Reviews the series of books, "The Geography Discipline Network Guides on Teaching, Learning, and Assessment," produced by the Geography Discipline Network. Reveals two strengths of the series: (1) it provides practical guidelines on improving traditional teaching strategies; and (2) it promotes active learning. Considers the potential…

Addresses human rights education (HRE) for young learners stressing the centrality of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Illustrates the use of HRE within history, geography, world cultures, and literature. Believes that HRE begins by creating a human rights community in the classroom. (CMK)

Describes how by designing a playground, the fifth-grade students at Good Shepherd School in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) learned in a hands-on manner that geographic knowledge has practical applications in the real world. Explains that the geography concepts utilized in this activity follow the objectives of the Geography Education Standards…

Focuses on the storyline strategy which uses the components of a story (setting, characters, and plot) to organize concepts in a lesson. Provides a lesson on the Kiribati new year celebration using the storyline strategy. Offers alternative ideas for a storyline unit on Kiribati. (CMK)

Introduces this issue's Arena Symposium, which contains revised versions of papers presented in a session at the annual conference of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers (January 1999) that focus on reconciling the priorities and balances between research and teaching. (CMK)

Following a constructivist view on learning and based on the work of Adey and Shayer a group of teachers and lecturers in geographical education from northeast England developed some successful strategies to stimulate pupils' thinking skills. At the start of this century the ideas reached The Netherlands. This article presents the results of a…

There are perhaps 10,000 technicians in the United States who work in the field known as cultural resource management (CRM). The typical field technician possesses a bachelor's degree in anthropology, geography, or a closely allied discipline. The author's experience has been that few CRM field technicians receive adequate undergraduate training…

GeoScape is a landscape design consisting of colored gravel, strategically placed flagstone and boulders, and two vertical features that simulate the geology of fictitious regions. Employs "hands-on", inquiry-based, and cooperative learning techniques to help students develop problem solving and critical thinking skills. Explains the construction,…

Problem-based learning (PBL) works with a series of problems that form the syllabus for a course or the basis of a curriculum. Learning occurs through the definition of the problem and its attempted resolution. PBL is challenging but offers much potential for geography with its interdisciplinary character. The challenge to geography lecturers is…

Since the transition to democracy in 1994, South African education has witnessed remarkable changes. Teacher training, like all other elements of the national education system, is part of an evolving post-apartheid educational landscape. This paper describes important forces of change that have helped to shape the education landscape in South…

A change in government in 1984 introduced sweeping reform into every part of New Zealand society. A treasury briefing paper in 1987 "argued that education was not fostering equity, participation, or achievement; that it was marked by "middle-class capture"; and the "inputs" were not producing the "outputs""…

Teacher preparation has been called the "bete noire" of geography education in the United States (Boehm et al., 1994). Despite progress in other areas of geography, teacher education remains a significant issue affecting the quality of geography instruction nationwide. It is a multifaceted, multidimensional problem tied inextricably to…

New teachers and those without a strong background in geography tend to neglect "higher level" thinking, including causal explanations and thinking about reasons in primary school geography. This is a problem that training has yet to address effectively, at least in the UK. It could be that children's textbooks may help such teachers…

The geographies of Hollywood are multiple, contradictory, ephemeral and tangible. Our preconceived conceptions of space and place play a dynamic role in what elements we tend to focus on when discussing the cultural industry of American cinema. This essay uses Hollywood as a metaphor for the American film production industry and a historical…

Film audiences have long been invited to view Scotland and Scottish life through a historic lens. Influenced by the pre-existing literary traditions of tartanry and kailyard, film-makers have focused nostalgically on the myths and legends of the Highland and pre-industrial Scotland, with the implications that this approach has for representations…