The report of my Churchill trip can be seen on the Spatial Worlds website. In the report I have tried to analyse what I found out via the visits which have appeared regularly on this blog. The report contains conclusions, recommendations and future directions for spatial literacy and spatial technology in schools in Australia in response to my findings on the trip.
I have framed my findings under the original questions posed earlier in this blog and the recommendations under the following headings:
* Across the curriculum approaches
* Data provision
* Teacher training
* Community links
* Skill development
* Teacher networks
* Curriculum materials
* Levels of competencies supported with research
* Resources
* The Spatial industry and Government agencies
* Equity issues
* School/Education authority’s priority setting
* Tertiary sector involvement
* Spatial Learning
* Vocational education
At this stage of my musings I would like to recommend to all fellow geographers to think about applying for a Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship in 2008. The Fellowship and the Winston Churchill Trust have been sensational in supporting my trip and myself in general during the past 4 months. It has really been a wonderful experience and hopefully what I have found out will go towards the development of geography and spatial technology in Australia. To find out about applying for a Fellowship go to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust website at and in particular download the application form at http://www.churchilltrust.com.au/category.php?id=52 . As they say "if you never go, you never know" and "you have to be in to win it".
It would be great to see geographers in Australia heading off around the world to investigate aspects of geography to make sure that geography continues to be an important part of the educational scene in Australia. As you have seen in this blog, Geography does not exist in US schools as it does in Australia and in the UK and Canada the numbers are certainly not growing. With the push by AGTA in recent months to politically promote geography, the more people we have out and about advocating and getting ideas about geographical education would be a positive thing for the growth of geography in Australia. The Winston Churchill Trust Fellowship is one way that individuals can experience and grow as geographers for the good of geographical education in Australia. Think of an area to investigate and put in an application if you see it as something you wish to do. Please contact me to discuss if you want to discuss the application process and the experiences I went through to get the Fellowship. The Fellowship has certainly been a worthwhile experience for me professionally and personally and I would recommend it to anyone. Good luck.
I am keen for this blog to continue to be a vehicle to communicate spatial education ideas and references to those interested. At this stage I am not sure what form this will occur but I am also sure that as I travel through Europe in he next few months things will pop-up to add to the blog.
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