Children in need of...

A key idea in Geography is social inequality.
Danny Dorling of Sheffield University has written extensively on this theme, and his books are worth seeking out. He is also very generous with the data and images that go into his books.

We recently had the annual Children in Need event. Despite the general squeeze on household incomes which is affecting everyone except those who glibly say that we are "all in it together" the event raised a record £26 million.

This event raises money for projects helping children both at home and abroad. A recent tweet from Hannah Vaughan asked me my thoughts on teaching poverty to children who are potentially living in poverty.

In the average school (if there is such a thing...) there are likely to be many students whose family is beginning to see the effects of the current austerity measures through a combination of things: redundancy of a family member, rising costs of food and fuel or the impacts of previous purchases on credit cards or through other means.

Geography is a subject where these themes should be explored. One element of this discussion could be the way that poverty is defined and the variation in that definition from place to place. The poverty experienced by many people in the UK is shocking, but not in the context of the poverty facing hundreds of millions in other parts of the world.

The Global Rich List website is a useful first port of call. Put in a value which matches the pocket money of young people and see where they come on the list. A teacher starting out on the first point of the professional scale will be earning £ 21, 000, so where would that place them on the list ?


This NY Times article on the wealth gap was another recent addition via my PLN.

Poverty is relative....

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