The Geographic Imperative

Abstract

With the publication of Geography for Life: National Geography Standards 1994 in October 1994, geography has taken a big stride forward in demonstrating to teachers the breadth and significance of its discipline. This talk focuses on three aspects of geographic reality in the lives of teachers and students, under the title of “The Geographic Imperative.” Consideration of the Imperative and three axioms is intended to support the fullness and classroom utility of the Geography Standards.     

The Status of Geography in the Social Studies Curricula of Canadian Schools

Abstract

Successful curriculum development that will have impact upon individual American classrooms remains the key to maintaining the momentum of Geography for Life: National Geography Standards 1994. Teachers and students must be able to translate the national geography standards from the national stage to the local classroom setting to become geographically informed people. One example of this development for elementary urban geography is the Main Street lesson plan. It encourages observation and analysis required by Standard 4: The geographically informed student knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of places. After testing in a variety of Missouri classrooms, instructors thought that Main Street was a unique way of studying urban places and allowing students to gain a greater understanding of place.     

Making the Connections: Infusing the National Geography Standards into the Classroom

Abstract

How will the National Geography Standards change the way teachers teach? The Standards will provide teachers with a geographic perspective that will enable them to teach improved geography content while building geographic skills and knowledge that will benefit their students for the rest of their lives. By taking a fresh look at the content in the curriculum from a geographic perspective, teachers can make connections between the Geography Standards and our own classrooms. The Standards provide information and strategies for teaching geography. They can be used to create lessons which offer opportunities for students to “do” geography and apply the skills they are learning.     

Field Work in Physical Geography

Abstract

During the past few years, the idea of imparting to students a “liberal” education has attracted a great deal of attention. Considerable discussion has arisen over (1) the definition of “liberal” education, (2) its merits, and (3) the mechanism by which it would be imparted. Recently, much of the controversy has been resolved and academicians are now charged with the responsibility of putting the idea into practice. This paper uses the course Geography of Africa as an example of how the liberal education requirements can be fruitfully incorporated. In pursuit of this goal, the term “liberal education” is analyzed, its scope and objective(s) defined, and a model course proposed. The model course draws from ideas contained in a survey administered to the members of the Africa Speciality Group of the Association of American Geographers. Contained in the model course syllabi are suggested topics, key issues/themes, exercises, resource materials (films), outside readings, suggested textbooks, etc.     

The Uncomfortable Classroom: Incorporating Feminist Pedagogy and Political Practice into World Regional Geography

Abstract

This paper examines how to incorporate a feminist pedagogy into teaching World Regional Geography in order to empower students to seek social change. This paper also addresses the fragile relationships that develop in the feminist classroom, such as challenging students' inherent prejudices in a safe and comfortable setting.     

Contributors

Abstract

Jan Nijman, assistant professor and Knight Junior Fellow, University of Miami, Florida. Main research and teaching interests are in international relations, political geography, and development issues. Recipient of Nystrom Award 1991, Association of American Geographers, for doctoral dissertation “A Political Geography of U.S.-Soviet Relations, 1948–1988: The Value of a Spatial Perspective” (Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1990).     

The Value of Place Geography in a Commercial Geography Course

Abstract

This article summarizes methods used in a secondary school geography class to interest students in geography through examples drawn from local geography. Instead of relying on examples taken from exotic places to illustrate geographic concepts, the local landscape is used in the classroom to teach students about geography. The article is arranged according to the six essential elements of the National Geography Standards, but it does not imply that the methods presented should be used to teach the standards. Rather, the examples presented are used throughout a course in the geography of North and South America to develop an interest among students and, with examples from the local landscape, to increase student understanding of geographic concepts related to issues presented in the course.     

