My Wonderful World is asking geography supporters across the United States to take a moment to send a quick email to their elected officials, asking them to support geographic education. The My Wonderful World team has made it easy by preparing and email and when you enter in your information, they will automatically send it to the appropriate representatives. Please take a moment to support geography by sending a quick note!
Tell Your Elected Officials to Support Geography!
By Matt Rosenberg, About.com GuideFebruary 19, 2009
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People know geography because they want to know. Try to find people who can name all the states bordering their own. “But nobody taught me that.” Poor baby, we have failed you so let’s get you into a program.
Some time ago I read where most Baltimore high school seniors couldn’t find France on a map of the world. Almost half of the students at a Texas University couldn’t name the country south of Texas. I can tell you it didn’t used to be like this. We have become a nation of ignoramuses.
As to teaching geography, what self-esteem classes are you going to eliminated to make room and where are you going to get the teachers. Typically the Teachers College of a university has the statistically dumbest students. How many of them can find France on the globe?
Thanks for the original posting, Matt.
The first response is not very constructive, however. Why would one assume that geography should be self-taught? The same is not said of math, biology, or other subject. Geographic ignorance is the result of decades of having it rolled into something vaguely called social studies. No need to bash the teachers themselves — they simply are not taught to teach geography.
Anyone who wants to take a constructive approach might wish to visit http://mywonderfulworld.org/.
Hey Matt,
Thanks for the props! So far we have had nearly 4000 emails sent out to our representatives, and this Thursday, I am personally going to the Hill with about 58 university professors to explain to our representatives why geography matters. Keep up the good work and the great blog!
Cameron for My Wonderful World
For nearly twenty years, my students have been getting heavy geography lessons in my Spanish classes. For most of middle and high school students, world language classes are the only place they get any kind of in-depth connection between physical geography, culture, history and language. To quote an old NatGeo bumpersticker: Without Geography, you’re NOWHERE! Best of luck with My Wonderful World’s efforts. I have forwarded the info to every teacher I know!
I like to say that geography is not just about finding the places in the globe as most people visualize it. It is actually far more than that, it’s knowing the world politically, culturally, economically and most of all intimately.
So go deep into it and you will find all the the stuffs in it with clear facts..
Doctor Bohanan wrote: The first response (its happens to be mine)is not very constructive, however. Why would one assume that geography should be self-taught? The same is not said of math, biology, or other subject.
Because an area of developpment or knowledge is not taught as an academic subject does not relegate it to being (derisively) “self-taught.” Those in the school business tend to think education = schooling, and suppose others do too. The two greatest things we learn are how to walk and language.
Math and biology (his examples) are seldom on the news broadcasts, seldom in computer games, movies or conversation. Without schooling I might not know the quadratic formula or anything about a plant cell. I would know the continents, the oceans and many seas, the states of the union, the major rivers, location of dozens of countries and many thousands of facts about the people of the world and how they live, what they grow, etc.
I happen to be a victim of the Harold Rugg revolution in education, 1930′s, – which meant the demise of History and geography teaching, to be replaced by “Social Science.”
But we have geography on the front page of every newspaper every day, every newscast, on many TV programs, many novels, games, movies, etc. Only a very dull person without curiosity who doesn’t give a damn will fail to learn much geography with or without a formal course.
Paritosh says:
“I like to say that geography is not just about finding the places in the globe as most people visualize it. It is actually far more than that, it’s knowing the world politically, culturally, economically and most of all intimately.”
So go deep into it and you will find all the the stuffs in it with clear facts.”
Ok, this is what you “like to say.” Like to say? So what does “like to say” have to do with anything?
If one can’t locate the continents and coutries, etc. everything else is so much BS. First learn the “alphabet” of geography. Knowing “intimatly” sounds like so much teacher college crap to me.