This study structurally clarifies a theoretical hypothesis that contributes to reflection concerning the process of creating an instructional design for foreign regional geographical education at the junior high school level, by explaining teachers’ experiences.　 The conventional teaching in regional geography has been criticized for its problem of tendency to fall into exhaustive and parallel teaching. The 2008 version of the government guidelines for teaching is expected to overcome the shortcoming, but many challenges lie in its implementation. None of the prior studies has presented the process commonly used by many teachers when creating an instructional design. We conducted interviews with 10 teachers in S Prefecture who were considered to excel in practical ability to teach social studies students in junior high school, and analyzed the obtained data using Modified Grounded Theory Approach. 　Our analysis was based on the data extracted from the statements of various teachers with rich experiences, rather than fragments of emotional talks by teachers, and follows analytical procedures. This allowed us to identify the following five categories: positive assessment of the revised version of the teaching guideline and awareness of its problems; reaffirmation of the learning philosophy; understanding of regional structures and the setting of the theme in consideration of the learning philosophy and students; creation of a story line for each unit of study, centering on the theme with special emphasis on the areas of students’ interest; and conflict between choices of teaching the theme and“making stronger points”. These five categories, 33 concepts and a resulting chart of the process together enabled the structural representation and visualization of the process for designing a class. An image of a teacher who positively assesses the current government guideline for teaching while recognizing its difficulties, and seeks an instructional design by focusing on the philosophy, the regional structures they teach, and the situations surrounding students, amongst various conflicts concerning the above, has become clear. 　The knowledge obtained by this research is expected to be utilized as an introspective viewpoint of the teachers. Reconciling it with how each teacher teaches his or her class allows us to understand the reality in their experience, and help promote our own self-reflection on teaching as well as constructing our improvement schemes. Furthermore, it will become possible that multiple teachers could compare their teaching experiences and discuss similarities and differences. Having such opportunities may lead to another opportunity for teaching exchanges; promotion of instructional research, including visits to each other’s classes, may be expected. 　Our future challenges include validation of our results against specific situation, and the accumulation of such data, provision of practical advice based on collaborative discussion among researchers and practitioners, and practical usage of the results of this study which further reveals the reality of the teachers’ experience.

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The goal of this paper is to clarify the purpose and characteristics of the introductory units of geography textbooks in England. Every English geography textbook contains an introductory unit that discusses the purpose of geographical education and the definition or features of the geography field. In this paper, we selected the introductory units of four geography textbooks and analyzed themes and activities represented therein. Each introductory unit contains learning content on “place (location),” “human and physical geography,” and “geographical skills.” Some also have content related to “environmental issues” or “environmental geography.” All the textbooks describe the purpose of geographical education clearly and present content from the perspective of geographers. Each introductory unit conveys the basic purpose of geographical education: understanding geography knowledge, acquisition of geography skills, understanding how to study geography, thinking about one’s future through a geography lens, and developing the ability to engage in active citizenship through geography learning. Analysis of introductory units revealed that: 1. Common points and differences between the four introductory units, discovered through an analysis of unit constitution and activities; and 2. Although all four geography textbooks are compliant with the “National Curriculum Geography for England,” each introductory unit presents various studies and activities that reflect various purposes of geography learning.

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