Importance of Teaching History and Geography to Children in the Primary Years
Importance of Teaching History and Geography to Children in the Primary Years
Introduction
History and Geography are one of the key subjects taught in the primary level of education to equip a student with different aspects of life and the surrounding environment. A person has to learn how he or she exists, why the existences of certain features differ in size and location and how the past influences the present and the future. The principle and objectives set in the two subjects have elaborate goals that need to be achieved in order to enhance the manner in which the given education is disseminated to the students in class. Making notes in class and undertaking personal researches inform of group and personal assignments are major boosters towards equipping the necessary characteristics to students as future members of the bigger society. The responsibilities tasked in such activities have their advantage to the students generally at the end of the course unit (McInerney, Berg, Hutchinson, Maude & Sorensen, 2009).
The Australian society being one of the continents in the world creates an important addition to the knowledge in the world. The education system will foster the ability of interaction based on the understanding of the existence of different communities with unique cultures across the global scene that needs interaction (Sorensen, 2009). The two subjects offer the opportunity to students to understand the importance of appreciating the surroundings to protect all the creatures in the flora and fauna areas as a way of creating a balance for the benefit of the future generations. The two subjects in the curriculum offer different opportunities that assist every other different subject in the primary section to boost the knowledge of a student to create a balance of wisdom in the happenings and requirements of the world. Australia has taken the import steps to ensure that the two subjects face serious steps towards promoting a whole round student (Pickford, Garner & Jackson, 2013).
Importance of History and Geography in Primary Years
The two subjects each have their own targets intended to be impacted on the students and finally to the society in general. Geography as an independent unit intends to do the following at the end of the course unit:
Enable students make decisions concerning the issues affecting the lives and landscapes of the Australian people.
Creating a new competence of society that will be effective at the work place
It intends to nurture the expected curiosity in students about the world and its unique cultures (Dunk, 2012).
The objectives essentially mean that the student has the chance to be informed of what surrounds them and expected of them. Australia being a country and a continent with unique people and culture needs to preserve the same for the benefit of all persons. The first objective will essentially mean that Australian students will have to learn their culture, the country’s environment and its mandate to the rest of the world (Erebus International, 2008). Such lesson will be important to ensure that the students are equipped will important knowledge to interact with others putting in mind the world is evolving. The responsibility lies in the subjects like Geography where every toddler is engaged in learning and understanding to preserve a culture that is appreciated across the world. The decision part comes through the different activities that are involved in the learning of the subject (Berry &Smith, 2009). There is group and individual assignment that entail intensive research and reading. A student will be forced to concentrate on his or her assignments in order to score maximally. The grade requirements will follow the students to the environment of the world where he or she has to face other challenges that will require critical thinking towards making decisions (Geographical Association, 2009).
The proper learning of the subject will be an important boost when it comes to such scenarios in the global scene. Culture exchanges learnt in class in theory form will be also easy to learn and exchange in practical nature putting in mind the early preparation made and anticipation cured by the teachers in the course. The making of decisions based on how others will react to them also foster peace based on the conditions that the society needs a growth in mind and population at the end of the day (Kriewaldt, 2003). Being concerned about other surroundings creates bonds that are important for relations at the local and global level in the learning skills of the students. Curiosity also becomes an added advantage as it helps is further reading to understand a phenomenon in the region and at the global level (Sorensen, 2009).
History like Geography is also another important subject in the curriculum. It is guided by unique objectives that end up offering important qualities to the students and the society at the end of the day. Some of these objectives include the following:
Developing logic for a proper capacity in arguments and critical analysis through adductive reasoning that involves imaginative, persuasive and speculative thinking.
Enables students to relate more positively with their environment.
It supports students to have the education of both civic and citizenship information in the Australian jurisdiction and the world in general (Grever & Stuurman, 2007).
The important objectives of history are integral part of the education system to the extent that students must be equipped with the same guiding principles to enable them understand the surroundings and what is need of them. Each objective when discussed at individual level is very important for the student in the Australian region. Logic equips an individual with the power to articulate properly on his behalf or before others in order to create an understanding of ideas (Hoepper, 2011). This means that the person is aware of what is expected of him and keeps in line with the rules and regulations guiding him or her. The imaginative part of thinking means that all possibilities are put into consideration when it comes to those who play the role of mixing cultures and international relations. Each aspect of the same acquired at the primary level essentially means that an understanding is reached between the levels of important aspects surrounding the lives of individuals in the society (Taylor, 2012).
