13.07.2015 Views

Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

ole: they form attitudes, views, pr<strong>in</strong>ciples, and develop competences necessary forbe<strong>in</strong>g able to function <strong>in</strong> the contemporary world and <strong>in</strong> the adult life. One of these<strong>in</strong>terdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary pathways is Regional education – the cultural heritage of the region.This is undertaken from the fourth grade of primary school (2 nd stage of education)through to secondary school (4 th stage of education). It <strong>in</strong>cludies teach<strong>in</strong>g aboutregional contents at all levels of teach<strong>in</strong>g and <strong>in</strong>dicates how important their realisationis for Polish education system. The chief goals of the regional pathway are:• provid<strong>in</strong>g pupils with the knowledge from the fields of: nature, economy, andculture (<strong>in</strong> the historical as well as present-day contexts;• help<strong>in</strong>g pupils <strong>in</strong> creat<strong>in</strong>g their own system of values;• prepar<strong>in</strong>g them for perform<strong>in</strong>g social roles and for mature life <strong>in</strong> the regional,national, and European structures;• develop<strong>in</strong>g of the sense of be<strong>in</strong>g a part of regional, national, and European communities;• shap<strong>in</strong>g of a patriotic attitude towards their region and country;• stimulat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> culture and tradition <strong>in</strong> the scale of the region, the country,Europe, and the world;• develop<strong>in</strong>g respect and tolerance for otherness <strong>in</strong> the aspect of religion, language,culture, and tradition of other ethnic groups (Piwońska, 2001).The subject matter of the regional pathway comb<strong>in</strong>es the contents that are part of anumber of different subjects: history, the Polish language, civil education, geography,biology, as well as music and arts. Because of the <strong>in</strong>terdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary character of theregional pathway, it is implemented by different teachers, either as a constituent oftheir mother subject, or <strong>in</strong> the form of other activities, such as excursions, contestsand projects which are aimed at <strong>in</strong>tegrat<strong>in</strong>g contents from many areas.The role of school geography <strong>in</strong> shap<strong>in</strong>g a regional identity<strong>Geography</strong> is significantly <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> implement<strong>in</strong>g regional education. The groundsfor this are, among others, provided <strong>in</strong> the guidel<strong>in</strong>es of The International Charter ofGeographical <strong>Education</strong> (1992), accord<strong>in</strong>g to which, ”Regional Studies select fromthe follow<strong>in</strong>g areas: local community, home region, home country[…]”, as well asthe decades of tradition of the Polish school of geography. Polish geographers andeducationalists over a hundred years ago postulated that the elementary knowledgeof the subject be based on observ<strong>in</strong>g one’s own environs. In 1921, Sawicki <strong>in</strong> hisbook ”Metodyka geografii…” („The Methodology of <strong>Geography</strong>…”), wrote: „Letus beg<strong>in</strong> to teach geography from the very bases, from the th<strong>in</strong>gs most immediateto children, that is from what they know.”.In Poland, the first stage of geographical education takes place at primary school.At that stage geography does not appear as a separate subject, but constitutes partof science that comb<strong>in</strong>es the contents of geography, biology, chemistry, and physicsto present a complete and coherent picture of the environment, as well as the relationshipbetween the environment and human life and activity. A significant partof geographical contents <strong>in</strong> “science” refers to the immediate surround<strong>in</strong>gs of the278

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!