Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
junior high school. Teachers simply do not have enough time to improve the quality of
course instruction because they spend their time instructing extracurricular activi-
ties, addressing students' behavior outside school, and executing other school
responsibilities.
3
In examination papers, it is unlikely that senior high school stu-
dents are tested on investigations of a local area; instead, they answer questions
about reading a topographic map. As a result, most Social Studies teachers assume
that students would not have trouble answering questions about local area investiga-
tion if they master map reading. This assumption is incorrect and contributes to the
low implementation rate of fi eld research.
7.2.3
Senior High School
The National Curriculum Standards emphasize the implementation of outside fi eld-
work, not only in elementary and junior high schools but also in senior high schools.
The curriculum also expects that “students discover geographical phenomena by
themselves, set an agenda, and carry out an investigation by adjusting research
methods,” using “geographical tasks as outlined in Geography A (MEXT
2010
). For
Geography B, it also states in “various maps and geographical skills” that students
“must master geographical skills that conduct research on areas in which they can
investigate directly, using maps from various perspectives and capturing geographi-
cal characteristics of living space” (MEXT
2010
, p. 101).
Nonetheless, the implementation rate of fi eld research is unexpectedly low even
in senior high schools, despite the expectation that students at this level actively
engage in fi eld research. Low student participation was recorded in a 1990 survey,
with responses from 66 geography teachers at public senior high schools in Ehime
Prefecture. The fi ndings indicate that fi eld research was minimally implemented, if
at all. However, 29 teachers (44 %) said that they introduced fi eld research in their
classes (Shinohara
2001
). Field research in the prefecture was conducted in schools
from 1963 to 1981, when geography was a compulsory or compulsory elective
subject. Since then, however, many geography teachers have stopped conducting
fi eld research because they became very busy with a heavy schedule of school events,
and student guidance and career counseling (Shinohara
2001
). The most important
factor causing the decline of fi eld research was the diffi culty teachers have had incor-
porating it into the school curriculum since geography became an elective subject.
Therefore, the overall rate of fi eld research implementation (including excursions)
is low, although some geography teachers are dedicated to continue fi eld research,
as they believe that it reaps clear benefi ts.
3
According to a questionnaire survey of 67 junior high schools in Kagawa Prefecture in 1992, only
15 schools carried out fi eld research, and many merely asked students to read topographic maps
(Shinohara
2001
).
