Exploring Places: Growing Critical Thinking and Much More

Our Head of Geography, Gillian Abbot, highlights the importance of fieldwork in helping students grow as critical thinkers, deepen their subject knowledge, and gain skills for life.

As the Geography Department continues to develop and expand its fieldwork provision, this feels like an appropriate moment to share with our wider community the rationale behind this growth. Geography is so much more than sitting in a classroom; it is an opportunity to explore and understand the ever-changing places and environments in the dynamic world in which we live—and with that comes many benefits for our students.

The Geographical Association states:
“Fieldwork is an essential component of geography education. It enables pupils to better understand the ‘messiness’ of geographical reality, develop subject knowledge, and gain a range of skills that are difficult to develop in the classroom.”

These three aspects—the ability to engage critically with geographical concepts, the opportunity to deepen subject knowledge, and the chance to develop skills such as collaboration and independence—are driving the department’s expansion of fieldwork and, through this, the growth of our students. In this article, I hope to illustrate these benefits, drawing on recent fieldwork undertaken by our students.

The Ability to Think Critically

Many of you will recall that geography education often draws on theories and models designed to simplify reality.  These concepts help students make sense of complex patterns across time and space, but they can also oversimplify what exists on the ground. Fieldwork allows students to test these models, critically evaluating how and why they may or may not reflect reality, and in doing so, they come to understand what the Geographical Association calls “the messiness of geographical reality.”

At the end of the summer term, our Year 10 geographers set out to Oxford to delimit the Central Business District, using the Burgess Model as a framework. They collected data on building height, land use, and pedestrian numbers in an attempt to define the edge of the CBD. Quickly, they realised that their results did not always align with their initial hypothesis. This led them to ask the most important question: “Why?”

Ideas were shared and debated. Students considered the influence of the city’s physical geography, the dominance of the university, the historic development of Oxford, and even critiqued their own data collection methods. They also reflected on the origins of the Burgess Model, questioning what type of settlement it was initially based on.

Both collecting the data and experiencing the place were crucial in prompting these lines of enquiry, illustrating how valuable fieldwork is in developing a student’s ability to think critically about the concepts they study.

Growing Depth of Subject Knowledge

Geography is a complex subject, and students are often asked to grapple with “big questions.” Was the regeneration of a particular place successful? Was the development of a wind farm the right decision for a community? How can the risk of coastal flooding best be managed?

Answering such questions requires students to engage with multiple perspectives, often from a range of stakeholders. This can be challenging, but primary data collection provides a powerful way to make these perspectives tangible. For example, when our Year 11 students investigated variations in quality of life in Stratford earlier this year, their questionnaires enabled them to gather opinions on crime levels, housing quality, environmental conditions, and property prices.

This qualitative data gave students a nuanced understanding of the contested nature of regeneration projects—an insight that would have been much harder to achieve without fieldwork.

Developing Collaboration and Independence

In Year 12, our A Level geographers undertake a wide range of human and physical fieldwork, with teachers and field staff providing less support as students’ skills grow. During our field trip to the Lake District, it was inspiring to see students independently and collaboratively designing methodologies to investigate infiltration rates.

Working in groups of four, they debated and designed reliable sampling strategies and accurate methods to address their enquiry questions. The independence and collaboration they demonstrated not only highlighted their growing confidence in geography but also developed transferable skills that will serve them well beyond their A Levels.

Looking Ahead

The benefits of these three areas of student growth only strengthen our commitment to enhancing fieldwork provision in the year ahead. As a department, we will continue to build our own expertise with the support of the Geographical Association and the Royal Geographical Society. Through my involvement in the Geographical Association Fieldwork and Outdoor Learning Special Interest Group, we remain at the forefront of best practice in geographical education.

Do look out for student reflections on their fieldwork experiences, which will be shared on our Instagram page and in the termly school magazine.