Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
geography skills and knowledge while at university. The problem is that some
teachers have poor map skills and spatial thinking skills, which are important to
teach geography in Social Studies at the elementary school level.
12.3.2
Junior High School Teaching License
License types are defi ned by subject area. Geography is included within Social Studies
at the junior high school level. The teaching license at this level requires only two
classes in geography at the university level, geography and regional geography. Both
courses, optional for university students but mandatory for teacher candidates, are
given in a didactic manner, which is not a practical way to impart map use or the fi eld
survey experience. Only 10 % of Social Studies teachers major in geography at uni-
versity (Shirai
1998
). As a result, there are few teachers in Social Studies who have
rich set of geography skills within the junior high school education system.
12.3.3
Senior High School Teaching License
The teacher license for geography instruction, within the Geography and History
subject area in high school, permits educators to teach World history, Japanese his-
tory, and Geography. World history is a compulsory subject in senior high school,
whereas Geography and Japanese History are elective subjects. Therefore, some
high schools do not offer geography classes at all. The Association of Japanese
Geographers Commission on Geographic Education (AJG-CGE) reported that
26 % of high schools did not have any geography classes, and thus there was no
opportunity for students to learn the subject (Usui
2008
).
The Geography and History teaching license requires three courses total, one
course each in human geography, physical geography, and regional geography at the
university level. However, practical training classes for map use and fi eld research
skills are not required. The number of Geography and History teachers with a major
in history is larger than those with a major in geography. Thus, teachers have many
diffi culties when attempting to effectively teach geography in high school.
12.4
Diffi culties in Managing Senior High School
Geography Course
It is diffi cult for teachers who have not majored in university level geography to
teach it in senior high school. Musha (
2000
) made a unique investigation related to
this topic. He analyzed how teachers prepared their lesson content, which aspects
of geography they had diffi culties with, and how they resolved the obstacles.
