The Preparation of Elementary-School Teachers in Geography

Abstract

The United States is now in a position of global leadership. The effectiveness of that leadership is greatly dependent on the ability of the American people to learn to think in global terms. Policies adopted must be based upon clear geographical thinking that grows out of a sound knowledge of the world in which we live. Policies originating from geographical ignorance can only lead to catastrophe. If the people of our nation learn to think geographically, it will be because the schools of the nation accept the responsibility for developing geographical literacy. This makes the problem, then, truly a race between education and catastrophe. Geographical literacy is, to a large extent, dependent on how well the beginnings of geographical understandings are developed in the elementary school. This in turn is dependent upon how well the elementary-school teacher is prepared in geography. Little is known about the geographical preparation that prospective elementary-school teachers are receiving in teacher-education institutions throughout the nation.