This program was carried out in the two sections of the fourth grade at the Agnes McReynolds Elementary School in Pensacola, Florida. In investigating the place of geography in the elementary curriculum, and the teaching and testing of this subject, material has been found that will be of great use to both teachers in the future. An attempt has been made here to record some of the findings and to draw conclusions from them. Intelligence tests, reading tests, as well as geography tests, were given to fifty-eight children in order to better evaluate geography learning in relation to intelligence and reading ability. / Typescript. / "July, 1948." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: H. F. Becker, First Major. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-42).

The words, legends, maps, post-cards, and poems within this study are an exploration of geography curriculum, poetics, and embodied knowledge. There are three main sections and a supplement to this atlas. The first section is an exploration of semiotic theory and the notion of poetics. I inquire into structures of signification, the relationship between our words and our worlds, and the spaces of possibility that relationship opens for the inclusion of embodied knowing. The second section of this atlas is an exploration of geography curriculum in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and of recent developments within academic human geography writ large, regarding existing constructions of geography and poetics and embodied knowledge. An attention to language, writing, and embodied knowledge can be found within academic geography, yet these same concerns have not been considered within Canadian curricular geography. The third section of this atlas is an exploration of post-structural approaches to reading/writing, and poetic possibilities on a personal level. Within this section, poetic language is explored as a genre for facilitating embodied knowledge within geography curriculum. The supplement to the atlas is a part of the atlas that finishes the form, and was written in an interpretive, poetic, and playful spirit. The underlying premise of this research is that how we write the world affects and reflects in the same instant how we understand and live in the world (our words and worlds perform a mingling dance of signification); therefore, attending to how we graphy the geo is of curricular concern (especially if we consider that curriculum provides the medium for us to understand self and world). Transformation of geography curriculum, and an inclusion of embodied approaches to (re)writing the world of curriculum theory (and dissertations) are the aims of this research.

Current literature emphasizes the need to attempt new approaches in the teaching of Social Studies. Jerome S. Bruner in his book The Process of Education (1961), claims that the main objective of a school must be to "present subject matter effectively, - that is with due regard not only for coverage but also for structure." Only by teaching the fundamental structure of a subject is that subject comprehensible to the student. Bruner says: "Intellectual activity anywhere is the same, whether at the frontier of knowledge or in a third grade classroom. What a scientist does at his desk or in his laboratory .... is the same order as what anybody does when he is engaged in like activity if he is to achieve understanding. The difference is in degrees, not in kind. A schoolboy learning physics is a physicist, and it is easier for him to learn physics behaving like a physicist than by doing something else." Professional geographers advocate the inductive method of teaching so that pupils discover the structure of geography in the same way as it is understood by the professional geographer. The teaching then should be experimental and intellectually stimulating, leading from geographical data supplied to reach the desired principles and generalisations. To-day children at various levels of efficiency, learn the inductive method in their study of chemistry, biology, and similar sciences. In theory - if not always in practice- they study in laboratories, consider hypotheses, analyze examples, draw tentative conclusions, and make cautious generalisations. Similar inductive procedures have increasingly marked the work of professional geographers, sociologists and political scientists. In short, pupils should be taught to become amateur geographers, performing similar (not identical) tasks of those scholars working on the frontiers of knowledge. Paraphrasing Jerome Brune, "If children are going to learn geography, they must do things the way geographers do them." This is the whole essence of the laboratory approach - it is a successful way to teach geography because it is essentially the way geographers operate, During the last four years I have conducted a continuing experiment into the development of an approach to better geographic teaching. This experiment has attempted to evaluate the relative effectiveness of a laboratory approach to the teaching of geography. The word "laboratory" suggests exploration and adventure on a rather direct, personal basis. Thus, the laboratory approach provides the opportunity for active study at firsthand basis and direct involvement of the students. It makes provision for the students to do something on their own - using their thinking ability and with their own hands. This is the basis of inquiry-oriented approaches and the new strategies, now being increasingly used in the domain of social studies. But this direct experience does not mean that the laboratory approach in social studies education ignores reading and highly symbolic abstract experiences. The laboratory approach offers much more to the students than listening to the teacher or studying the textbook. It represents a significant means for communicating non-verbal experiences and knowledge to the students. For