Welcome

Welcome to this archive of John Huckle’s publications.  These outline critical approaches to geographical and environmental education developed over five decades. Please use the contact form if you have comments or wish to get in touch.

Latest addition John is currently writing an ebook on critical realism, the philosophy of knowledge he introduced in Critical School Geography. Critical realism is particularly suited to the teaching of geography as it unites the natural and social sciences and the humanities, explains nature, place and space in terms of underlying structures and mechanisms, prompts critical theories of social change, and supports forms of global citizenship based on universal ethics. The drafts of all six chapters can be downloaded from the critical realism page and these are currently being revised and edited before being joined in a single ebook that should be published later in 2026.

Here is an overview of the lastest chapter to be drafted, the introductory chapter:

This chapter introduces critical realism, a philosophy of  knowledge that seeks to understand the structural causes of the world’s problems and suggest solutions that promote universal human flourishing. This philosophy underpins critical geography, critical education, and critical school geography’s aim of developing radical global citizens. Such citizens recognise that the world is divided between the powerful and the powerless, that a culture war exists between right and left populists and their knowledges, and that digital capitalism provides the territory on which this war is now being fought. The nature of such capitalism is explored together with its impacts on the culture wars shaping UK politics, the worldviews of older school students, and the 2025 review of the national curriculum for England.