Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

the efficacy of the teaching and learning action. It gives a clear idea of the methodsused and the level of updating on new resources that has taken place.The results of this enquiry reinforce the first hypothesis. The most commoninstrument in the Geography classroom is the textbook: 95% chose the book as anessential guide. At some distance from this maps were second stated by 68% of theteachers, indeed three of the respondents did not even recognise the use of maps atall!; newspapers and journals were selected in the third place. The overwhelminguse of the textbook as the main tool could be interpreted in different ways. On theone hand, a textbook facilitates lesson planning; it gives security on the content andsuggests appropriated activities; in conclusion, somebody (the author) “thought” inadvance for the teacher. On the other, the use of a textbook could be interpreted asa solution for feeling secure when placed in the situation where the teacher doesn’tfeel confident in teaching a subject. Taking into account the fact that most of theteachers consulted were not trained as geographers, the textbook could be helpful intheir work, although the use of a textbook, doesn’t mean necessarily that teachers donot use other resources and combine them. In our research, the textbook constitutedalmost the fundamental resource and thus the teachers gave it the maximum mark.The enquiry provided teachers with a list of many other possibilities, for exampleoverhead transparencies, slides, Internet, GIS, Webquests, Video and DVD recordings.Some of these options were almost unknown: Webquests (0%), GIS (0%)Internet (3%), transparencies (9%). Only Video and DVD were marked in the 35%of the answers. In the case of GIS, 54% of teachers did not even know the meaningof the term.The place of Geography in education: teacher’s opinionsGeography has not been a separate subject in general schooling in Spain since 1972.Very few teachers can remember how it was before this time, since they have beeneducated under the new system. There are many strong reasons to maintain the inclusionof Geography as part of a more global subject in Primary education. Childrenshould be introduced to the discovery of the real world through cross-curricularsubjects which have proved to be more flexible and efficient in the learning process.In the case of Lower Secondary level though, the arguments sustaining the inclusionof Geography in a broader curricular area need to be questioned. In any case, thefact that Geography does not have a relevant position in upper Secondary school,certainly contributes to the low profile of Geography when it comes to studentsapplying for University courses.The last part of the survey asked the teachers to mark their level of agreementwith three propositions:• the inclusion of Geography in the Social Studies area,• the possibility of Geography as a separate subject and• the contribution of Geography to citizenship education.The answers were very similar: 100% of them were absolutely positive about theinclusion of Geography in Social Sciences area and thus they were clearly against thesegregation of Geography. “Geography has to be integrated with History; it provides226