State Geography Standards in 2004

Abstract

National Geography Standards for the middle school years generally stress the teaching of latitude and longitude. There are many creative ways to explain the great grid that encircles our planet, but the author has found that students in his college-level geography courses especially enjoy human-interest stories associated with lines of latitude and longitude. In particular, certain nautical “rites of passage” and GPS-enabled adventure show how some people identify with these imaginary lines as places to celebrate and explore. The author contends that humanizing this global geometry enhances student understanding and appreciation at any grade level.     

Finding the Southern Part of Cyberspace: Using the Internet to Teach the South

Abstract

This article suggests how teachers can approach the Internet conceptually and use it practically as they teach about the American South. Because of its information, communication, and cultural dimensions, the Internet represents a “place” where students and teachers can appraise the South from multiple, alternative perspectives. The article offers lesson strategies and resources for both on-computer and off-computer classroom settings. By finding the southern part of cyberspace, the authors illustrate that regions can and do have a place in a medium often represented as spaceless and devoid of geographic boundaries.     

Training Teachers for the Study of Home Geography,A Field Lesson for a Summer Institute

Abstract

1960 Report on Jamaica. British Information Services, 845 Third Ave., New York 22, N.Y., 1963. iv and 477 pages with table of contents, photographs, graphs and bibliography. $3.50.

George W. Hoffman. The Balkans in Transition. D. Van Nostrand Co., Princeton, N.J., 1963. 124 pages. $1.45.

Stephen W. Sears and Marvin W. McFarland. Air War Against Hitler's Germany. American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1964. 154 pages including index. $3.95.

Olive TV. Burt. Wind Before the Dawn. John Day Co., New York, 19G4. 192 pages. $3.50.

Los Angeles Geographical Society. Day Tours: Geographical Journeys in the Los Angeles Area. Glenn Cunningham, Editor. Pacific Books, Palo Alto, California, 1964. 277 pages. Maps. $3.95.

Editorial note: In answer to inquiries, other Highlighting features on Southeast Asia topics which have appeared in The Journal of Geography are: (1) “Federation of Malaysia,” May, 1963, 230–231, (2) “Indonesian Panism,” May, 1964, 232–233, (3) “Disintegrating Laos,” September, 1964, 284–285, (4) “Splitting Wedge of Communism,” October, 1964, 334–335 and (5) “Cambodia's Three Sea Outlets,” November, 1964, 382–383.

John H. Bradley. World Geography. Fourth Edition. Ginn and Co., Boston 17, Mass., 1964. 619 pages with table of contents, list of maps, maps, illustrations, photographs colored and black and white, bibliography, statistics, study guides and index. For high school grades 9–12. $6.20.

Atlas of Florida. Compiled by Erwin Raisz and associates; text by John R. Dunkle. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Fla., 1964. 52 pages with maps, graphs, diagrams, sketches, photographs and fold-in rear cover pocket map. $7.50.

Frank R. Brandenburg. The Making of Modern Mexico Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1964. 379 pages with index $8.95.

A. V. Hardy and F. J. Monkhouse. The Physical Landscape in Pictures. Cambridge University Press, American Branch, 32 E. 57th St., New York, 1964. 92 pages with table of contents, preface and 92 black and white photographs. $1.75 paperbound.

Mary F. Horkheimer and John W. Diffor (eds.). Educators Guide to Free Films. Educators Progress Service, Randolph, Wis., 1964. 631 pages. $9.00.

Marton Pecsi and Bela Sarfalvi. The Geography of Hungary. Collet's, 44–45 Museum St., London, 1964. xii and 299 pages, black and white illustrations and two colored insert maps. About $4.55.

Stephen H. Longrigg. The Middle East: A Social Geography. Aldine Publishing Co., Chicago, 1962. 291 pages. $6.95.     