example, laboratory methods train individuals to develop their observational power, and help them acquire skills. Along with these, the atmosphere in the laboratory promotes the desire to share experiences. It develops the ability of working together, provides for individual, creative activity and heightens pupil motivation. Studies of instructional practices suggest that teaching processes and materials should be coordinated in a systematic manner. We should, as teachers, spend a great deal of time and effort in planning to that teaching materials are directly related to a systematic study of a problem. In recent years, considerable emphasis has been placed on individualization of learning. The laboratory approach maximizes the opportunity for individualization of learning, provides for creativity, and originality. The use of laboratory strategies and materials other than dry words and textbooks are significant in making social studies education real and concrete. The laboratory approach is not a panacea but it offers an opportunity to make the teaching of geography more interesting and exciting. It has proven possible in courses in physical science to have students perform simple experiments in order to come closer to understanding the methods of science. I see no conceivable reason why this can't be done in social science. In the Laboratory Approach students and teachers plan together and share materials, an important part of learning -teaching process. Besides fostering the achievement of the cognitive and effective objectives of teaching social studies the Laboratory Approach develops various kinds of skills -communicative, creative, acquisitive, organizational and manipulative. This course is based on the view that the traditional emphasis on expository teaching of Geography by lecture and rote memorization must be replaced by an emphasis on the use of inductive methods through which students learn to use the materials and modes of thought of geographers. In the course itself, the inductive approach is used, laboratory type studies are used throughout in which principles are applied to materials in the structuring of lessons. The uses of aerial photos described here are desirable in that the tool, the photo, is considered a means not an end. The exercises force the student to face situations which require him to generalize. He must make an orderly study of the land use of the area shown in the photograph and then organize the data for the purpose of generalization. The student also gains an appreciation of the problems of the map maker as well as a better understanding of the cultural and physical patterns of the area included in the photograph. This learning logically provides motivation for seeking similar patterns in the areas contiguous to that studied as well as to distant areas. The elements of geography teaching emphasized in this experimental work are the elements of geographic field study; observation and recording of information, selection of required data from that which has been observed and recorded and then analyzation, synthesization and interpretation of all this selected data in order to formulate a generalization. The ideas offered here are merely samples of kinds of experiments possible in the social studies Laboratory Approach. A flexible approach and a capitalizing on what takes place in both the classroom and the community may develop entirely different ways to involve the student in acting and reacting. "New frontiers" in any category of academic disciplines emerge from territory already explored. Those time-tested and solid foundations of the social studies which have served well in the past obviously must not be cast aside in favor of untested educational programs and designs. What are "new frontiers" for some, accordingly, may be old and comfortable territory for others. Some of the concepts and observations set forth in this paper, therefore, are not necessarily new, although many school systems for one reason or another may not have given them consideration or trial. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The words, legends, maps, post-cards, and poems within this study are an exploration of geography curriculum, poetics, and embodied knowledge. There are three main sections and a supplement to this atlas. The first section is an exploration of semiotic theory and the notion of poetics. I inquire into structures of signification, the relationship between our words and our worlds, and the spaces of possibility that relationship opens for the inclusion of embodied knowing. The second section of this atlas is an exploration of geography curriculum in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and of recent developments within academic human geography writ large, regarding existing constructions of geography and poetics and embodied knowledge. An attention to language, writing, and embodied knowledge can be found within academic geography, yet these same concerns have not been considered within Canadian curricular geography. The third section of this atlas is an exploration of post-structural approaches to reading/writing, and poetic possibilities on a personal level. Within this section, poetic language is explored as a genre for facilitating embodied knowledge within geography curriculum. The supplement to the atlas is a part of the atlas that finishes the form, and was written in an interpretive, poetic, and playful spirit. The underlying premise of this research is that how we write the world affects and reflects in the same instant how we understand and live in the world (our words and worlds perform a mingling dance of signification); therefore, attending to how we graphy the geo is of curricular concern (especially if we consider that curriculum provides the medium for us to understand self and world). Transformation of geography curriculum, and an inclusion of embodied approaches to (re)writing the world of curriculum theory (and dissertations) are the aims of this research. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

