Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 11.2
Questions to schoolchildren (percentage of “yes” responses)
Grade level
(year)
I like to study Social
Studies and geography
Studying Social Studies and
Geography are important
School category
Elementary School
5th
54.7
84.6
Junior high school
1st
53.5
70.4
2nd
53.5
66.9
Senior high school
3rd
32.0
58.0
Geography A
Senior high school
3rd
43.6
63.6
Geography B
Source
: National Institute for Educational Policy Research (
2003
)
Table 11.3
Questions to teachers (percentage of “yes” responses)
I teach
classes
involving
library use
I teach classes
involving experiences
such as observations
and surveys
I teach classes
where students
report on things
they have looked up
Grade
level
(year)
School category
Elementary School
5th
66.7
56.8
81.1
Junior high school
1st
28.6
19.2
45.6
2nd
25.0
17.7
41.6
High school Geography A
3rd
8.3
10.8
8.6
High school Geography B
3rd
11.2
13.4
12.8
Source
: National Institute for Educational Policy Research (
2003
)
half, and teachers in senior high school did not incorporate practices of geography
at all (Table
11.3
).
With the reality of classrooms as context, the following suggestions are given to
improve instruction:
Elementary school, fi fth year:
•
Learning names and locations of islands and prefectures that make up the national
land area
•
Learning that the use of multiple resources can be related (e.g., statistical materi-
als and distribution maps)
Junior high school, geography subject area:
• Learning locations and distributions of geographic phenomena, using maps and
globes
• Learning geographic knowledge that forms the basis of geography learning
Senior high school Geography A:
• Learning that relates facts and phenomena to specifi c places
• Learning the use of maps and globes
• Learning to compare the local area to other regions and multiple types of data
resources
