Why Does Geography Matter? The Politics of the Geography Curriculum

We often are told that ‘Geography matters’. This paper - which comes from the British school of Geography Education, argues for a political theory of the curriculum ‘political theory of the curriculum’ and explores how this might be understood in three national traditions – the UK, New Zealand, and the United States. These cases indicate that the representation of national space in geography teaching is always open to contestation, and that geography teachers are involved in acts of cultural critique. The concluding part of the paper identifies some common features and speculates on the implications for teacher development in geography.