Geography
- Senior Advisor for Geography - Prof Mick Healey
- Relevant Professional Bodies, Subject Associations and Networks
- Events and Publications
Senior Advisor for Geography - Professor Mick Healey
Photo Source: Vikky Wilkes/The Canberra Times
email : mhealey@glos.ac.uk
tel: 01242 714678
About Mick
Mick is an economic geographer, with a particular interest in local economic development. In recent years he has developed an interest in the learning and teaching of geography in higher education and this is now his main research area. In the last 10 years he has written or edited over 100 educational papers, chapters and guides.
Mick is Director of the Centre for Active Learning in Geography, Environment and Related Disciplines. He is Director of the Geography Discipline Network (GDN) and has directed projects on teaching, learning and assessment; key skills; providing learning support for disabled students; active learning; linking research and teaching and undergraduate research and inquiry. Mick is co-Director of the International Network for Learning and Teaching Geography in Higher Education (INLT).
In 2000 he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship. He was awarded the Journal of Geography in Higher Education Biennial Award for Promoting Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2003 and 2007. In 2004 the Council of the Royal Geographical Society conferred on him the Taylor and Francis Award for ‘contributions to the promotion of learning and teaching in higher education’. In 2007 he was made a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
An increasing amount of Mick's time is spent advising higher education organisations, governments and projects and giving seminars and workshops in universities and at conferences in the UK, mainland Europe, North America and Australasia. Since 1995 he has given over 250 educational presentations.
Further information is available on Mick's Web page.
Activities (with support from the Centre for Active Learning)
- Keeping in contact with the geography community through involvement in activities of the Subject Centre, the Geography Discipline Network (GDN), the International Network for Learning and Teaching Geography in Higher Education (INLT), the activities of geography related Centres for Excellence and Teaching, and membership of the JGHE Editorial Board and RGS-IBG Higher Education Research Group.
- Answering telephone and email enquiries about geography in HE
- Keeping in contact with the broader education community through the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, the national Teaching and Research Group, and activities associated with the National Teaching Fellowship and the Academy.
- Promoting collation of good practice examples from the UK and overseas to contribute to Resource Database
- Helping to raise the profile of the GEES Subject Centre through participation and presentation at geography and educational events
For more information and resources on learning and teaching in geography see the Geography Discipline Network web-site.
Relevant Professional Bodies, Subject Associations and Networks in Geography
"The GA is a subject association with a mission to further the teaching of geography and to communicate the value of learning geography for all. We have around 7,000 memberships including teachers in primary and secondary schools and further education, academic geographers, universities and teacher educators and trainers. Thus, our Association crosses academic divides and can claim to be a specialist community of practice."
Geography Discipline Network (GDN)
"The GDN was initially funded by the Employment Department / DfEE under its EHE Discipline Networks programme. The GDN was established at Nene College (now University College Northampton) and ran for two successive years from 1994/5. The base for the GDN moved to the Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education (now the University of Gloucestershire) in September 1996 to start a 33 month project to look at 'Dissemination of Good Teaching, Learning and Assessment Practices in Geography'. This project was funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England's (HEFCE) 'Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning' initiative. Since then the GDN has undertaken several other projects including ones on Key Skills in Geography, Supporting Disabled Students on Fieldwork and Developing an Inclusive Curriculum."
HERODOT Network for Geography in Higher Education
"The HERODOT Network is a partnership of more than 150 [European] organisations interested in improving the quality of learning and teacher Geography and in promoting the significance of Geography as a discipline. HERODOT organises meetings, training, workshops, conferences and other events. HERODOT membership is free. HERODOT provides support for its members to meet and collaboratively work with other."
International Network for Learning and Teaching Geography in Higher Education (INLT)
"Goal: To improve the quality and status of learning and teaching of geography in higher education internationally.
Purposes: To promote innovative, creative, and collaborative research as well as critical reflection on learning and teaching of geography. To facilitate the exchange of materials, ideas, and experiences about learning and teaching of geography and to stimulate international dialog. To create an inclusive international community aimed at raising the profile and status of learning and teaching of geography."
The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG)
"We are a world leading learned society and professional body that has been advancing geographical science and supporting its practitioners since 1830. We are the largest and most active of the scholarly geographical societies in the world. We are an independent organisation with a strong reputation for quality and dynamism. The Society is based in central London where it welcomes 150,000 people a year to events and activities. It reaches out to hundreds of thousands more through this website. As a registered charity, most of the Society’s activities are accessible to all. Our members support our work and receive further benefits. The membership ranges from professional geographers, researchers and teachers, to expeditioners and enthusiasts; some 14,000 people in more than 100 countries."
The Higher Education Research Group (HERG) provides the main forum for the discussion of issues concerning higher education and geography within the RGS-IBG. HERG provides a full programme of events at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference, as well as occasional one day workshops and seminars throughout the year.
Geography Learning & Teaching Events and Publications
Events
The International Network for Learning and Teaching Geography in Higher Education (INLT) convenes an international meeting usually adjunct to a major geography conference every one to two years.
Education session are regularly included within the following conferences:
- Association of American Geographers
- The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG)
Publications
Journal of Geography in Higher Education
"The Journal of Geography in Higher Education (JGHE) was founded upon the conviction that the development of learning and teaching was vitally important to Higher Education. It is committed to promote, enhance and share geography learning and teaching in all institutions of higher education throughout the world, and provides a forum for geographers and others, regardless of the specialisms, to discuss common educational interests, to present the results of educational research, and to advocate new ideas. All submitted articles are peer reviewed."
"Planet is the bi-annual publication of the GEES Subject Centre. Its aims are to Identify and disseminate good practice in learning and teaching across the three disciplines of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences and present examples and case studies in a "magazine" format; Provide a forum for the discussion of ideas about learning and teaching in the three discipline communities; and Provide information for readers on Subject Centre activities and on related resources, conferences and educational developments."