Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 5.5 Pages from Social Studies (geography area) textbook for junior high school (section
entitled “Characteristics of natural resources and industry: Energy production and consumption in
Japan”) (Nakamura et al. 2012 )
5.3.3.2
Geography and Textbooks in Senior High School
In senior high education, geography belongs to the Geography and History subject
category, and there are two subjects, Geography A and Geography B. Geography A
is two credits, consisting of 70 lesson hours (two lesson hours per week). Geography
B is four credits and 140 lesson hours (four lesson hours per week).
The common goals of these subjects are to consider various geographical issues
in the world, to cultivate geographic points of view and ways of thinking, and to
develop awareness for living responsibly in global society. The difference between
these subjects is the approach to teaching. In Geography A, teachers impart charac-
teristics of world regions, whereas Geography B teachers explain geographic phe-
nomena using theories of systematic geography or by using regional geographic
points of view.
The difference in these approaches is refl ected in the content of each textbook.
In the textbook of Geography A, many types of lifestyles across the world are
explained from the viewpoint of landscape, climate, industry, and cultural differ-
ences. Many topics overlap with content in junior high school geography (Table 5.6 ).
The big difference between these two geography subjects is how phenomena
observed in the world are explained. In the Geography A textbook, many pictures of
Search WWH ::




Custom Search