A plausible argument to advance Geography programmes in schools.
Daniel Sundaram
Geography teacher, Mallya Aditi International School, Bengaluru
The first thing that we probably learn as Geography students in school is that ‘Geo’ means Earth and ‘graphy’ means the description of.
But if we limit the study of Geography to only the description of the Earth, we fail our children by not letting them see the entire multidisciplinary scope that it has to offer. From the where we are to the colour of our skin, why a tree is where it is or why the sky is the way it is, all this is based on our understanding of Geography. To quote, “Starting from the smallest adaptation, to the largest interaction, all at our home we call Earth”, probably sums it up. If you don’t believe this, let’s start by going back to the basics of Geography!
The importance of Geography as a spatial science amongst many others, is required today as it always was, be it to get around the city or in understanding migration of people and animals.
Being a dynamic subject, it is an ever-expanding body of knowledge, that feeds into our understanding of the world on the outset, and helps us relate and respond to changes and interactions. Geography thus automatically lends itself to better understand other disciplines such as physics-Geophysics, political-Political Geography, decisions, policy, Biology-Biogeography to mention a few.
In schools, the effective use of a textbook can be very helpful. But alongside that, with Geography being a spatial study, much of it can be learned through observation, projects, activities, and interaction not only with your teacher.
With the developing technology and progressing requirements, are schools and educators equipping our children with better Geography content and skills to create, and live in a better tomorrow?
To quote Robert Macfarlane, “A basic language-literacy of nature is falling from us.”
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