Unit Plan of Map Learning for Developing Students’ New Perspective of Society and Critical Thinking Skills

By Overcoming the “Trap of Constructionism Approach”

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to develop the unit plan to introduce new perspective of society by criticizing the unit plan "Considering maps, could you think what's the map?" developed by Dr. Ikeno (Hiroshima University), and other graduate students in Hiroshima University in 2004.

Their unit plan is the epoch-making plan of map learning. Usually, the unit plan of map learning is based on the copy-theory of map. But their plan depends on the composition-theory of map. Dr. Ikeno explained the merit of this. He said their unit plan can change not only the students' perspectives of the map, but also the students' perspectives of society. The students who studied this unit plan would be able to understand that everything in society is constructed by someone with the latent intention, he said.

I thin their unit plan is not enough to change the perspectives of society and develop critical thinking skills. Their unit plan does not include the viewpoint that map is one of the media that reproduce ideology. If students know maps have the function of the ideological reproduction, it is easier for the students to discover the function of the ideological reproduction included in others in society. We need to develop a new map learning unit plan with the viewpoints of ideological reproduction theory.