Geography teaching

[xalciene]

Kevin Donnelly (The Australian) has a valid point about the neglect of current events and specific skills in geography syllabuses across the country, but we should not seek to replace existing syllabuses solely with the teaching of biophysical processes. Geography itself is an interesting and diverse discipline, spanning the applied and social

Comments

[munchymoocow]

The deficiencies in geography education are indicative of a wider malaise in school education across all the key learning areas. It's all about perspective really. Some say it's dumbing down, for others it's all apart of some leftist agenda, and someone else might call it readjusting the curriculum for new educational purposes. To-may-to, to-mah-to.

A question that needs to be answered, I think, is who the syllabuses and greater curriculum is targeted at and what the aim of geography education is. An approach based upon teaching for students moving up towards further education in the field, where firm understanding of principles and facts would be important, would be different than those who won't be continuing their studies, i.e. education for some versus education for all. There are issues of relevance which really are important for consideration, right down to the classroom level; students need a purpose for learning or they disengage, and there's no real educational point in force-feeding. I know it sounds like some kind of new

[xalciene]

There isn't a point in force feeding, but calls for a stronger conceptual and scientific basis to geography teaching are most welcome. Better teacher training is needed, granted (and that's what I was suggesting with the recruitment of geographers as teachers -- presumably they'd have the required education training as well), and often its the teacher that makes a class intersting, rather than the content -- although good content helps

[xalciene]

PS, did you read this letter in The Australian yesterday? It made a good point about what students are really getting out of school, and what the point of high school classes is

[kewpid]

At any rate it should supplant history as the preferred HSIE subject. Why dwell in the past when we actively refuse to learn anything from it.

[xalciene]

Ah yes, of course -- which is why I haven't been in any form of history class for 7 years :P