Geography explains the past, illuminates the present, and

prepares us for the future. What could be more important

than that?
Michael Palin, President of the Royal Geographical Society,
2009-2012.
Young people from a very early age have an inquisitiveness to
know about the worlds diversity and appreciate the biophysical
and human characteristics of different places and regions. The
strength of geography lies in bridging this curiosity in a scientific
manner and study. The world is fast changing and resources both
natural and physical are depleting at a pace that poses far too
many threats and questions than there are answers. These
problems do not have quick-fix solutions as these solutions
involve strategies that are usually long-term in character.
Therefore, the teaching of geography in schools will help students
explore relationships and connections between people and both
natural and cultural environments. The development of
understanding of these concepts will allow students to participate
as critical, active, informed and responsible citizens.
In India a small section of students pursue geography at postsecondary level of education. Career opportunities and pathways
in geography need to be stressed upon. The role of geographers
especially in the fields of - urban and regional planning, industrial
location and marketing, environmental monitoring and resource
management, community development at home and abroad, and
as researchers, analysts, consultants, technologists and planners
would help students broaden their outlook and develop a deeper
awareness of how geographers shape our world.
The ability to collect, sample and analyze data is becoming
increasingly important in geography. Technological advances has
made geography an interdisciplinary field of study. Global
positioning devices on Earth along with government and
commercial satellites greatly increase the accuracy and amount
of geographic data available today. To process data at high speed
and accuracy newer Geographic Information System (GIS)

software are being continuously developed. This technology

creates new career possibilities for people who understand
geography and who can process and use geographic information.

Teaching geography in schools

Geography is at once one of the most important of school
subjects and one of the most difficult to teach. There is a claim
from geography for a place in the curriculum, not because it pays,
but because we cannot have an education worth the name
without geography.
Fairgrieve 1926
Fairgrieves influence on geography teachers continued through
the generations. Scarfe, Honeybone a student of Scarfe, and
Graves a student of Honeybone, each respectively head of
geography at the largest university school of education. Their
teachings based on maxims that one should teach:
from the known to the unknown;
from the simple to the complex;
from the indefinite to the definite (an unexpected reversal
here);
from the particular to the general.
Geography without fieldwork is like science without
experiments; the field is the geographic laboratory
where young people experience at first hand landscapes,
places, people and issues, and where they can learn and
practice geographical skills in a real environment. Above
all, fieldwork is enjoyable.
(Bland, Chambers, Donert and Thomas 1996: 165).
Geography, unlike most other subjects, has a spatial perspective.
This spatial component makes it interesting as well as complex

when it comes to taking it to the classrooms and beyond. Thus,

making fieldwork an essential element to experimental and
experiential learning in natural settings and places.
Graves has outlined the method and techniques for teaching
geography in schools in a systematic and simple style.
Methods of teaching Geography
A Verbal learning and real understanding
B Guidance and discovery in learning Geography
C Thinking in Geography
Techniques of teaching Geography
A Classroom techniques
(i) The oral lesson using a textbook and atlas
(ii) The non-oral working lesson
(iii) The use of medium- and large-scale maps
(iv) Using pictures and photographs
(v) The use of other audio visual aids
(vi) The case study approach
(vii) The transformation of data
(viii) Games and stimulation
(ix) Programmed learning
B Fieldwork techniques
(i) Types of fieldwork in the lower secondary school
(ii) Investigations in the upper secondary school
The methods and techniques of teaching Geography:
Source: Graves (1971).