ON THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY IN SCOTTISH SCHOOLS. 643 



that confront the citizen of the complex modem world." We cannot teach world 

 politics in schools, but we can give boys and girls in the advanced stages of their 

 school courses an adequate knowledge of those geographical facts upon which the 

 solution of so many important matters must ultimately depend. The failure of the 

 Department to provide a much larger number of pupils with this preliminary knowledge 

 is, in our opinion, much to be regretted. 



' The Department's reply to the Report concludes : " It is probably in the mean- 

 while inevitable that the treatment of this, as of other individual subjects, may appear 

 inadequate to tliose who are especially interested in them, but who may not have 

 a full opportunity of appreciating the strength of competing claims or the magnitude 

 of the task which pupils have to face in the whole range of their school work." Our 

 elaim is that the very small percentage of candidates taking Geography in the Leaving 

 Certificate shows that the treatment of the subject not only appears to be, but is, 

 inadequate, and that the English experiment has shown that it is possible to give 

 Geography a much more important position without interfering in anj' way with the 

 needs of a sound educational system.' 



Dr. James Walker, Lecturer on Geography to the Glasgow Provincial Com- 

 mittee for the Training of Teachers. — ' From what we have just heard from Mr. 

 McFarlane, and in particular his interpretations of the comparative figures with which 

 he has dealt, I am afraid only a very blind optimist can find any great satisfaction 

 in the position of Geography to-day or any real evidences of development or progress. 



' Mr. McFarlane has sho-wn that there has been a falling off in the numbers professing 

 the subject for exammation, and that under the existing system, with its restrictions 

 and conditions, these numbers are not likely to be satisfactorily augmented. Apart 

 from numbers, however, there is another and important side to this question, and 

 it is this : Under the present conditions is the quality of the teaching of Geography 

 in schools likely to be improved so that the subject will take its rightful place in the 

 curriculum ? To this question I will give brief attention. 



' In the primary stage of the school (i.e. up to the normal age of 12) Geography is 

 a compulsory subject. At this stage, up to the present, there has been admittedly 

 much good teaching, though the extraordinary and continued desire on the part of 

 many teachers to stress the symbol at the expense of the actuality has greatly detracted 

 from a proper appreciation of the value of the subject. Though this defect in our 

 teaching may be passing, yet it is still too much with us, and I am of the opinion that 

 no other single factor has had a more damaging effect on the place of Geography in 

 school than this persistence in the glorification of the printed word, the name, the 

 black dot and the red bine on the map, for it has been felt that if the learning of names 

 and the positions of dots is all that Geography means to the child or to the teacher, 

 then it is worthy of no great consideration in any scheme of education. And what 

 of the future ? From Jordanhill Training Centre there passed out this year several 

 hundreds of young graduate teachers who will take up work in 1 he elementary depart- 

 ments of schools. Of these — and this is the point which I wish to stress — a very 

 small percentage — less than 10 per cent, in fact — have done any study of Geography 

 since they were at the intermediate stage themselves (i.e. since they were 15). Years 

 have elapsed since then, and their present state is one of profound ignorance. These, 

 and such as these, are being let loose upon an unsuspecting Scotland, and will soon 

 constitute the bulk of our young teachers in the country ; and one can quite well 

 conjecture what the results will be, for a teacher may know the subject matter and 

 yet not be able to teach it, but no one was ever yet able to teach a subject the fact* 

 of which be did not know. 



' The age of the graduate teacher is at hand, and it is well ; but -we must remember 

 that in teaching the nature of the degree is vitallj' important in determining the 

 efficiency of the teacher. A graduate teacher to-day in our primary schools who has 

 not taken Geography as a university subject is not so well equipped, and is therefore 

 less likely to do good work in this subject, than the non-graduate teacher of yesterday, 

 for provision was made for some instruction in the subject matter for the non-graduate, 

 while none is made for the graduate. To improve conditions in this respect I would 

 make two suggestions : — 



'(1) An opportunity should be given to all pupils in secondary schools who intend 

 to become teachers to continue the study throughout their whole course. (2) The 

 value of the subject in their professional work should be clearly pointed out to all 

 such student-teachers when they enter on tlieir universitj^ course. 



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