Geography Teacher: Job Profile and Role

Geography is an important school subject since it helps children to understand the world they live in. It is about knowing how countries evolved and which landscapes, resources, and other geographical factors shape them. Maybe you have always been fascinated by this subject and are passionate about it. If you also love working with children, the job of a geography teacher could be the perfect fit for you.

In this blog, you will find out what it takes to become a geography teacher in the UK and which skills will benefit you the most. You will also find out where you can apply for a geography teaching job, which hours you will work, and what annual salaries you can expect. We will also explore three typical tasks you will perform daily. To help you improve in this profession, we also give you three tips for thriving as a geography teacher.

Short Summary

• As a geography teacher, you are responsible for planning interesting geography lessons that adhere to the National Curricula. These lessons also need to meet your students’ education levels and the term’s objectives.
• As a geography teacher, you may be in charge of field trips where you teach your students a hands-on approach to geography. Keep in mind that you need to make sure that your students are safe at all times.
• As a geography teacher, you will set and mark assignments to monitor your students’ progress. These assignments then help you to give feedback and support to both your pupils and their parents.

Job description

It is your job as a geography teacher to plan and deliver geography lessons that adhere to your school’s curriculum. Moreover, your geography lessons should be both approachable and engaging for your students. Ideally, your teaching also encourages your students to think critically and develop the self-esteem needed to question you and the knowledge you impart. It is also your job as a geography teacher to monitor your pupils’ progress by setting and marking assignments and exams. Based on these grades, you can then give supportive feedback to your students and their parents, thus ensuring that your charges meet the term’s objectives and improve their education levels.

Responsibilities

• Student Support
• Classroom Order
• Curriculum Delivery
• Administrative Work
• Parent Engagement
• Inspirational Teaching
• Geography Instruction
• Setting/Marking Assignments
• Preparing Teaching Materials
• Maximising Academic Progress

Different types of Geography Teachers

• Environmental Geography Teacher
• Geopolitical Geography Educator
• Geospatial Technology Teacher
• Physical Geography Teach
• School Geography Teacher

Salary

As a UK-based geography teacher with full-time employment, you can currently expect an annual salary that lies between ￡31,000 and ￡42,000. Note that ￡31,000 is likely to be your starting salary, whereas you can get paid ￡42,000 after having worked as a geography teacher for a certain amount of years. Apart from your work experience, your annual salary generally is affected by the employing teaching institution and its location.

Working hours

As a school-based geography teacher, you work up to 37 hours per week which take place during a school’s operating hours from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We recommend that you check the exact working hours in the respective job posts since they may vary slightly. Note that your school working hours as a geography teacher are increased by lesson preparation and marking, for example. This means that you will do some of your work in the evenings and at the weekends.

Employers

As a geography teacher in the UK, you can start looking for a job at different teaching institutions. Naturally, these include primary and secondary schools as well as colleges where you can also teach geography. You can also find employment at other teaching facilities, for example, at universities, where you both lecture and do geographical research. Depending on your specialisation in this field, you can also look into employment in the corporate or even the political sector, for example, if you want to work as a geopolitical geography educator.

Qualifications

Among the qualifications you need to become a geography teacher are GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in Maths, Science, and English, or the equivalent A-Levels that enable you to enter different educational approaches, such as a college or university course or a teaching-related degree apprenticeship.

Teaching geography at a state school in the United Kingdom also requires that you do your SCITT (school-centred initial teacher training), earn your QTS (qualified teacher status), and think about a PGCE (postgraduate certificate in education).

Teaching Geography in Scotland

Teaching geography at the secondary level in Scotland differs when it comes to the required qualifications. Here, you need to complete a degree in geography (SCQF Level 9-10) and a postgraduate Professional Graduate Diploma (SCQF Level 11) in Education (PGDE). Alternatively, you can look into completing a degree in Professional Education (Secondary) and Environmental Geography (SCQF Level 10) at various Scottish universities.

Skills

Before we start looking at three skills you should have as a geography teacher, we have another important tip for you. Please always check the respective job ads for the skills your potential employers require of you. Even though there are certain skills you should have, your employers may still prefer other competencies than the ones listed by us. 

For now, we will look at skills you as a geography teacher should have or develop if you want to perform brilliantly in your teaching post.

Creativity

As you may know, your geography lessons will have to adhere to a curriculum, meaning that this curriculum dictates the content of your lessons. Nevertheless, you should always strive to be as creative as possible in your approach to teaching. A set curriculum does not mean that you should not implement creative and engaging teaching methods to make your lessons more fun, approachable, and understandable to your students.

Adaptability

You probably remember your time at school as a pupil. Even though the teacher may have planned a lesson down to the tiniest detail, things could still go a bit pear-shaped. This will likely happen to you as well and it is no reason to have a meltdown or question your teaching ability. If you can quickly adapt to unforeseen teaching hiccups, you will sail through them smoothly. Your adaptability can also work as inspiration for your pupils since they see that quick reactions and solutions can be found for pretty much every situation in and outside the classroom.

