THE PREDICTORS OF CHILDREN'S GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE OF OTHER COUNTRIES

Abstract

This study investigated the predictors of children's geographical knowledge of other countries and, in particular, whether a child's demographic characteristics, travel experience, and affect towards a country predict the child's level of geographical knowledge about that country. 261 English children aged between 6 and 13 years old were interviewed in order to assess their affect for, and knowledge of, five specific countries: France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The children's travel experience to these countries was also assessed. The children comprising the sample were differentiated in terms of their age, gender, social class and locality (urban versus rural). It was found that the predictors of the children's geographical knowledge varied across the five target countries. There were demographic differences in children's travel experience, with age and social class being the principal predictors of travel. Travel experience to a particular country did sometimes predict the level of positive affect towards that country, but travel did not usually predict geographical knowledge of that country. Affect towards a country also did not predict geographical knowledge of that country. However, there were demographic differences in knowledge: age was found to be the most important predictor of knowledge, with additional independent contributions also being made by social class and gender in the case of some target countries. It is suggested that previous studies which have concluded that there is either a linear or curvilinear relationship between affect and knowledge in this domain might have ignored the covariance of the predictors of geographical knowledge, and that multivariate statistical procedures are required in order to identify relationships between variables in this domain.