Required Blog: EDSE 647 Book Review
As an alternate route teacher placed within a critical needs school, I tend to critique everything I read, hear, or research about education in a different, negative light. I always say to myself pessimistically, “That would never work in my class,” or, “My kids are not even close to being on that level,” about everything I come across while searching for some form of assistance when it comes to teaching secondary social studies. The truth of the matter is, many of my problems would, and could be solved, if only my students were at the level of mastery that they should be. Although there is no necessary need to panic, it is a constant struggle when matching and attempting to master frameworks, presenting alternative assessments, and especially, simply teaching the national geography standards that I am being paid by the state of Mississippi to at least try and do. I repeat; it is a constant struggle.
I was thrown into an under-funded, under-privileged, and lest not forget, under-managed school, after only two months of summer training and four years of under-graduate study in the field of political science. I was told two weeks before I started my full time teaching job, that I would be teaching Introduction to World Geography, to one hundred and fifty ninth graders for six hours a day, in one hundred minute blocks. The challenge was set. I only had a few days or so to set up my classroom and begin planning lessons, as I had just moved to the city where I would be teaching in, one week prior. Upon cleaning, arranging, and sorting through all of the junk left in my classroom by the previous teacher, I came across some decent, semi-helpful material including stacks upon stacks of unorganized worksheets, tests, and other various forms of assessments. By far, the most helpful piece of educational material I came across was a 1994 edition of the National Geography Standards: Geography for Life. I quickly began thumbing through the neglected book stowed in the bottom drawer of the main desk in the room, and began preparing for what at least seemed to be, one hell of an upcoming year.
The tag line alone would grab any teacher’s attention: “What Every Young American Should Know and Be Able to Do in Geography." (Geography, 3) The lack of previous knowledge, and other various levels of required basic material mastery within the field of social studies, quickly became evident with the students. Within a few weeks of teaching, any teacher could sense that this would be an enormous obstacle to overcome. To begin, even the definition of geography, as stated in the National Geography Standards, seemed overwhelming for students of this caliber. “Geography is the science of space and place on Earth’s surface. Its subject matter is the physical and human phenomena that make up the world’s environments and places. Geographers describe the changing patterns of places in words, maps, and geo-graphics, explain how these patterns come to be, and unravel their meaning.” (Geography, 1) As stated previously, this would be a feat to overcome, after only a few weeks of teaching. After all, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and other basic knowledge from previous core classes was clearly missing. The tag line was looking more and more impossible to successfully achieve as time slowly pressed on. Even still, when it comes to teaching, let alone successfully encompassing an individual component of geography, the text mentions that, “Mastering any single component of geography is not equivalent to mastering geography.” (Geography, 30)
Aside from the interrelated objectives, the National Geography Standards is quite complex compared to the state frameworks provided. Perhaps the reason being, is that Mississippi is the lowest scoring state in the union on every level of subject mastery when it comes to state testing. For example, throughout the standards for grades 9-12, and especially the section focused on places and regions, the National Geography Standards states that, “By the end of the twelfth grade, the student knows and understands: That people create regions to interpret Earth’s complexity.” (Geography, 190) It mentions earlier that regions are best demonstrated by geographers dividing the world into areas for various study (154). The text contradicts itself at times, and seems to unnecessarily add to teacher, student, and researcher confusion. The complexity is vast, and easily seen from its yearly issuance of standards for students to successfully complete.
While this book of standards could be implemented over the course of an entire elementary, middle, or high school stay, it’s contents dealing with student achievement in geography and leading students to think geographically in a broad sense, alone, would take years to implement. Much of this, of course, deals with the previous disservices received. If these competencies were completed throughout the state in the sequence put forth by the National Geography Standards, then the goals would be more realistic. Until then, idealistic seems a better fit.
Bednarz, Sarah Witham. National Geography Standards: Geography for Life. 1994.
National Geographic Research and Exploration. Washington, D.C.
