A Study of Regional Problems in Systems Thinking: Through the Practice of Field Research

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to consider the effect of introduction of systems thinking to the geography class in high school. Recent year, systems approach has received the attention as the teaching methods about Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). When conducting regional investigations, it is possible to advance one's thoughts on how one's solutions influence each region if one sees regional issues using systems thinking. Without systems thinking, on the other hand, it may not be possible to advance one's thoughts beyond one-track perspectives and points of views that do not take into account the relationships between various sectors of specific regions. This paper starts by providing an overview of fieldwork as a regional investigation method from the perspective of geographical skills, based on its categories. Then it presents the target regions, provides reports on actual cases in class using systems thinking, and analyzes its positioning in the new course of study as well as questionnaires conducted on students who participated. As a result, it became clear that systems approach's string of findings is able to contribute to the new course of study of "Integrated Geography". It was also confirmed that the introduction of system thinking in finding and solving issues in geographical investigations is an effective method in Geography, which contributes greatly to ESD, as it provides perspectives for building of a sustainable society.