Geographia AGTA's newsletter with the latest news and information Read the latest Geographia here         Back issues of Geographia January 2012 July 2011 December 2010 June 2010 December 2009 July 2009 December 2008 July 2008 December 2007 July 2007 November 2006 Chair of Director’s Annual Report 2011 Report 2010 Report 2009 Report Australian Curriculum: Geography The draft geography F-12 Australian Curriculum: Geography went live on-line for consultation in October 2011 and is available for feedback until 28 February 2012. If you want to have a look at the draft scope and sequence for geography just go to http://consultation.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ and log-in. The draft includes the Rationale, Aims, Concept definitions, General Capabilities and Cross Curriculum priorities for geography, F-12 content descriptions, elaborations, skills and inquiry sequences and achievement standards. Well done to all involved - quite an achievement to finally have a draft curriculum public and ready for feedback.  ACARA looks forward to being overwhelmed in commentary from geography teachers around Australia. Don’t hesitate to make your points heard. Institute of Australian Geographers 2012 Conference The IAG’s 2012 Conference is being held at Macquarie University, Sydney, on 2–4 July. This is a great opportunity for Geography Teachers to engage with Australia’s leading academic geographers. The Conference program is designed to encouraging wide participation from secondary geography teachers. It will feature a number of education-focused sessions. Registration: Early-bird registration will close April 27, and full conference registration will close June 25. Conference flyer :: Conference website Spatial education resources A collection of free GIS classroom activity templates for use with ArcGIS or other GIS software can be accessed here. Professional standards for accomplished teaching school geography AGTA was a partner, along with Melbourne University, the GTAV and VIT, in a project to develop professional standards for teaching school geography. The professional standards for accomplished teaching school geography and further material is available at www.geogstandards.edu.au. Validation of National Professional Standards for Teachers The National Professional Standards for Teachers are designed to describe a continuum of capabilities and expectations appropriate to the Australian teaching profession at four levels; graduate, proficient, highly accomplished and lead teacher. The Standards will form the basis for accreditation of pre-service teacher education courses and teacher registration. The Standards have been through a comprehensive consultation phase involving a series of stakeholder forums and extensive public comment. AGTA is currently involved in the preparation of illustrations of practice to support these standards. Destination Spatial Teachers are advised that Destination Spatial is a newly created education sub-committee which includes representatives from the spatial industries, tertiary institutions and subject associations, including the GTAV and Careers Teachers association. Careers in the spatial industry are underpinned by Geography and offer a number of opportunities in Australia and overseas with excellent wages and future prospects. >> Further details National Geographic Channel Australian Geography Competition and International Geography Olympiad Further details are available here. National Regional Profiles: The One Stop Shop for data about a geographic area National Regional Profiles (NRP) available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics website provide ‘snapshots’ for over 2,000 regions across Australia. The profiles contain a range of data from both the ABS and other sources, for geographic areas such as Local Government Areas, Statistical Local Areas up to States and Territories. The data are presented for a number of years (2004-2008) where it is available, and therefore provides the opportunity to compare regions over time. The National Regional Profiles are found on the left hand navigation bar of the home page of the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au). Asia Education Foundation study tours The Asia Education Foundation's Study Tour itineraries are available on the AEF portal – http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/studytours Enhance your understanding of contemporary Asia, its cultures, history, traditions and education through our in-country professional learning programs. For further information, please contact Rene Landsman on 03 8344 4800. The 2007 Spatial Industry report This is a substantial resource to argue for spatial technology in schools. The Spatial Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) of the Spatial Science Institute has recently (May 2007) released a report on the Spatial Information Industry in Australia. The report is a comprehensive study of the careers associated with the spatial industry (read geography!) and the shortages in supply for spatial technologists. The report is a great resource to use with students, teachers, school administrators and parents about the vocational links of geography and the need for the introduction of spatial technology in schools. The report can be downloaded below in two forms: as the full report and as a snapshot of the findings. The full 'Spatial industry in Australia' report (38 pages) The report snapshot (6 pages)