This symposium was organized to discuss the findings of the Second Geography Education Committee of the Association of Japanese Geographers under the joint auspices of The Japanese Association of Professional Geographers. Today we face very serious global problems such as environmental pollution and changing international relations, which must be important themes in geography education. Many geographic educators in Japan, however, have not learned how to present these issues and problems in a geography class. The members of the Second Geography Education Committee examined and discussed three themes initially, and then the findings were presented and discussed in this symposium as follows. (The names followed by asterisks are those of the authors who served as reporters.)
(1) K. Yoshida
* and H. Iwamoto: The significance of place-name study in the classroom: a pilot survey of place-name recognition among the public (“non-geographers”)
The authors surveyed through questionnaires 200 adults regarding place-names in Japan which are recognized as essentiall learning for students in compulsory education. Almost all respondents answered that students should learn the names of the four big islands, the eight regions and the forty-three prefectures of Japan. As a consequence, they concluded that the minimum essentials of place-names, which would be extracted by a full-scale survey, should be included in a geography curriculum. On the other hand, T. Ohtani commented that it was inappropriate to pick out and discuss only place-names without further context. He emphasized that it is very important for geographic educators to consider what to teach in a geography class. While some participants agreed with him, others said that minimum essentials of place-names should be taught.
(2) N. Tanikawa
* and A. Ohno: How geographic educators can contribute to environmental education
The authors emphasized that many geographic educators have dealt with environmental pollution in their classes, while professional geographers have not discussed this issue in academic geography. According to their opinion, students can appreciate the environment and even develop a sense of environmentalism after attaining an understanding of the mechanisms of nature and society. They therefore suggested that geographic educators can promote environmental education through teaching both physical and human geography in their geography classes. M. Nakayama commented that students can understand the environment through the landscape when considering the relationship between nature and human life. Many participants were involved with the discussion of how geography education could contribute to environmental education. Some others pointed out that many professional geographers did not join in on discussions of the environmental issues.
(3) Y. Nishiwaki
* and K. Hirasawa: Cross-cultural understanding in geography education The authors suggested that geographic educators should help students develop their world view in the context of a world geography class. This is even more important in today's world since students receive an increasing amount of information regarding different world regions through the mass media. It therefore behooves geographic educators to assume a more active role in clarifying and developing these initial, incomplete and sometimes misleading impressions presented to children through mass media. In their opinion, it is necessary for students to view cultural differences with a sympathetic understanding. This is especially true now since developments in various regions of the world have global implications. In short, people worldwide are becoming increasingly influenced by international events. It was also emphasized that geographic educators should foster a greater student awareness of cultural conflicts and changes common to various societies in the world.
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