Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
9.5
A Geography Curriculum That Adopts Social
Participation
9.5.1
Thematic Learning of Social Issues
Within the considerations described above, let us imagine what a geography curricu-
lum that incorporates social participation would look like. Here, the author consider
the framework of learning guidelines across Social Studies (third to sixth grade),
the geographical fi elds in junior high school, and Geography A and Geography B
in senior high school.
To weave local social participation learning into the curriculum, one must begin
to leverage community problems that require solutions as teaching materials.
However, the circumstances in which such problems manifest vary by region; there
may be multiple issues, and the means for solving them may differ. Curriculum
developers should recognize that the translation of real issues into curricular mate-
rials may only provide a simplifi ed representation of reality. Also, the integration
of social participation learning into geography should consider that geography
attempts to make students aware of the contemporary world while shaping their
world image.
Until now, organizing principles of the geography curriculum have been
regional and systematic geography instruction. As a result, the recently revised
National Curriculum Standards combine regional and systematic geography edu-
cation at each stage of student development. If we assume that the study of com-
munity problems is indispensable for social participation learning, then it is
essential to address current issues that require solutions. This is what is called
thematic learning. This approach goes beyond the established regional divisions
and type classifi cations of geographic phenomena, on which regional and sys-
tematic geography education are based. An exemplar is the “Geographic Inquiry
into Global Issues (GIGI)” course, developed at the University of Colorado
(Kusahara
2001
). In Japan, the Research Group for a Consistent Curriculum in
Elementary School, Junior High School, and Senior High School of the
Geographic Education Society of Japan (
2006
) suggested an original Geography
Alpha course in senior high school that deals with global issues. These thematic
learning courses were designed to encourage students to explore social issues
arising in contemporary society, as a way to learn the contents of systematic and
regional geography.
All community problems are isolated and unique to a local area, but expanded to
a larger scale, commonalities provide a rich perspective of such issues (e.g., the
environment, poverty, economic inequality, and human rights) across regions. Thus,
thinking about an issue can be understood at a deeper level when examining them at
local and larger scales.
