Making GIS Part of the Furniture

Rethinking How We Use Geospatial Tools in Geography

If you only read the headlines about GIS in schools, you could be forgiven for thinking it is all specialist software, crashing laptops and impossible log-ins. Yet the curriculum expectations are much simpler. GIS is already part of the National Curriculum. It is already present in many classrooms. The challenge is not to turn every pupil into a technician but to make geospatial thinking a more everyday part of how we do geography.

This article looks at what the National Curriculum, research and inspection findings reveal about GIS, and how that can translate into realistic and powerful classroom practice.

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What the curriculum and inspection evidence really say about GIS

The National Curriculum makes GIS a core geographical skill rather than an optional add-on. Pupils should use GIS “to view, analyse and interpret places and data,” and this sits alongside other forms of mapping, visualisation and data use.

In Getting Our Bearings, I highlighted that elements of the National Curriculum most likely to be missed in practice were fieldwork and GIS. A key concern was that procedural and disciplinary knowledge, including GIS, was not often planned with the same care as substantive content. The report recommended that secondary schools deliberately map progression in geographical skills across key stages and ensure pupils understand how geographers collect, represent and analyse spatial data.

A further issue was the lack of subject-specific CPD. Many teachers simply have not had enough training or experience with GIS to feel confident introducing it. This is not a failure of intent; it reflects the dominance of generic CPD in many schools. The effect is that GIS can feel like a “nice to have” rather than a planned component of curriculum entitlement.

The intent behind the inspection findings and curriculum requirements is not to push schools towards complex software. It is to secure a foundation of geospatial thinking, interpretation and enquiry.

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Why GIS matters for geographical thinking

Research over the last decade consistently connects GIS with improvements in spatial reasoning, enquiry, decision-making and the ability to see relationships within and between places. But the gains come when GIS is used purposefully, not when it is bolted on as a novelty.

GIS helps pupils:

• recognise spatial patterns and anomalies

• link processes to outcomes

• understand how decisions are made in real-world contexts

• see geographical problems as multi-layered rather than linear

Importantly, GIS is not only a tool; it is a way of working with the world. When pupils see georeferenced data layered, queried and interpreted, they begin to understand what geographers actually do.

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Start with “What is GIS?” not “Which software?”

Before worrying about platforms, log-ins or training sessions, pupils need a secure grasp of three foundational ideas.

1. What GIS is.
   A system for storing, visualising and analysing data tied to specific locations.

2. What GIS can do.
   Combine layers of information, reveal patterns, test hypotheses and communicate findings.

3. How geographers use it.
   Urban planning, hazard mitigation, environmental management, policing, retail location, infrastructure planning and more.

This conceptual grounding matters because pupils are already surrounded by GIS without realising it: live traffic maps, flight trackers, storm trackers, store-location searches, weather radar, crime maps, street-level data tools. When teachers name these as GIS, pupils begin to connect digital mapping with geography as a discipline.

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Teachers are often already using GIS – they just don’t call it that

One of the most consistent findings from teacher surveys is that educators use far more GIS than they realise. Many geography teachers:

• use Google Earth or Digimap to explore patterns

• show pupils live maps of wildfires, storms or earthquakes

• use interactive maps where clicking reveals attribute data

• plot routes or fieldwork sites digitally

• explore ArcGIS StoryMaps as part of case studies

All of this is GIS. The priority is to label it clearly and plan for progression, rather than imagining GIS begins only when pupils start building complex maps from scratch.

A surprisingly powerful departmental exercise is simply mapping where GIS already appears in your teaching. Most departments quickly discover a much stronger base than expected.

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A simple progression: view → analyse → create

The biggest misconception is that “doing GIS” means pupils must create sophisticated maps with multiple layers and datasets. In reality, that is an end point, not a starting point.

A manageable progression might look like this:

1. View and recognise GIS

Pupils explore simple web maps with a few layers. They notice patterns, click features to reveal attributes, and learn the basic language of layers, data and location.

2. Analyse and interpret GIS

Pupils compare different layers, explain patterns, test small hypotheses and draw conclusions. GIS becomes part of enquiry, not a separate activity.

3. Create and communicate with GIS

Only after the above do pupils begin adding their own data, categorising information or building simple outputs like story maps. For many pupils, this is ambitious and sufficient. Eventually we can go further at GCSE or A level.

This progression aligns directly with curriculum expectations but avoids overwhelming staff or pupils.

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Keeping GIS manageable

The barriers teachers report – software complexity, log-ins, time, confidence, weak hardware – are real but solvable.

Some practical principles include:

Choose one main platform.
Depth beats breadth. Getting comfortable with a platform is more effective than tinkering with multiple tools.

Model GIS front-of-class.
Not every GIS activity requires a computer room. Teacher-led analysis on the board is often the most efficient way to build fluency.

Link GIS to fieldwork.
Plotting fieldwork sites, adding a few attributes and comparing findings with secondary datasets transforms the way pupils see their own data.

Plan progression deliberately.
Rather than a “GIS week”, build geospatial thinking into the spine of KS3 and beyond.

Invest in subject-specific CPD.
Teachers do not need advanced technical training. Most need structured support to build confidence in interpretation, enquiry and basic creation.

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Building from what you already do

Improving GIS does not mean starting from nothing. It begins with recognition: recognising where GIS already appears, where geospatial thinking already happens and where you can make the next small step.

Audit your existing use of digital mapping. Label it clearly. Make GIS part of your everyday language: “Let’s look at this GIS layer,” “This map shows attribute data,” “This is how geographers use spatial information.” From there, think about how to nudge each activity along the view–analyse–create progression.

If we do this, GIS stops feeling like something technical and optional and becomes what it was always meant to be: an ordinary, powerful part of learning how the world works.

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References

National Curriculum for Geography (England):
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-geography-programmes-of-study

Getting Our Bearings (Ofsted subject report):
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/geography-subject-report-getting-our-bearings

Geographical Association GIS Guidance:

https://geography.org.uk

Brendan Conway, tutor2u GIS article:
https://www.tutor2u.net/geography

Ordnance Survey / University of Aberdeen GIS-in-Education Review:

https://os.uk

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