Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

geographical societies if geography became a university discipline. The politicalinfluential members of the geographical societies saw, however, a broader role for thediscipline; it could fulfil a role which- like that of history- was essential for the newgeneration in the epoch of nation building (Capel 1981). Further it was rather usefulin a period of colonial expansion. The anarchist geographers Kropoptkin and Reclus,however, argued for the discipline as an aid to mutual international understanding,an argument that suits us better today.At the end of the 19 th century both geography and history was given a position inschool curricula, but their relative positions in the educational system largely cameto depend on the degree to which it was history or geography that seemed mostuseful in building up the idea of national identity. Norway had no disputed borders,but national identity building during the union of crowns with Sweden 1814−1905was fostered by teaching about the glorious history of Viking times and the preciousliberal constitution of 1814. Hence history came to dominate over geography withmany weekly hours of teaching at gymnasium level. Finland, on the other hand, whichalso experienced in the same period a union of crowns with Tsarist Russia, lackedthe legacy of a glorious history and the border of spoken Finnish and Finnish typesof agricultural practice became of more importance; in the Finnish liberation processthe Atlas of Finland (first edition in 1899) was an important medium. Geographybecame an important discipline in Finnish school system as it also became in the UKschool system. Quite interesting today is the building of national identities that istaking place in the Baltic states; there are striking differences between Lithuania inparticular and Estonia. Lithuania can point to a glorious past; the technical universityin Vilnius is named after the medieval leader Gediminas and the country uses muchmoney to rebuild medieval palaces that are only traced as patches in the ground.Estonia, on the other hand, cannot point to any glorious past as they were ruled byothers from medieval times. National identity has to be built more on geography, onthe language, folk songs, dances and customs linked to the common people attachedto the land. Estonia has the same background as Finland, Lithuania more the Norwegian.This new nation building may, however, not have any bearing on the attractionof geography and history as university disciplines.On 4. Whether the discipline has been maintained as a united discipline or notseems to be one factor that can explain growth and decline in recent years. In Denmarkgeography was lost as a discipline when university education was separated in humanand physical geography in the 1960s; both were simply closed down. And Finnishgeography seems to flourish as a united discipline. The division in human andphysical geography in Sweden and in Oslo in Norway seems, however, to prosperin academic terms. My concern is that geography as such is not ‘understood’ by themedia due to this division; and thus it is easier for media people to consult sociologistsor geologists.On 5 and 6. Not all can, however, be blamed on the educational system and thelegacy of institutionalisation; to a large extent development has also been promotedor reduced due to the activities and choices by disciplinary leaders. A successfulstart of a discipline often depends on the brilliance of the first appointed professors.143