Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
which Global History is taught. It was also decided that the Basic History curriculum
would reduce the traditional Eurocentric focus to include the origin and history of
various world nations as well as their international activities. Instructional tech-
niques expanded to include theme-oriented learning, investigative learning, and the
collection and interpretation of historical sources, as an effort to cultivate historical
thinking abilities. After numerous planning meetings to design the Basic History
content, three draft plans have been submitted for future examination. The general
ideas for each plan are laid out as Plan A: A chronological sequence model plus
a theme-oriented learning model; Plan B: A focus on modern history; and Plan C:
A theme formation model, as mentioned by Takahashi (
2011
).
The Examinations of Basic Geography were led by the AJG-CGE before the 2007
subcommittee was inaugurated. Similarly, examinations were also conducted by the
School Education Subcommittee under the Joint Geography Education Subcommittee
between the Area Studies Committee, the Science Council of Japan, and the Earth
and Planetary Sciences Committee. There was also a plan to include more topogra-
phy content in the Basic Geography curriculum, but after further discussions, it was
decided that all ideas should be integrated into one plan, detailed in the next
paragraph. Compared to the fi eld of history, the geography community feels a strong
sense of crisis on the state of geography education.
21.2
The Concept of Basic Geography
Geography as a subject in education has been criticized for being “the geography of
place names and produce.” This is because there had been a focus on understanding
phenomena by rote learning, while the real essence of geography, namely, consider-
ation of the relationships between nature and human beings were lacking in school
education. However, in order to consider these interlocking ties, one must fi rst have
knowledge. Without knowledge, one will lack the resources for such consideration.
What degree of geographic knowledge is required to consider the real essence of
geography? Relentlessly pursuing such knowledge would lead to limitless investi-
gation, and school education would end up being focused only on acquiring infor-
mation. Applying the knowledge learned in school to resolve world issues can be
done only after graduating and going out into the world itself. The foundation of
geography is not simply to gain knowledge. How one applies knowledge, considers,
and applies it is part of Basic Geography.
The Basic Geography plan has allotted time for students to study and refl ect on
basic knowledge learned. Furthermore, skills such as how to read maps and geo-
graphical ways of seeing and thinking have also been included as fundamental ele-
ments. Appropriate content has thus been designed as compulsory subjects for high
school geography. Moreover, rather than merely considering, it was decided that
students would also need to ascertain the process through which knowledge and
skills are learned and used as the basis for studying and refl ecting upon geography,
to put their learning into practice. For example, following the Great East Japan
