By Mark Enser
Preparing pupils for a changing world
Young people today are growing up in a world shaped by rapid change. Climate change, migration, urbanisation, artificial intelligence, energy transitions and geopolitical instability are no longer distant possibilities. They are realities already reshaping the places where people live and the decisions societies make.
This creates an important challenge for schools. How do we prepare pupils for a future that is uncertain and constantly changing?
Few subjects are better placed to respond to this challenge than geography.
Geography has always been about helping pupils understand the relationship between people, places and environments. Increasingly, though, it also needs to help pupils think forward. Not in the sense of predicting the future, but in helping them understand the processes shaping the world and how different choices might lead to different outcomes.
A future-facing curriculum still depends on knowledge
A future-facing geography curriculum is not about replacing knowledge with speculation. In fact, the opposite is true. Pupils can only think meaningfully about the future when they have secure geographical knowledge to build from.
If pupils are exploring how coastal communities might respond to rising sea levels, they first need to understand coastal processes and why some places are more vulnerable than others. If they are considering the future of migration, they need knowledge of global development, conflict, economics and population change.
Future thinking in geography works best when it is rooted in strong disciplinary understanding.
This means one of the most important things teachers can do is ensure pupils build secure foundational knowledge across KS3. A well-planned curriculum should help pupils develop understanding of systems, processes and patterns over time, rather than simply encountering disconnected topics.
Geography helps pupils understand complexity
This is where geography becomes particularly powerful. The subject constantly asks pupils to think across scales and consider how physical and human processes interact.
A pupil learning about flooding is not just learning about rivers or rainfall. They are exploring how land use, urban development, climate and decision-making combine to shape outcomes for people and places.
Geography also gives pupils opportunities to work with uncertainty. Many school subjects understandably focus on clear answers and certainty. Geography often does something different. It asks pupils to weigh evidence, evaluate different perspectives and consider trade-offs.
Questions such as these do not have simple answers.
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How should cities adapt to extreme heat?
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Should people continue living in places at risk from coastal erosion?
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Can economic development and environmental protection both be achieved?
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How might climate change alter patterns of migration?
They require pupils to apply knowledge, interpret evidence and recognise complexity.
This kind of thinking matters because the future itself is uncertain. Pupils need to become comfortable analysing competing viewpoints and making informed judgements rather than simply memorising information.
Using enquiry to look forward
One way teachers can support this is through carefully designed enquiry questions. A future-facing curriculum should regularly encourage pupils to think not just about what the world is like now, but how it may change.
For example, a unit on urbanisation might move beyond describing megacities to asking:
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How could cities become more sustainable in the future?
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Who benefits from urban redevelopment projects?
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What challenges will growing cities face over the next fifty years?
Similarly, climate change lessons can move beyond causes and impacts to explore adaptation, resilience and decision-making. This helps pupils see geography not as a collection of facts about the world, but as a subject that helps explain change and possibility.
The role of fieldwork and local geography
Fieldwork also has an important role to play. When pupils investigate local places, they begin to see geography as something living and dynamic rather than fixed.
A study of a local high street can become an exploration of changing economies and land use. A river investigation can lead to discussions about flood management and future environmental risk.
Fieldwork helps pupils recognise that places are always evolving.
How Discover Geography can support teachers
Resources can support this kind of curriculum thinking too. One of the strengths of Discover Geography is its focus on contemporary issues, geographical enquiry and helping pupils make connections between topics.
The series encourages pupils to think geographically about real-world challenges rather than simply learning isolated content. By combining strong foundational knowledge with rich examples and enquiry, it supports teachers in building a curriculum that feels relevant and forward-looking.
Why this matters
Ultimately, geography matters because it helps pupils make sense of a changing world. At its best, the subject develops more than knowledge alone. It develops curiosity, judgement and the ability to think critically about the future.
That may be more important now than ever before.
Mark Enser is the series editor of Collins Discover Geography. He was Ofsted’s national lead for geography and an HMI. Before that, he was a head of geography.