BSc (Hons) Geography, Urban Environments and Climate Change with Secondary Education (QTS)

The BSc (Hons) Geography, Urban Environments & Climate Change with Secondary Education (QTS) course will provide a high standard of both geography subject content and pedagogical knowledge in order to prepare students to take up a geography teaching post in the secondary sector. The course reflects the specific and precise quality frameworks established by the relevant national government agency, and complies fully with the relevant teaching standards framework. The BSc (Hons) Geography, Urban Environments & Climate Change with Secondary Education (QTS) course is specifically designed to ensure that those who are successful can be recommended to the relevant professional body for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) which is the recognised professional award required by all those who wish to teach in a maintained school.The geography content of the course reflects topical concerns of the five main GCE and GCSE awarding bodies, i.e. urban environments (especially brownfield regeneration), climate change, geographical information systems and environmental issues in the developing world. Of particular relevance is the inclusion of a geo-spatial theme running through the three years of the course, to provide students with a thorough appreciation of the teaching and learning potential of geographical information systems, remote sensing & Building Information Modelling, which are currently in demand in the teaching of geography at secondary level.With reference to the teaching element of the degree, the programme will be supported by strong foundation teaching in study skills and all students will be given the opportunity to undertake their own education based research project in physics in the final year of study.More broadly, the course will also be designed to develop secondary school teachers who will be:◾empathetic and committed to pupils’ learning;◾reflective and reflexive;◾enthusiastic and innovative;◾open-minded and research-aware◾capable of engaging in practitioner research◾flexible and creative◾knowledgeable – both geographically and pedagogicallyThe course will also help students to develop as a teacher who understands the link between subject knowledge and the curriculum knowledge needed to teach geography. Equally we seek to develop teachers who understand the needs of the individual pupil and the school community in which they will work.