James M. Goodman 1929—2004: Professor Emeritus of Geography University of Oklahoma

Abstract

Effective use of time has become even more critical in today's classrooms. Creating geographically literate students by the year 2000 presents some dilemmas for teachers who are faced with expanding curricula. Developing an efficient, meaningful means of teaching geographical features to help curb geographical illiteracy is a possibility. A group of college instructors and more than 75 preservice elementary teachers experimented with an idea that effectively integrated geography, vocabulary development, writing across the curriculum, and the visual arts. Their successful and time-saving idea can be incorporated into any upper elementary to high school classroom committed to teaching children about geographical features.     

The “Oldest River” As An Appalachian Popular Region

Abstract

Appalachia's New River was labeled “the second oldest river in the world” during the 1970s as part of a campaign to save the river from being dammed. Despite the absence of geomorphic evidence, the promotion of the superlative age of the river was so successful that the mythical label became reality in the minds of the region's populace. The “oldest river” thus became a popular or vernacular region, defined as one perceived to exist by its inhabitants. Sources of evidence for the current existence of the oldest river as a popular region include Internet references, which typically use the positive place image of the ancient stream to enhance the value of the river valley's attributes. Geography educators and students at all levels will benefit from class research projects aimed at identifying and understanding popular regions found near their educational institutions.     

Geography and the Contemporary Urban Scene

Abstract

This paper summarizes the objectives and content of a course entitled “Geography in an Urban World,” given at Simon Fraser University. It outlines the manner in which this course is offered; teachers may be interested in this particular way toward a more relevant and meaningful geography.     

Grading Book Review Assignments

Abstract

Geographers have a tradition of using novels in the classroom. Given our busy schedules, however, and the need for students to write, instructors may find that it takes too much time to grade writing assignments. This paper provides an efficient method of grading book review assignments. It requires students to use headings and subheadings, which may be internalized as a future organizational scheme for writing assignments. Experience has shown this method to be “grader-friendly” for instructors, making it easier to comment and score.     

Twenty-Second European Congress of the Regional Science Association

Abstract

In his article, “Whither Geography?,” Jay R. Harman raised a number of important issues regarding the nature and direction of geographic scholarship. In this response I critically address some of those issues and offer an alternative perspective. In doing so, I support Harman's desire for the discipline to “help answer deep human questions” but argue that rather than reinforce the vitality and legitimacy of the discipline, a market-based approach of the sort he advocates could instead potentially undermine such objectives and compromise disciplinary integrity by discouraging critical inquiry. While acknowledging the influence of “the market,” I defend a place for critical inquiry within the discipline.     

A Review of “The Power of Place”

Two qualitative case studies, one focusing on K-12 teachers and the other on middle school students, explore key factors associated with using Geographic Information Systems in the classroom. In both studies, access to appropriate hardware is a critical barrier. Time is another critical barrier—time to learn the GIS software and time in the curriculum to incorporate GIS as a learning experience. In both case studies, learning the technology at the expense of learning spatial analysis was a danger, suggesting the need for conscious focus on the goal of using GIS to learn how to “do geography.”     

Life Geography from the Child's Point of View

Abstract

A second look is taken at “The Geography of the U.S. in the Year 2,000.” A new interplay is seen of the countervailing pressures to disperse and to agglomerate. Polynucleated urban regions are seen, organized within and around a global poly center. There are certain imperatives: those of demographic cycles and of the economic long wave. These will interact with information-age technologies to change family structures, life styles, and locational preferences. The unexpected also should be expected: “catastrophes” in which existing arrangements are transformed and new structures put into place to replace them. A key to understanding is to continually probe the second derivatives: change in the nature of change.     

Reading the World: Integrating Geography in an English Language Learner Literacy Program

Abstract

English language development classes focus on teaching students of other languages how to speak, read, and write English. They must also prepare students to meet the many standards and requirements that are prerequisites to content classes, such as geography, and high school graduation. This discussion focuses on the integration of literacy and geography in a classroom with English language learners. A common English language development model, the “Into, Through, Beyond” model of learning, sets a foundation that integrates components of English language acquisition with language arts and geography standards. In turn, this approach to learning prepares the learners for success in social and academic arenas.