Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

Research and PublicationsSoutheast Asia has a milieu of interesting ingredients that afford a range of researchinterests in geography. A significant number of geographers have been trained indifferent traditions outside the region, particularly in Europe, the North AmericanContinent, Australia and New Zealand. Significant influences can also be traced to thelinks Southeast Asian countries have with their past colonial countries. It is discerniblethat traditions from the French geography have influenced the way the subjectis organized and taught in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The British traditionshave to a large-extent influenced geography in Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar andBrunei Darussalam, while the American influence is discernible in the Philippines.In Thailand, although it had no colonial links, I think, the American influence ismore significant. Invariably, developments in the subject in these parts of the worldhave a direct trickle-down effect on geography in Southeast Asia.Given this variety of exposure, landscapes and cultures geography in SoutheastAsia should be a rich amalgam of influences and traditions. Unfortunately, thisis not the case, as the variety of national languages as mediums of instruction inschools and universities preclude not only this amalgamation, cross-fertilization ofthe discipline and research, but of contact and communication as well. This obstacleis slowing being eroded as more and more academics in the region become proficientin English. It would soon be feasible for a network to be formed to link geographersfrom within the region together like that of HERODOT.For geography in the region to move forward, there is an urgent need to know whatis going on in each of the ASEAN countries. This has been made possible throughpublications, and to a small extent, by the holding of the biennial Southeast AsianGeography Association (SEAGA) conferences since 1990. As regards publication,the more established international journals from the region are the Singapore Journalof Tropical Geography, The Malaysian Journal of Tropical Geography, Journal ofSoutheast Asian Studies, Asian Affairs, and Pacific Viewpoint. Apart from articlesin these journals and the sharing of research findings at conferences, books havealso been written and published on many aspects of geography in the region. Thereis considerable interest in research on the region by academics from outside, whotogether with indigenous colleagues have contributed a rich array of publications.Concluding remarksWhat then is the future and direction of geography education in Southeast Asia?The above discussion has shown that the subject is facing similar challenges as inthe developed countries. While still capitalizing on its intrinsic strengths geographymust also revitalize itself by aligning it to new developments in the world of place,technology, and educational reforms that are taking place in many Southeast Asiancountries. There is an urgent need in the world of the new millennium to build newgeographical imaginations (Massey, 1999). I cannot agree more with what Fitzhugh(1992) has articulated that we need to define geography; develop systematic, sequentialcurriculum; prepare geographically literate teachers; and develop tests whichassess more than memory recall. In light of recent educational reforms the teaching of135