Thinking Geographically

Alaric Maude is a retired associate professor of Geography at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia. He has conducted research in Tonga, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, was the lead writer for the Australian Geography curriculum and has published articles for geography educators on powerful knowledge, sustainability and geography’s ‘big ideas’.

"Thinking Geographically – A Guide to the Core Concepts for Teachers provides exactly what the title suggests. It is a lucid, authoritative, meticulously researched, systematic guide to ‘Geographical Thinking’ and its essential conceptual components. Its author, Alaric Maude, should be congratulated for providing Geography teachers with a vital, handy, resource that is a valuable contribution to geographical education. Thinking Geographically is highly recommended for your geographical library."An excerpt from a review by Stephen Legg, Interaction Journal, Vol 52, No.1, March 2024"This book has been an excellent resource when thinking more deeply about the concepts within our curriculum; Maude breaks down each concept, … [and] also provides a summary and a ‘how could you use this chapter in teaching?’ box, which has been particularly useful to refer to.Our A level students often struggle to use the concepts of space and time throughout their essays. Alongside other strategies, [the chapters on space, and scale and time] were used to break down these two concepts into smaller chunks for the students, and to give them some ideas of how they can be applied. Students found this useful; essays are beginning to improve and concepts are woven throughout as a result."Excerpts from a review by Laura Bytheway, Head of Geography at Ormiston SWB Academy, UK, in Teaching Geography, Vol 49, No 3, Autumn 2024."Thinking Geographically is a text, which exceptionally delivers to the intended audience of secondary school teachers, while also providing a worthwhile resource for students themselves. Through describing key theories, concepts, and methods of approaching research in detail, the text also explores how we, as geographers, organise and analyse research data. Such inclusions position Thinking Geographically as a rounded, comprehensive introductory text.Secondary school students, undergraduate tertiary students, and even postgraduate students less familiar with geography-specific concepts and language could all view the book as a decidedly useful resource."- Excerpts from a review by Connor Goddard, Associate Lecturer in Geography, Curtin University, Australia, in Geographical Research, online 26 June 2025.

• Introduction 1. What can we know and how can we know it? 2. Thinking geographically 3. Thinking geographically: Interconnection 4. Thinking geographically: Place 5. Thinking geographically: Space 6. Thinking geographically: Environment 7. The analytical concepts: Scale and time 8. The evaluative concepts: Sustainability and human wellbeing 9. Teaching for conceptual understanding 10. Land cover: have we cleared too much of the Earth’s vegetation? 11. Unequal places: should governments try to reduce regional inequalities? 12. Conclusion