Moving at the Speed of Creativity

Geographic literacy

Published by Wesley Fryer in geography on September 16th, 2006

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As a geographer and a geography lover, I was delighted to discover “My Wonderful World” today. Sponsored by the National Geographic Society, one of three organizations of which I am a lifetime member, the site is a fantastic, free resource for helping students of all ages develop better geographic literacy. According to the About page of the website:

Geography is more than places on a map. It’s global connections and incredible creatures. It’s people and cultures, economics and politics. And it’s essential to understanding our interconnected world.

But sadly, our kids aren’t getting enough of it. A new National Geographic-Roper survey shows half of young Americans can’t locate world powers like Japan and India. Twenty percent can’t even find the Pacific Ocean. Without geography, our children aren’t ready for the world.

That’s why we started My Wonderful World. It’s a National Geographic-led campaignâ€”backed by a coalition of major national partnersâ€”to expand geographic learning in school, at home, and in the community. We want to give our kids the power of global knowledge.

As these paragraphs state, geography is SO MUCH MORE than just “place location.” Unfortunately, many people (at least those who are products of many US schools) think of just states and capitals when they hear “geography.” Too often we see and hear “man on the street” interviews asking questions like “Where is Djibouti?” and again, think of geography as just place location.

Geography does include place location, but it is so much more. I took the “National Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy” and wasn’t too surprised by the types of questions asked– but it was a bit shocking to see that so many people missed the question, “What language is spoken by the most people on our planet?”

Most people thought the answer was English! There’s perhaps an example of ethnocentrism, from the English speakers taking this online quiz. Yes, one in five people on our planet are Chinese, and no, most of them do NOT speak English!

The “For Educators” section of My Wonderful World is superb. I love their top ten ways to “Give Your Students the World:”

Show students that geography is everywhere.
Bring it up.
Find global connections close to home.
Explore the planet using technology.
Make geography part of every subject.
Make it extracurricular.
Connect students with people from other countries and cultures.
Help students envision their futures.
Go there!
Sign up for the My Wonderful World e-newsletter.

I especially love numbers 5, 7 and 8. One of my favorite things to do during workshops now is use Google Earth to make a geography/information connection. I favor a fairly broad sampling of core courses for all students in K-12 schools, because I think kids need to be introduced to a wide range of perspectives and possibilities. Of course I am biased (as we all are) as a geographer, but I really think the “lens” of the geographer is something we should try to help all students and teachers develop. For me, this means there are so many different aspects to an issue, problem, or phenomena that contribute to it. The world is complex, and few things are simple. As I geographer, I think I revel in the complexities of the world and celebrate them, even as I seek to better understand and share about them. Thanks to National Geographic and its partners for sponsoring this GREAT website, I definitely will be back for more, probably first to play more games! This site is so good, I’ve even added a graphical link to it in my blog sidebar!

This is another great example of free digital curriculum!

On this day..

2 Comments »

http://www.learningismessy.com/blog Brian Crosby

Wes – yes geography is yet another casualty of our current path in education. Unfortunetly, there are so many casualties – art, PE, science, social studies, drama, among others, that if you ARE willing to buck the system you have to decide which one or two of those you think will have the deepest impact on students’ lives and try to at least do some work on those. So far this year I seem to have more options, but there’s that constant fear that the other shoe will drop at the next staff meeting.
http://www.thinkgeography.org.uk Tim Manson

Wes, again some great thoughts and a cry for Geography to get the status it deserves as a discipline in US schools. As a Geography teacher in the UK, we are starting to worry that Geography is losing its place and improtance as an academic and social discipline. Gradually bits get swallowed into sciences and social sciences. Hopefully we do not end up following the US down the ‘Geography is just general knowledge’ tack.

In fact, your post remided me that when i was in Boston for the BLC conference this year i gave up introducing myself to people as a Geography teacher as folks had no idea what that actually involved. I ended up refering to myself as a teacher of that subject that we have that you don’t!