by Chi-kin John Lee. / Thesis (M.A.Ed)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Bibliography: leaves 308-327. / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.i / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.xi / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.xv / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1 --- Environmentalism and environmental education --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Geography curriculum and environmental education --- p.14 / Chapter 1.3 --- Background of the present study --- p.23 / Chapter 1.4 --- Literature Review --- p.25 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Research on the relation of geography curricula to environmental education and geography teachers' perceptions of geographical objectives --- p.25 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Research related to the HKCE geography curriculum --- p.28 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Research and studies on effective geography teaching and teaching strategies for environmental education --- p.29 / Chapter 1.4.4 --- Research related to the implementation of environmental education in schools --- p.34 / Chapter 1.5 --- Statement of research questions and purpose of the study --- p.36 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- RESEARCH METHOD / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.40 / Chapter 2.2 --- Questionnaire survey --- p.44 / Chapter 2.3 --- The New Environmental Paradigm Scale: a measure of individual environmental worldview --- p.50 / Chapter 2.4 --- Limitations of the study --- p.55 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- RELATION OF SOCIAL CHANGE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN HONG KONG AND ENGLAND / Chapter 3.1 --- Educational system and geographical education in Hong Kong and England --- p.57 / Chapter 3.2 --- Emergence of environmental consciousness and environmental protection --- p.60 / Chapter 3.3 --- Shift in geography paradigms and its influence upon curriculum development --- p.69 / Chapter 3.4 --- Competition from contending subject of environmental studies in England and Hong Kong --- p.83 / Chapter 3.5 --- Development of geographical education in England in the social and educational context since the post-war years --- p.88 / Chapter 3.6 --- Development of geographical education in Hong Kong in the social and educational context since the post-war years --- p.97 / Chapter 3.7 --- The role of public examinations --- p.103 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- ANALYSIS OF THE SENIOR SECONDARY GEOGRAPHY CURRICULA IN HONG KONG AND ENGLAND WITH REFERENCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION / Chapter 4.1 --- Senior secondary geography curricula in Hong Kong --- p.106 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Major sources of influence: Curriculum Development Council and Hong Kong Examinations Authority --- p.106 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Aims and objectives --- p.109 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Man-land approach and studies of issues --- p.110 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Assessment --- p.116 / Chapter 4.2 --- Senior secondary geography curricula in England --- p.118 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Major sources of influence: National Criteria for GCSE examinations and HMI --- p.118 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Aims and objectives --- p.121 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Midland Examining Group Geography Syllabus D as an example of study --- p.125 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Syllabus content --- p.126 / Chapter 4.2.5 --- Assessment objectives and coursework assessments --- p.129 / Chapter 4.3 --- Senior secondary school geography curricula in Hong Kong and England: a comparative analysis --- p.139 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Introduction --- p.139 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- General aims and objectives --- p.140 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Assessment objectives and scope of content --- p.143 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Teaching strategies --- p.152 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Other features --- p.153 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- GEOGRAPHY TEACHING IN HONG KONG AND ENGLAND AND ITS RELATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION / Chapter 5.1 --- Teachers' perceptions of the curriculum objectives --- p.166 / Chapter 5.2 --- Use of teaching resources --- p.169 / Chapter 5.3 --- Extent of environmental education in geography teaching and teaching environmental issues --- p.181 / Chapter 5.4 --- Activities related to environmental educat ion --- p.187 / Chapter 5.5 --- Perceptions of effective and desirable teaching strategies --- p.197 / Chapter 5.6 --- Problems encountered in implementing environmental education --- p.204 / Chapter 5.7 --- Environmental attitudes --- p.215 / Chapter 5.8 --- Relation between environmental attitudes and extent of environmental education --- p.222 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- CONCLUSION / Chapter 6.1 --- Summing up --- p.228 / Chapter 6.2 --- Looking ahead: limitations and possibilities --- p.235 / Chapter 6.3 --- Further discussion --- p.241 / Chapter 6.4 --- Suggestions for future investigations --- p.243 / NOTES --- p.245 / APPENDIX / Chapter A. --- Educational system and geographical education in Hong Kong and England --- p.247 / Chapter B. --- Questionnaire for the Hong Kong respondents --- p.259 / Chapter C. --- Questionnaire for the English respondents --- p.263 / Chapter D. --- GCSE Geography syllabuses: further examinations --- p.267 / Chapter E. --- Environmental emphases in selected GCSE Geography syllabuses --- p.287 / Chapter F. --- Use of textbooks for GCSE Geography courses in England and HKCE Geography courses in Hong Kong --- p.288 / Chapter G. --- Coursework item from an ESF school in Hong Kong --- p.290 / Chapter H. --- Coursework items from a secondary school in England --- p.294 / Chapter I. --- Fieldtrip assignment from a secondary school in Hong Kong --- p.297 / Chapter J. --- "Perceptions of teaching strategies for teaching the topics of pollution, urban environment, energy resources, population and physical environment (Jl-5)" --- p.299 / Chapter K. --- Different agenda for environmental education in senior secondary school geography curricula --- p.304 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.308

