Our plan
well it wasn't my idea, but the overly humble Mike Fox, I was approached as a new teacher with an opportunity to have Dr Fox, Head of Geography and Environmental Studies at Mount Allison University, co-teach a Canadian Geography (Canadian Geography 120) course with me.
What we did
The students would get the university experience, the course taught at the university level (accommodated where and when needed), students would benefit from the experience, not having to leave the school to get the university experience. Dr Fox plied a national publisher for new textbooks (post secondary) and atlases. In some cases students from Mt Allison interested in education, geographic education particularly have come to the school to aid in tutorial and complete labs with the students. In the end those students achieving a grade of 75% or higher are written a letter in which Dr Fox explains to the registrar of the post secondary institution they attend that they have met the requirements for "Intro to Human Geography 1201". the students can then apply for credit, while still in high school!
Our results
There was NO geography being taught at my school, it was literally a joke, as a geographer I found this quite disturbing!, Our first class only had 4 students, the next we had 22, then 28, I've had full course loads the next two courses. Leading up to this my physical geography course has gone from 1 session per year to minimum 2 sessions per year. Geography has become real and relevant for our learners at TRHS. So far we have over 30 students in the past 4 years that have met the criteria, all have gone to post secondary opportunities, while many others have had the university experience. For me the ultimate is when students come back to the school and tell me how much our course has prepared them for university and college.
Angela Hernandez
This comment has been flagged for review.