The Future of Scottish GeographyAuthor(s): George GordonSource: Area, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Jun., 1990), pp. 186-187Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20002831 .

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186 IBG Annual Conference

occasion. Her Royal Highness afterwards took the opportunity to visit the main conference exhibitions and this was followed by a lunch with Council and distinguished guests.

It was a memorable event, not only for those who had the honour of meeting The Princess Royal and the pleasure of hearing her speech, but also for the many conference participants who found themselves on the top floor of the Boyd-Orr Building when the lifts were switched off prior to her arrival.

The future of Scottish geography

Appropriately, the opening symposium focused upon the state of geography in three sectors of Scottish education; the universities, the centrally-funded colleges and the secondary schools. Nick Williams (Aberdeen) reported that the number of full-time teaching staff in geography departments in Scottish Universities had fallen by almost twenty per cent between 1978/9 and 1988/9, whilst the numbers of students graduating with an honours degree in geography had remained largely static. Proportionately the greatest reduction in staffing had occurred in

Dundee, Strathclyde and Aberdeen. In addition to the inevitable consequential deterioration of staff:student ratios, there had also been some reduction in the range of research specialisms. Encouraging features were the development of new courses and areas of research, such as remote sensing and GIS, and the recent increases in student enrolments, both undergraduate and postgraduate. With environmental matters attracting greater public and political attention geography departments had an opportunity to secure additional research support and student places. The latter, however, might require greater attention being paid to the possibilities offered by moves to widen access to universities. Both opportunities would involve intense competition from other disciplines, in which geography would only succeed if the best use was made of resources and strengths. Williams expressed confidence in that outcome if university

managements responded to student demand and societal need. Alison McCleery (Napier Polytechnic) also referred to these opportunities in a paper outlining

the position in the centrally-funded sector (polytechnics, technological colleges, and other specialised colleges of art, education and music and drama). If a strict definition of what con stitutes geographical teaching was adopted few courses in the centrally-funded sector would qualify for inclusion, with the principal exceptions being Glasgow College and the Colleges of Education. In the latter there had been a marked reduction in staff teaching geography in direct response to the fall in numbers of pupils in secondary schools and the consequent decrease in the demand for new teachers of geography. Thus, until geography is faced with increased demand, expansion is out of the question. However, McCleery reported that a considerable, and probably increasing, amount of geography is taught in the centrally funded colleges as classes within a varied range of courses e.g. social science, transportation engineering, planning, agriculture, rural resources. She emphasised the opportunities which exist if geographers are willing to grasp them, although it might involve a certain amount of academic adaptability, even invisibility, and certainly entails a considerable degree of isolation from the heartlands of the discipline.

The paper by George Gordon (Strathclyde) reviewed the development of geography in the secondary school curriculum from its humble origins in 1888 as the third sections of the Lower and Higher Grade examinations in English to the current ranking as fifth largest presenting subject at Higher Grade. The paper mentioned various milestones along the road to the present including the introduction of Sixth Year Studies and of the Alternative syllabuses at Ordinary and Higher Grade. Another milestone was the development of a programme of geographical work for the first two years of secondary school (S1 and S2) built around thirteen units, backed by excellent supporting resources. The pace of change in recent years had been considerable, almost breathtaking. Ordinary Grade had been replaced by Standard Grade which operates at three levels, Credit, General and Foundation. The latter has added greatly to the proportion of

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IBG Annual Conference 187

pupils being presented for a national certificate. Revisions are being made to the syllabuses and structure of Higher Grade and the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies. Changes are also affecting the first two years of secondary schooling with pressure being applied to strengthen the links between social subjects and to reduce specific subject content.

The system of secondary education in Scotland has great strengths. Pupils follow a broad curriculum, shaped by a national committee and examined by a national examination board. However, some of the changes currently under consideration, such as a two year Higher Grade syllabus, raise major questions about the future distinctiveness of Scottish education, both in secondary schools and in institutions of higher education. For the schools the need must be to serve the best interests of pupils and the needs of society. Will a two year Higher Grade syllabus

meet both requirements? For higher education the implications are also considerable. The average age of Scottish students entering Scottish institutions of higher education directly from school is lower than that in England and Wales. Thereafter many of them pursue a four year course of study for an honours degree. Raising the age of entry would inevitably call into question the length of Scottish degrees.

George Gordon University of Strathclyde

Urban renewal and regional development

The organisation of this plenary session continued the highly successful initiative at recent conferences-of taking a theme across a wide range of the interests of the discipline with almost no parallel sessions. This occasion was particularly useful in bringing to a large group of

members expositions, by key leaders, of the Strathclyde and Scottish experiences of economic regeneration.

The session began with Sir David Nickson, Chairman of the Scottish Development Agency (SDA), outlining the crucial role that his agency has played as a catalyst and enabler of local partnerships to fill gaps in the market. He looked forward to combining this role with the

merger that will take place of many SDA functions with those of the Training Agency to develop Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) in Scotland. Robert Calderwood, Chief Executive of Strathclyde Regional Council, continued the emphasis on the partnership theme. He argued that the role for his local authority in economic regeneration was to develop a strategic view over the 19 districts in the region, and to encourage opportunities for private sector expenditure through husbandry of existing resources as well as marshalling of additional resources in conjunction with the SDA and EC funds. Sir James Mellon, the Chief Executive of Scottish Homes, introduced the crucial role of the housing market in economic regeneration. He argued that a more deficient system than the present was scarcely possible to conceive: it trapped the least able, it encouraged the reproduction and concentration of dependency, and it prevented mobility of labour. He hoped that through Scottish Homes it would be possible to stimulate more diverse tenures, mixed land uses in estates and redesign of their structure. These themes were all continued by Ken Collins (MEP for Strathclyde East). He argued for the need to be aware of the necessity to compete in unified markets in Europe in 1992 and more broadly later. In this endeavour EC funding and support would be crucial but localities also had to make more efforts independently to shape their strategies-to develop a vision of their areas and promote it, as Glasgow had done.

The session was most ably chaired by Professor Duncan MacLennan, Director of the Housing Research Centre at Glasgow University. Using the basis of his own considerable practice oriented research he argued that too much traditional academic work in the economic policy field had been ' top down '; now a greater awareness was present of the needs of localities and the role of organisational relations at city and neighbourhood level to make their areas more attractive to economic growth. The session was concluded by two discussants who commented on the papers.

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