Towards a pedagogical policy turn in geography

Abstract

It is nearly 50 years since David Harvey (1974) famously asked “what kind of geography for what kind of public policy?” (p. 18). We seek to reopen this debate following developments since then which constrain the discipline’s current potential to engage with the practical doing of policy. We suggest that definitional, institutional and structural arrangements are preventing the policy turn from materialising, compounded by the “impact agenda” and university research assessment exercises, which obstruct practical policy work and overlook the potential for generating impact through curricula. Recognising a growing sense of imperative to act among undergraduate students, we prioritise students as our first public (Ward, 2006) to develop a more pedagogically inclined perspective on the policy debate, validating students’ aspirations as a pedagogical driver within a broader push towards reconfiguring geographical policy work.