Geography in the Australian Capital Territory: A Mixed Picture

Geography is alive and well in non-government schools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) but many believe that its rigour has been compromised through being incorporated into Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) for delivery in government primary and secondary schools. SOSE is one of eight Key Learning Areas (KLAs) that make up the framework around which the ACT's school-based curricula are constructed. It is into the KLA called SOSE that Geography exists. Independence in the design and delivery of a SOSE programme in the environment of the ACT's School-Based Curriculum has resulted in a high level of variability between schools in their programming. While some high schools devote alternate semesters to geography-based SOSE units and history-based SOSE units, other high schools, when faced with the framework requirements, build units based upon any other of the discipline strands encompassed within SOSE. Teaching of geographic understandings and skills is therefore, often fragmented and lacking in continuity to reach the depth of understanding that engenders deep and meaningful learning. In this article, the author discusses variations in the amount of time allocated to the teaching of Geography between schools in the ACT, which have implications for continuity from primary to tertiary studies in Geography. The author also discusses the difference between students from government compared to non-government school in the ACT and the inadequate training and support for geography teachers in the context of SOSE. (Contains 10 notes.)