is free to access from the AITSL website and includes the following:

  • A spotlight research summary – Reframing feedback to improve teaching and learning – to describe the underpinning research on effective feedback.
  • Written and video case studies that profile effective implementation of feedback within Australian schools.
  • Implementation resources, such as a readiness check, planning overview and an introductory presentation, to help schools introduce an effective feedback strategy.