Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.6
Content of in-service training for teachers provided by the AJG-CGE
Subject
Content
Interpretation of
topographical maps
and work using a
literary work (1.5 h)
Trainees focus on the route used by the main character in a literary
work to commute to work by bicycle; trainees read the text and verify
it against a topographical map.
Trainees realize that the roads mentioned are not found on the
topographical map. As they used a modern topographical map, they
recheck the roads using a topographical map from the time of
publication (1920s). They therefore learn the usefulness of old maps
and their comparison with up-to-date maps.
Trainees imagine the landscape of the area from symbols on the
topographical map, and compare the landscape in the fi lm version of
the literary work with the imagined landscape.
Use of maps with a
computer (2.0 h)
Overview of map analysis methodology
Trainees collect statistics on the Internet, and prepare a statistical map
using the statistical information collected.
of academic societies proposing plans for professional associations to partner
teacher in-service training projects.
However, in Japan, there is talk about a “crisis of geography” in school education.
Since the offi cial announcement of the National Curriculum Standards in 1989,
Geography has been excluded as a compulsory subject at many senior high schools.
As a consequence, the need has arisen for geography researchers and educational
practitioners to establish a cooperative structure aimed at promoting the subject.
This is one reason why the CGE was established by the AJG in 1998, and why some
in-service training programs provided by the AJG-CGE are incorporated into training
workshops conducted at the prefectural or municipal level.
The AJG-CGE provides several types of training programs. Table
1.6
provides
examples of the most frequent training programs.
An elementary school teacher who participated in a training workshop pointed
out that the course entitled “Interpretation of topographical maps and work using a
literary work” improved her reading comprehension, but that it could also be used
as teaching material in Japanese. In Japanese schools, the study of topographical
maps often does not extend beyond memorizing map symbols and reading con-
tours. This approach is thought to effect a child's interest in the subject, leading
them to be “allergic” or averse to maps. The in-service training aims to revive chil-
dren's interest and is directed at supporting a wider use of topographical maps, for
example, when reading various literary works. This form of training is effective in
the sense of familiarizing trainees with those maps.
The course “Use of maps with a computer” includes content that may be consid-
ered introductory to Geographic Information System (GIS). Geography teachers in
elementary and junior high schools seldom have an opportunity to collect statistical
information on the Internet and create maps on computers; therefore, this type of
training helps them promote the use of computers in geography. In other words, the
course will lead to the diffusion of GIS.