The knowledge about the environment also creates awareness of what surrounds the students in the Australian nation and the world in general. The important information obtained has the level of creating more ideas that are unique and specific to understand why the world is in the manner in which it equips the student to perform responsibly. The simple participation as a requirement of course unit towards understanding the surroundings will enable the students and society to be united under common piece of information and practice (Taylor, 2012). Civic and citizenship education also creates a sense of identity for the students in the county. Such a requirement in the education system will foster power in the information about the country and it obligation to the world community. The importance of history will definitely mean that every student as a rightful citizen in the country will have the responsibility of promoting the values of the country learnt in History (Grever & Stuurman, 2007)..
It is important to note that History and Geography are interrelated in the manner in which they approach certain aspects of life towards educating a student in the ways of the subjects in the curriculum. The relationships ensure that each core aspect of the units protect the objectives in the specific courses by mandating the teachers and students to work together and promote the required principles. The unifying factors being the need to create a one Australian nation of a unified beliefs and ideologies will cement the subjects to create a platform where citizens interact to protect the knowledge acquired in class and practice. The relationship between the two will further create a balance of the past present and future generations and how to appreciate the participation of each group towards creating a more understandable world in relation to the Australian nation and continent (Sorensen, 2009). Australian culture, beliefs, ideas and information will be preserved in the same books and data dissemination in the country in the different primary levels where students engage daily with their teachers to learn from one generation to the other.
How History and Geography Can Build Curiosity
Curiosity and understanding offer an important opportunity to students in the curriculum. This is the manner in which the practical bit of the course unit is put in place in the field to understand the intention of the subjects in general. The two units have practical aspects that need the students to go to the field and offer their services and free will with the intention to experience what is like to interact with other societies across the world. Curiosity come in play through exploiting the theory aspect of the class work in field during research. Everyday studies mainly involve the broad knowledge and testing of subjects in the given specific subject of either Geography of History (Bliss, 2009). The logic reasoning of History offers the levels of arguments that vary during test work in the field. The students will be curious to understand how each person in the given areas reacts to a certain piece of information that is either very important or immaterial to the conversation. The approach will be used in the Geography subject where the student is expected to experience the new regions across the world. A student in Australia will be curious to experience the different climatic conditions, physical features and even conditions that favour population in other countries. Such aspects create more anticipation to tour different places to exchange information on what they have learnt in class and their country (Geographical Association, 2009). History has offered more information on different aspects of the environment and human which need substantiation in the workplace or field of study. The practical bit will to kill the pressure created by curiosity through visitation of places like museums to have a deeper understanding of the subject matter. The possibility of somebody being satisfied in the live explanation of what happened in the past, what is happening now and what is expected to have in the future will foster the temptation to learn even more of the available knowledge (Grever & Stuurman, 2007). It will be an undermining to say that Geography does not create curiosity to students who are involved in the study. The individual and group assignments through discussions further facilitate doubts and questions that need to be answered by the experiences in the field. The answers to the concerns will come up more if the students do not go to field and conduct the practical bit to satisfy their curiosity of what they learn in class. The localised and international experiences have the answers to the same in order equip the students with the knowledge of what is required to be done when they grow up and mandated with responsibilities to the country and the world. Every aspect that comes with curiosity must also be approached with a precautionary measure since the different environments will offer different experiences that will either be beneficial or unimportant to the student or the society in general (Reynolds, 2012). The characteristics offered by different environments need to be important for every selected few tasks required to achieve the curiosity discovered in the texts to fulfil the urge of experiencing how the world works. Making of decisions also offer solutions to curiosity in the Australian society as an objective of the unit in the society. The tutors have the challenge of ensuring that the proper skill anticipated by a student is revised properly to the extent that upon application minimum damages are experienced.
