Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

overruled by the judge and some sustained. The trial ended almost three hours afterits commencement.The foreman of the jury announced that the jury found the humans guilty on allcharges and the judge sentenced them accordingly.ConclusionsIf we divide this project in two parts, one being the pre-trial part and the second thetrial itself then, we can distinguish the advantages and disadvantages that derivefrom the theme (pre-trial part) and the procedure (trial).The pre-trial part: The pre-trial part was a very productive period for the pupils.A two-way relationship was established between the teacher and the pupils. Theylearned how to use the available sources, extract the appropriate information andeven how to present them to an audience in a more attractive way. They learned howto work in teams and what were the benefits from working as a member of a team.They found out that they can acquire more knowledge when working as a team,learning from what the rest of the members have found. So all the members thinkabout and discuss everyone’s findings.The trial part: The pupils respond better whenever the teacher gives them thechance to have an active role and simulate real life while learning. Many pupilsacted like real lawyers and searched intensively for information in order to supporttheir ideas. The pupils learned how to debate and to respect the opinion of the otherseven if they don’t agree. That means they learned to listen to the arguments of theopposite side, and find evidence to invert this. They learnt that they have to filtereach piece of information they read or hear before they form their own opinion ortake a decision.Disadvantages: The trial lasted too long. That was due to the many topics andteams that were involved (ten topics and ten teams). Each team wanted to present itsevidence, which was very reasonable. The schedule of a project such as this shouldforesee this problem and put from the beginning time restrictions on the teams.The teams and the topics could be fewer, and they could be asked to focus on theirevidence instead of making long introductions. The pupils didn’t make a summaryof what they read, they copied whole pages from books and read them in the trial.This, combined with no time restrictions, made the trial last too long.The student teachers: The student teachers involved in the project found theprocedure very interesting, innovative and productive. The pupils, in their effort tosupport their findings, came closer to the teacher. The teacher co-operated with eachof the students and had the opportunity to realize which pupil is interested in whatand how the pupil works in order to achieve his/her objectives.References1. Greek Official Gazette 1366. 2001. v. ?, 18-10-2001, Geography (in Greek).2. Greek Official Gazette 1375. 2001. v. ?, 18-10-2001, Geography (in Greek).51