ALAN Parkinson, Head of Geography at King’s Ely Junior, has been selected as the next Junior Vice President of the Geographical Association.
Alan will be only the third person in 126 years since the association’s launch to have a teaching rather than an academic or exploration background. He will take up the position in September this year. In 2020 he will be Vice President and then President for 2021-22.
Alan, who lives in Norfolk, has been teaching at King’s Ely for six years. Before joining the school he spent 20 years teaching in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, latterly as a Head of Geography. In 2008, he joined the Geographical Association as Curriculum Leader, where he worked for three years. He has also worked with the Open University, been a freelance Geographer across Europe and has written many children’s books and GCSE and A Level textbooks.
Last year, Alan was also one of only a few people from across the UK to be selected as an Ordnance Survey GetOutside Champion for 2018/19. More than 750 people applied for the role and the chosen group included TV presenter Ben Fogle, several Everest summiteers, Paralympic athletes, writers and endurance athletes such as Sean Conway.
The Geographical Association was formed by five geographers, including Halford John Mackinder, in 1893. It is a UK-based subject association which aims to “advance education for the public benefit by furthering geographical knowledge and understanding, through the promotion and dissemination of good practice in geographical teaching and learning”. It is a registered charity and is wholly independent of state aid.