Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
13.4
Examples of Recent Outstanding Social Action
Programs: In-service Training of Teachers
13.4.1
Efforts by AJG-CGE
Although not regularly scheduled, the AJG-CGE has been holding training sessions
for elementary and junior high school teachers since 2007. These in-service training
sessions are organized along themes that use geography skills such as “Methods for
Using Atlases with Literary Works” and “Constructing Thematic Maps and
Distribution Maps with Mapping Software.” This service is necessary because many
teachers licensed to teach geography lack these disciplinary skills (Akimoto et al.
2010
). For example, teachers in elementary and junior high schools are not required
to major in geography at university. Particularly in the case of elementary school
teachers who instruct all subjects, there are many for whom Social Studies is outside
their area of expertise, let alone Geography.
Students in third and fourth year elementary school are expected, in their Social
Studies class, to about their region at the level of cities, towns, villages, and prefec-
tures, and geography skills of map reading and map making. Junior high school
students take a geography class that includes mandatory activities such as surveying
nearby surroundings, an exercise that applies skills unique to geography (e.g., fi eld
observation, reading topographic maps, making thematic maps, and writing survey
reports). However, as mentioned, most elementary and junior high school teachers
have not majored in geography and have not necessarily systematically learned
geography skills. For this reason, there are many cases in which instructors are
unable to lead effective geographic lessons and fi eld research of the local area.
In Japan, there is a tendency for curricula to emphasize knowledge of facts
over knowledge of methods. As evidence, course content in geography skills is
not systematically specifi ed and, although the cognitive development of students
is discussed at academic conferences and research meetings, it is rarely examined
in the schools.
If during teachers' training they learn about geography curricula that systemati-
cally outline how to instill geography skills, this could substitute for their gaps in
geography knowledge. However, this is insuffi cient given the realities of students
need to succeed in society. Teacher candidates are so poorly prepared in geography
that it further complicates the situation. For example, elementary pre-service teachers
need only take two required credits in “instruction methods for subjects that are
related to Social Studies” to qualify as a teacher. For junior high school teachers
specializing in Social Studies, credits in general geography and regional geography,
which are considered “courses related to the subject,” are required. But the content
of these is broad, covering everything from history and civics to geography educa-
tion. Since Geography has become an elective subject at the senior high school
level, most of the teachers did not themselves take Geography when they were in
senior high school, thus many of them are standing at the teacher's podium with
only the knowledge of a junior high school level of knowledge (Iwamoto
2006
).