Communication

Strong communication skills are the most important skills you need to be a good geography teacher. It is vitally important that you know how to teach even the most complex lessons easily and understandably. Your communication skills are not only needed when teaching your students. They are also important in dealing with your colleagues, your superiors, and the pupils’ parents.

Career Path

As with all teaching careers, your career as a geography teacher starts after you have completed your education. Maybe you have already worked as an assistant teacher while doing your degree and gained your first work experience. Regardless of that, you need to do your SCITT, earn your QTS, and apply for your first teaching post. You can look into progressing to more responsible and senior roles after several years of working as a geography teacher. If you teach at a school, your career can advance to the head of the department or the head of the school.

Educational Background

Becoming a geography teacher in the UK is still mainly approached by completing an undergraduate degree in geography or geography education. Maybe this is the right path for you as well and you decide to earn a Bachelor’s degree in this field. In this case, you should look into a Bachelor of Education (BEd) since this already sets you up for your QTS. If you would rather approach your teaching career by doing an apprenticeship, you can look into doing a Teacher Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship.

Teacher Training

To work as a geography teacher in the UK, you need to gain some work experience. You usually gain this by doing your SCITT (school-centred initial teacher training) after you have completed your educational degree. This training takes about 12 months after which you can earn your QTS and/or your PGCE. You also have the option of working as a teaching assistant while doing your degree. Through this entry-level position, you can gain your first practical teaching experience which will benefit you when you apply for your first “proper” teaching post.

This approach can also work for you if you are a “career jumper” and want to get into teaching from your current job. Here, it can help if you have already worked in a geography-related field, even though it usually is not mandatory.

Continuous Learning

You must invest time into your professional development. As a geography teacher, you should look into professional development workshops in which you stay updated on teaching methods, curriculum changes, and geographic research. Besides, there are various online platforms where you can take part in teaching-related courses, such as FutureLearn, Coursera, and Udemy. You can also benefit from doing a postgraduate geography degree, like a Master’s degree in Geography or Geopolitics.

A Day in the Life of a Geography Teacher

As a geography teacher, you need to be prepared for early mornings and sometimes, also late evenings. Early starts and late finishes bookend your day as a geography teacher. What happens in between these times is what we will take a look at in this section. 

Check your Teaching Schedule

After you have arrived at your school, you should once again check your day’s teaching schedule. This way, you make sure that you know which classes you are teaching and which materials and course books you need to set up. Most of your day as a geography teacher will then be dedicated to delivering exciting geography lessons that are tailor-made to your students’ levels of education.

Plan a Field Trip

As you will see, doing a field trip is one of our tips for thriving as a geography teacher. It is also a part of a teaching day, although it will not occur daily. Planning a field trip during some of your lessons is an exciting change for both you and your students. You can decide together on where to go, depending on your current lesson content. Planning a field trip also allows you to monitor your students’ progress. Through their ideas and input on said field trip, you can find out to what extent they have grasped your teaching and the lessons’ content.

Attend Teacher/Parent Meetings

Attendance of teacher/parent meetings will be an important part of your teaching job. Some schools may block whole days for these meetings where parents can schedule appointments with you as their children’s geography teacher. These meetings are designed to discuss the pupils’ progress and to find out which expectations the parents may have. Teacher/parent meetings can also take place in the evenings, which you should also keep in mind if you want to work as a geography teacher since it will affect your after-work “downtime”.

Tips for Thriving as a Geography Teacher

Certificates, further qualifications, and a postgraduate degree are all options that help you thrive as a geography teacher. Besides these hard skills, various other ways help you to improve and thrive in your chosen teaching career. In this section, you will get three more tips for thriving as a geography teacher:

• Field trips/practical experience
• Mentorship/coaching
• Reflective practice

Field Trips/Practical Experience

Geography can be a very hands-on subject that is not necessarily restricted to a classroom. By taking part in field trips, you can discover the geography and geographical aspects “live”, so to speak. Understanding a landscape or various resources will not only broaden your geographical horizon. It will also help you to teach more effectively and engagingly. Ultimately, this tip will help you thrive as a geography teacher.

Mentorship/Coaching

Mentorship and coaching will especially help you when you have just started as a geography teacher. Even if you have already gained your first teaching experience, a mentor or coach can still help you enormously. He or she can guide you through the vagaries of teaching and give you valuable tips on improving your teaching techniques and your communication with your students. A mentor or coach can also help you to become more resilient which is an important trait to have mastered when you work in teaching.

Reflective Practice

As a geography teacher, you are tasked with giving feedback to your students. However, they are by far not the only ones at the receiving end of your feedback. You should benefit from it as well, albeit in a slightly different manner. As a geography teacher, you should take time to reflect on your teaching methods, practices, and lesson approaches. By taking a close look, you will see where things are going well and where there is room for improvement. You should also not shy away from asking your colleagues and the head of the school for an assessment of your work. Their feedback will also help you to improve on both a personal and a professional level.

Frequently Asked Questions