This book presents the core concepts of geographical education as a means of understanding global issues from a spatial perspective. It treats education, supported by high standards, approaches, methodologies, and resources, as essential in exploring the interactions of the world’s human and environmental systems at local, regional, and global scales embedded in the nature of the discipline of geography. It covers topics such as climate change, sustainable development goals, geopolitics in an uncertain world, global crisis, and population flows, which are of great interest to geography researchers and social sciences educators who want to explore the complexity of contemporary societies. Highly respected scholars in geography education answer questions on key topics and explain how global understanding is considered in K-12 education in significant countries around the globe. The book discusses factors such as the Internet, social media, virtual globes and other technological developments that provide insights into and visualization – in real time – of the intensity of relationships between different countries and regions of the earth. It also examines how this does not always lead to empathy with other political, cultural, social and religious values: terrorism threats and armed conflicts are also essential features of the global world. This book opens the dialogue for global understanding as a great opportunity for teachers, educators, scholars and policy makers to better equip students and future citizens to deal with global issues.

This book informs an international audience of teachers, scholars and policymakers about the development of learning progressions for primary and secondary geography education in various countries and regions of the world. The book represents an important contribution to learning progressions research and practice. The different chapters explore how curriculum standards and frameworks in different countries portray progress and sophistication in the learning of geography. The book compares educational systems and how teachers and curriculum developers use the concept of “learning progression” to guide educational practices. As an approach to educational research, learning progressions offer considerable potential for understanding how children develop understanding of geographic concepts and practices across grade bands and in relation to national geography standards. The book analyzes the general conditions of learning progressions within the context of a globalized world. Important themes are addressed such as: knowledge acquisition in formal education; measuring learning progressions in informal settings; learning progressions for one curriculum standard or several standards; conditions to assess progression in the learning of facts, concepts, and skills; and multiple pathways for understanding or learning geography. The contributing authors are experienced scientists in the field from all around the world giving specific insights into the practices of their countries. The book appeals to K-12 teachers, school administrators, policymakers, researchers in geography education, professors and lecturers at universities around the world.

This book outlines how good teaching of primary geography can extend children′s world awareness and help them make connections between their environmental and geographical experiences. Chapters offer guidance on important learning and teaching issues as well as the use and creation of resources from the school environment to the global context. It covers all the key topics in primary geography including: understanding places physical and human geography environmental sustainability learning outside the classroom global issues citizenship and social justice. Summaries, classroom examples and practical and reflective tasks are included throughout to foster understanding and support the effective teaching of primary geography.

Understanding World Regional Geography (UWRG) is designed to teach students to think geographically so they can continue to think and apply geographic concepts long after the course is over. UWRG draws from best practices in geography education and research in student learning to help students deepen their understanding of the world. Features found in every chapter help students learn to read cultural and physical landscapes, ask geographic questions, apply geographic concepts, and make connections. UWRG is the first introductory textbook to integrate Esri ArcGIS Online thematic maps, enabling students to engage with course material, see patterns, and answer geographic questions. UWRG integrates 25 threshold concepts, teaches students how geographers apply the concepts, and then asks students to apply these key geographic concepts themselves. Understanding World Regional Geography helps students begin to grasp the complexities of the world and gives them the content and thinking skills necessary to grow in their understanding of the world during the course and over their lifetimes.

‘For geographers across the globe this book provides the arguments for a return to the teaching of geography and why they should reject the politicisation of the subject by education policy makers and politicians. Standish’s careful critique shows the necessity of a depoliticised geography curriculum the irony of which would be that it would ensure that every child could point to Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan on a map.’ Prof. Dennis Hayes – Oxford Brookes University, UK 'A prescient and critical analysis of the changing face of geography teaching. This book deserves to be widely read and debated. Alex Standish's book puts current trends in geography teaching in historical and critical context. It comprises a forthright and timely defence of geographical education for its own sake.' Dr Jim Butcher, FRSA, Department of Sport Science, Tourism and Leisure, Canterbury Christ Church University. Since the early 1990s, educational policy makers and some subject leaders have been seeking to fundamentally change the teaching of geography in UK and US schools, from a subject which encourages students to explore spatial concepts, ideas and skills, to a more ethics based subject concerned with the promotion of environmentalism, cultural diversity and social justice. In this book the new approach is critically examined, within a historical and ideological context, addressing a number of fundamental questions: Should geography be used as a tool for the delivery of citizenship ideals? How does this affect the intellectual and moral value of geographical education for young people? If the state and teachers are taking more responsibility for the values, attitudes and emotional responses of students, how will they learn to develop these qualities for themselves? If global perspectives shift the focus of education from learning about the outside world to learning about the self, what is its vision of social progress and conception of social change? This book advocates a return to liberal models of education, arguing that the new approach to geography currently being promoted for schools fundamentally undermines the educational value of the subject, and the freedom of young people to shape the world in which they live. A vital resource for teachers and student teachers alike, Global Perspectives in the Geography Curriculum makes a significant contribution to the growing debate about the future direction of the discipline itself.

This book results from the work of the Commission on Geographical Education of the International Geographical Union. Part 1 focuses on the distinctive traditions of school geography. Part 2 reviews the state of school geography on a broad continental basis, including national case studies by local experts. The final chapters extrapolate from the present and point to likely future developments in the subject, again with examples drawn from various countries.

In this book geography educators from around the globe discuss their research into the power of geographical thinking and consider successful strategies to implement, improve and advance geography education in research and practice. It addresses key topics in geography education, such as multicultural competence, the role of teachers, the geography curriculum, spatial thinking, geographic information systems, geocapabilities, and climate change. At a global level the contributors and editors bring together the most advanced collection of research and discussion surrounding issues in geography education. The book will be of interest to geography education researchers worldwide, including academics at university and teachers in schools, as well as professional geographers with an interest in education.