How Geography and History Can Build an Understanding of the World and Skills
Geography is practical unit in some of its lessons and so is History. Different students interested in different areas of the study will definitely acquire unique skills while undergoing through the study to develop the class work in practical tasks. Some of the major activities involved in the Geography study like History is conducting a successful fieldwork. This part of the course unit requires specific objective that are important to the student at the end of the classes. Some of the targeted outcomes is group coordination for the group leader and group participation for the specific members (Australian Geography Teachers Association, 2008). Such a requirement is seen important in the outside world and the continuation of the learning process since every person need the assistance of all the members in the society. The understanding of each course unit will essentially facilitate full participation of a student in skilful projects.
The two subjects talk about the country, the continent and the world. They offer information that has been researched upon by experts in the respective areas of study and documented for the benefit of the students and other users who are in need of the information. Information and data offer more knowledge to the students about the different areas and an understanding of the same explained (Williams, 2007). Every explanation brings the point home on matters that offer challenges to students especially where a practical bit is applied in the field. An example can be seen through visiting a real escarpment in a Geography class to witness and observe how one feature looks like in the natural habitat (Fien, 2003). This approach will enable the student to observe how the different aspects of the theoretical world happens in the around the world. A similar experiment can be made to visit other places in the world apart from the country and help exchange more data for elaborate comparison of information in other region since the world is proving to be a global village. The History class similarly has the challenge of making students experience the past that relates to the present and how it affects the future. Visiting the pre-historical sites offers the opportunity to individual to understand what a given community in the specific region of the world went through to make certain decisions that either led to a negative or positive outcome. Such challenges can be observed and acquired through the elaborate skill of logical and critical thinking based on the situation at hand (Tudball, 2013). The logistics involved will primarily mean that options are available to the student in question who has to take the necessary steps to make decisions that will not only influence them but also the rest of the community and future generations. It is critical to note that History has been considered a more theoretical subject by most students yet it is more involving to acquire the necessary skills in the line of schooling and benefit of future generations (Hoepper, 2011). A proper History class will conduct the necessary tasks required by them as recommended by the writer of the book to facilitate the knowledge dissemination to the students. Each aspect of the objective of the two units is a life skill on its own for the students in class and in the society. A skill learnt in class takes a life time to perfect it or apply it. The perfecting period will only occur in the field upon proper supervision from the tutors who have the necessary experience in the areas (Grever & Stuurman, 2007).
Skills acquired can be given the priority of experimentation by teachers through the course work upon recommendation by the experts in the specific fields identified by experts. Examples used and also recommended can be used gradually upon practice until a given skill is acquired and implemented by the student (Reynolds, 2012). The essential part being that all students are involved without any discrimination based on the ability to learn or grasp information being taught.
Conclusion
History and Geography have been supportive course units in the primary level across the education system in the Australian jurisdiction. Their importance can be observed through the objectives set in the specific subjects that intend to make better toddlers in the primary level to better members of the society (Reynolds, 2012). Geography intending to: build a sense of nationality identification of the Australian society in the region and the world; enable students make decisions concerning the issues affecting the lives and landscapes of the Australian people; create a new competence of society that will be effective at the work place; and nurture the expected curiosity in students about the world and its unique cultures (Catling, 2003). The objectives of Geography have been elaborated in the discussions above on how a student can acquire both skills and an understanding of the world to enable him or her acquire the proper mentally to attack the challenges that might arise in the present and the future (Catling & Willy, 2009). The History subject has also set objectives and principle that guide its teachings in the primary level education curriculum. These objectives entail: developing logic for a proper capacity in arguments and critical analysis through adductive reasoning that involves imaginative, persuasive and speculative thinking; enabling students relate more positively with their environment; and supporting students to have the education of both civic and citizenship information in the Australian jurisdiction and the world in general (Hoepper, 2011). The simple and clear targets set in this subject will influence how the future citizens relate to the policies of the country and the world in general. History being a diverse subject, informs people on the importance of how the world should work and avert problems that happened in the past like he World War One and Two. The steps will essentially come through the logical interpretation of data based in happenings and what is expected to happen in the coming generation. The two subjects have the most elaborate importance in students and their study will benefit the society and the individuals at the end of the day (Cooper, 2003).
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