PEDAGOGICAL INTERVENTIONS FOR DEVELOPING SKILLS IN GEOGRAPHY AT THE SCHOOL STAGE

Abstract

Geography as a subject occupies the prominent place at the school stage. Geography learning varies across the school stages and school boards of India. Geography learning provides knowledge about the description, distribution, and interaction of the diverse physical, cultural, political, and economical features of the Earth’s surface. Geography learning at the school stage not only provides the opportunity to comprehend theoretical topics but also provides scope to develop skills among the learners. Practical-based contents provide numerous opportunities to strengthen skills in geography. Skills in geography help learners think critically and creatively, solve problems in the community, and become rational and responsible citizens to cope with the era of globalization. Learners can acquire various skills through geography learning, such as map skill, geographic inquiry, spatial thinking skill, change and continuity perception skill, time perception skill, and so on. Therefore skill development in geography through the teaching-learning process of geography is highly realized. Due to many reasons, skill development in geography is marginalized across the school stages and across the school boards. The traditional/teacher-centered teaching method is one of the most significant obstacles to develop skills in geography. Activity-based/learner-centered pedagogy can accelerate the skills development in geography. In this context, the present paper made an attempt to identify pedagogical interventions for developing skills in geography at school stage. Specifically, this paper elaborates on the focus of geography teaching learning at the school stage, basic skills in geography that to be developed at the school stage, status of skill development in geography at the school stage and described the present status of pedagogical uses of teaching geography at the school stage. This paper has provided the role of teachers in pedagogical interventions for developing skills in geography at the school stage.