This paper questions how competent physical and human geographers are at handling religion when they encounter it in passing. It specifically asks whether religious illiteracy is a problem in geographical education in the UK. It suggests that, despite significant advances in geographical scholarship on religion this century, this progress is yet to translate routinely into textbooks. These tend to repeat outdated claims about a supposed conflict between science and religion, and hinder the creation of inclusive and diverse classrooms by implying that students who belong to faith communities cannot be serious geographers. Using the example of water management in the Columbia River catchment/watershed and Indigenous communities and religious beliefs, the paper goes on to show why this matters in geographical education.
Like many university subjects, geography degrees have quantitative elements that build on students' prior mathematical competence. Although much work has been done to ensure that relevant mathematical skills are embedded in the curriculum for A-level geography, less attention has been given to the role played by other A-level subjects. Using national higher education data for undergraduate students enrolled on geography degrees in England and Wales in the academic year 2021/22, alongside a framework of general mathematical competences, this paper argues that students' other A-level subjects provide important opportunities for mathematical development, particularly for students without A-level geography and for mathematical competences not included in the A-level geography curriculum. There are therefore opportunities for greater recognition of the breadth of geography undergraduates' prior mathematical experience, as well as for more deliberate curriculum connections at A-level and beyond.
The growing literature on methodology for qualitative geography research has tended to focus on research methods and techniques, with limited attention paid to the challenges inherent in the data collection process. Yet methodological reflections on the data collection process are crucial to understanding how qualitative geography research is conducted. This paper discusses the data collection process for a qualitative geography case study on the migration experiences of Nigerian Commonwealth Scholars (NCS), conducted in Nigeria in 2020. Focusing on a range of methodological approaches to participant recruitment, research interactions and interview method implementation, the analysis unpacks both the methodological challenges that impact the data collection process and the mitigations to address these challenges. Viewed within the wider context of methodological approaches, rather than techniques, the paper offers a broader analytical framework that reveals the interplay of flexibility and adaptability in dealing with the messiness and reality of conducting qualitative geography research. Crucially, this paper offers valuable insights that will help geography educators, researchers and students learning about qualitative geography research in action reflect on method implementation and adaptation and innovate new methodological approaches to data collection.
