Regional geographical education plays an important role both in developing geographical skills by exploring the places and the various lives of human beings, thinking about their physical and human features comprehensively, and in promoting citizenship by thinking about how we should live and what the society should be. It should not end only with an understanding of the regional characteristics of the places.
The author examined the content and viewpoints on teaching about foreign countries by studying the geographical education system in England, “Geography in the National Curriculum for England”. This included observing geography lessons at school in England and talking with the teachers, and examining textbooks of geography for key stage 3. In England, geography lessons are expected to enable the pupils to think about environmental problems and the north-south problem and contribute to the promotion of citizenship.
In conclusion, he found that the following points are vital;
1. Thinking about the relationship between human beings and their environments and that among the places that influence the various lives of human beings from four view points; regional varieties and differences, sustainable development, interdependence, and sympathetic understanding.
2. Studying both less economically developed countries and more economically developed countries.
3. Studying each country by using different scales of enquiry, including the actual lives of the people at a local scale.
4. Viewing each country comprehensively by thinking about to what extent it is developed, followed by exchanging opinions among the pupils.
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