Improvement of Teaching Geography in a Part-time Senior High School : Problem and their Solution with Special Reference to the Completion of Elementary Skills

Abstract

The part-time senior high school is gradually changing its nature. Night schools for working youths are becoming what is called a "saucer" to absorb spillover students from day schools. At the same time they are also places which absorbs not only students of low scholastic abmty, but also students who refuse to attend school, have lost their parents, are unstable in mind and body, or have become handicapped. In this paper the author would like to report on his practices in geography lessons in which he has tried to arouse interest, and expectations in students, and in which he wants his students to become aware of changes of circumstances in their own region. Four "pillars" for classroom practice are described; that is, working study using "handmade" print, the confirmation and building up of elementary skills, excursions, and the learning of place names. There have been few studies on elementary skius in geography. So-called elementary skius are not just mental faculty and knowledge, but skius which can get over what is psychologically called "the wall of age ume" caused by a delay m the practical experiences of life for the child. The sumrnary of this paper is as follows: 1. In the working study, "handmade" prints are distributed in every class hour in parallel with the text book. A sheet of printed material is given to each student and also a hint is given to students so that they can guess an answer and write them in parentheses. Answer sheets are presented to the teacher. In commentary on the correct answers, the teacher fumishes date which is interesting to the students. 2. Conceming elementary skills, the teacher tries to make students understand the difference between various life styles in the Odawara districts, to make students draw a road map of companies, offices and school; to make students write geographical descriptions of the Ashigara district in Kanagawa Prefecture; to make students prepare for a test on the place narnes of cities, towns, and villages, urban and rural districts, current topics, and the geographical description of special products in Japan. It is important for us to understand that elementary skills cannot be built up simply by the repetition of the lessons of primary school. 3. The theme of the excursion is the flooding of the Sakawa River and the utilization of underground water. The purpose of the excursion is to give students a living and practicai geographical lesson. 4. It is important that the learning of place names not be carried out by memory work only, but be of practical use, giving the place names of cities, towns, villages, and Prefectures, and the origin of the place names. The basic principles of gergraphy lessons in the part-time high school are not the preparation of students for entrance to university. Emphasis must be on the unit leaming of practicai matters. The above example of the practice in iessons will be useful for part-time high schools in the process of rapid change.