(no subject)
Whether or not Howard’s History Summit is a good or bad thing we might not know for a while yet, but surely all this focus on education is a good thing in itself. Many good things may come out of this summit, and if more students learn the lessons of history, the better.
But is all this attention focused solely on history a good thing? As Geoff Mosley in Monday’s The Australian letters page argues, geography and environmental studies don’t deserve to be pushed aside and neglected. These subjects have been sidelined in recent political and media debate, but they’re arguably just as important as history.
If history is the study of how our society came to be, and economics the study of what our society should and can be, then geography is the study of what it really is. A thorough understanding of the impacts humans have on their environment, and the many ways in which people interact both with their surroundings and each other, are essential components of education.
History can give us lots of lessons, and thoughtful interpretations of our identity and past, although it is quite prone to bias when taught. Economics is basically theory, and concerns the accumulation and distribution of material wealth, so is probably more prone to ideology than anything else - thus its reputation as the ‘dismal science.’ Subjects like geography and environmental studies, however, are relatively (although not completely) free from such undesirable influences, offering students a wealth of knowledge about the world and its people (ie, “don’t take my word for it, go out and see for yourself what’s happening”).
As we look to the future and address some of the bigger problems out world faces - poverty, uneven development, energy sustainability, demographic change, rural decline, water shortages, salinity and desertification, just to name a few - what school subjects will give Australia’s children the strong basis of understanding they need to make a difference in the future? English, maths or history? Or Geography?
Geography isn’t about reading maps (that’s cartography) or population statistics (that’s demography); it’s a broad-based, informative discipline. At school it’s even quite fun - NSW has a fantastic Higher School Certificate course, which ranges from the ecological impacts of development, to ‘global cities’ and ‘megacities’ throughout the world, to the analysis of economic activities such as tourism.
I have fond memories of high school geography - lots of class discussions, exciting (and smelly) field trips, discovering my interest in current affairs, making new friends, etc. Indeed, it’s given me a whole new perspective on the world, which is why I’m still studying it. There’s plenty of career opportunities too: urban planners, policy makers, coastal managers, scientists, consultants, public officials, resource economists, journalists… the list goes on!
Perhaps it’s just my thing, but geography is such a practical and useful subject that we’d be mad to neglect it in our focus on history subjects. That would be the same mistake as combining the two in the one course, starving both of the class time they each deserve (as some states have done, unfortunately). It’s about time the profile of geography was raised in schools throughout Australia, lest we lose sight of the bigger picture.
But is all this attention focused solely on history a good thing? As Geoff Mosley in Monday’s The Australian letters page argues, geography and environmental studies don’t deserve to be pushed aside and neglected. These subjects have been sidelined in recent political and media debate, but they’re arguably just as important as history.
If history is the study of how our society came to be, and economics the study of what our society should and can be, then geography is the study of what it really is. A thorough understanding of the impacts humans have on their environment, and the many ways in which people interact both with their surroundings and each other, are essential components of education.
History can give us lots of lessons, and thoughtful interpretations of our identity and past, although it is quite prone to bias when taught. Economics is basically theory, and concerns the accumulation and distribution of material wealth, so is probably more prone to ideology than anything else - thus its reputation as the ‘dismal science.’ Subjects like geography and environmental studies, however, are relatively (although not completely) free from such undesirable influences, offering students a wealth of knowledge about the world and its people (ie, “don’t take my word for it, go out and see for yourself what’s happening”).
As we look to the future and address some of the bigger problems out world faces - poverty, uneven development, energy sustainability, demographic change, rural decline, water shortages, salinity and desertification, just to name a few - what school subjects will give Australia’s children the strong basis of understanding they need to make a difference in the future? English, maths or history? Or Geography?
Geography isn’t about reading maps (that’s cartography) or population statistics (that’s demography); it’s a broad-based, informative discipline. At school it’s even quite fun - NSW has a fantastic Higher School Certificate course, which ranges from the ecological impacts of development, to ‘global cities’ and ‘megacities’ throughout the world, to the analysis of economic activities such as tourism.
I have fond memories of high school geography - lots of class discussions, exciting (and smelly) field trips, discovering my interest in current affairs, making new friends, etc. Indeed, it’s given me a whole new perspective on the world, which is why I’m still studying it. There’s plenty of career opportunities too: urban planners, policy makers, coastal managers, scientists, consultants, public officials, resource economists, journalists… the list goes on!
Perhaps it’s just my thing, but geography is such a practical and useful subject that we’d be mad to neglect it in our focus on history subjects. That would be the same mistake as combining the two in the one course, starving both of the class time they each deserve (as some states have done, unfortunately). It’s about time the profile of geography was raised in schools throughout Australia, lest we lose sight of the bigger picture.