RECENT TRENDS OF GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION UNDER THE CHENGE OF SOCIAL NEEDS

Research Project

Project/Area Number	11680080
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Human geography
Research Institution	KEIO UNIVERSITY
Principal Investigator	TANABE Hiroshi KEIO UNIVERSITY, DEP.OF ECONOMICS, PROFESSOR, 経済学部, 教授 (00012394)
Project Period (FY)	1999 – 2000
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2000)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000) Fiscal Year 2000: ¥300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000) Fiscal Year 1999: ¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
Keywords	geography / education / decrease of birthrate / post of professors / reform of curriculum / decrease of new students / 教援ポスト / 教育・研究体制 / カリキュラム改変 / 卒業生進路 / 研究環境 / 初等中等教育
Research Abstract	Soon after the World War II, the reforms of Japanese education system needed geographers teaching at middle school or at newly established universities. This was followed by the growth of student entrance ratio into the high school. As to meet these mass of students, universities should supply more teachers. This trend demanding more teachers maded the university curriculum of geography more general and comprehensive. And because the curriculum of geography in middle school was concentrated to teach the regional geography, many departments of geography have at least three chairs of geography ; physical, human and regional. But the trends of increasing posts in education have almost stopped about 1980, because of the sharp decrease of birth rat, followed by the decrease of academic posts in universities. Because the Japanese schools would not recruit new young teachers, students of geography should look for their post outside of education or research. From 2002, the new curriculum of geography in the middle school as well as high school almost neglects to teach regional geography of Japan and of the world. This reform will destroy the base of geography, particularly the regional geography. Many japanese departments of geography are, therefore, now under the storm of reform of their curriculum. The author has analysed the actualities of changing japanese education of geography, using the result of questionary to the departments of geography in 1999 and discuss the problems of future of this science.