A Single Transferable Geography? Teaching Geography in a Contested Landscape

Abstract

This study focuses on the impact of the political situation in Northern Ireland and geography teaching in schools. Student teachers on the PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) Geography Course at the University of Ulster (UU) conducted discussions within their geography departments whilst on teaching practice and reported the outcomes to their peers in an online conference. What emerges is quite an intimate picture of the myriad ways in which the values inherent in Northern Ireland’s contested landscape affect classwork, homework and fieldwork in many of these schools. Geography teachers meet these challenges with ingenuity, fortitude, tolerance and, at times, even a little stoical humour.

Keywords:

• teacher education
• contested landscape
• Northern Ireland