Geography is being more and more reduced to only one form of rationality, i.e. technical control. Such narrowness threatens all spiritual life and creativity. It calls on us to find new ways of thinking. Notwithstanding some refreshing break-throughs, especially its opening into literature, humanistic geography cannot be considered an adequate alternative to technical rationality. On the contrary, from a metaphysical perspective, humanism seems to be bordering on the very essence of technology. Its propositions partake of the system of metaphysical oppositions which determine the technological world. / From a position which can be defined as a radicalization of phenomenology, and which aims at the removal of some major obstacles to geographical creativity, some of these oppositions are deconstructed. Probing the possibilities of bringing geography and literature closer together, the oppositions set up between geography and literature, the geographical and the literary use of language, metaphorical and literal language, geographical and literary criticism, are understood as prejudices which have contributed to the elimination of all non-technologically oriented endeavors.

Geography, as it presently exists in the British Columbia school system, is the result of many changes and revisions that have taken place in the curriculum since the public school system was first introduced in 1849. The development of the present course is traced through an examination of course outlines and former textbooks. At the same time, the position accorded to geographic instruction is assessed. Trends are noted and these are compared with those found in other countries, particularly Great Britain and the United States. During the Colonial Period, the choice of textbooks and selection of content were left to the individual teachers, most of whom had been recruited from Great Britain. Geography ranked as one of the five core subjects. Following Confederation, in 1871, the British influence was modified by prescribing textbooks produced in Ontario. The books were little more than gazetteers of place names and glossaries of terms to be memorized. The limited course outlines that appeared toward the end of the century had little effect on teaching methods. The amount of time devoted to historical study increased and at the same time the study of geography became the map on which historical narrative was unfolded. The major revision of 1900 established the general pattern of courses for the next half-century. In the primary grades, the British influence continued. The child studied the home region which was gradually expanded to include studies of selected areas in various parts of the world. In the intermediate grades, world regional geography was studied with regional selection based on Herbertson's "Major Natural Regions". In later courses, the climatic regions of Koppen and others influenced the regional selection. Physical geography formed the basis of the Secondary courses but by 1921 all geography courses at this level had been dropped. The emphasis in Geography during the first half of the 20th century shifted from memorization to understanding and course content became centered on man in relation to his environment. The Putman-Weir Survey of 1925 reflected the American influence as did the resulting Junior High School Social Studies and General Science. The new interest-centered courses allowed for the inclusion of a limited amount of general geography as part of the Social Studies of the Secondary schools. "Pride of Empire" dominated the new courses and the resulting textbooks were interspersed with interesting stories of Empire sandwiched between gazetteer-like paragraphs on places and products. The textbooks were often unsuited to the teaching methods suggested in the lengthy course outlines in which understanding and use of regional development were stressed. The major revision of 1936-37 re-introduced geography into the High School in the form, of two optional courses and this marked the beginning of the revival of interest in the teaching of geography. Following the Second World War geography was reintroduced at almost all levels with physical geography, formerly the mainstay of geography courses, becoming a part of the General Science. The post-war courses were transitional and some were based on outdated methods while others followed modern trends. The recommendations of the 1960 Royal Commission on Education advocated that greater emphasis be placed on geography instruction and that more stress be given to factual content. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This study investigated the causes of difficulty experienced by Standard Nine Venda pupils in acquiring hierarchical geographical concepts. The study also focussed on intervention methods to assist pupils acquire concepts so that they could be able to transfer them to other situations. The literature was surveyed for background information on the role of prior knowledge, the transfer for attained concepts, instructional organization in acquiring concepts, and language and concept acquisition.

No description available.