Alan Parkinson
I am the Secondary Curriculum Development Leader for the Geographical Association, and serve on the GA’s Secondary Committee.
Prior to that I spent over 20 years as a Geography teacher in Derbyshire and Norfolk, the last five as Head of Geography at King Edward VII School, King’s Lynn.
I am a Chartered Geographer and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. In 2008, I was awarded the Ordnance Survey award for “excellence in geography teaching in secondary education”.
I gained a BSc.(Hons) Geography degree in 1985 from Huddersfield Polytechnic before completing a PGCE at Hull University.
My new job involves me with all aspects of the Action Plan for Geography, and recent projects I have been involved with include setting up new virtual professional networks, exploring Young People’s Geographies and uses of Google Earth in the classroom, including Street View. I am also working with organisations as diverse as the BBC, Oxfam, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Goldsmiths College and the Royal Geographical Society. I write the Webwatch feature for GA Magazine.
In 2001, I created the Geography Pages website, which remains one of the most popular geography sites in the UK (and beyond). I also run a series of weblogs, including Living Geography , Cultcha and Geography and all that Jazz which have a global readership running into the thousands. In Autumn 2009, my textbook on teaching about Landscapes will be published.
I have led CPD and workshop sessions at regional, national and international (well, Scotland) conferences for over 5 years, and had articles published in a range of journals.
In my spare time, I take photographs and enjoy spending time on the Norfolk coast with my family, reading travel literature and drinking fine single malt whisky.
