Write down how much you know about the history and geography of America south of the Texas-Mexico border. Probably not much. How about the history of South Asia? Can you remember the term in years of the president of Mexico? Relate the names of the three countries that comprise the territory that made up India one hundred years ago. The answers are at the end of this article.
One way to address the geographic issues is to offer a geography course. That issue can be addressed elsewhere. Another alternative is for high schools to adopt the college model of regional studies courses. Offering courses such as Latin American, Asian, and African Studies can serve two educational objectives, to strengthen a student's background in areas that are covered in a survey in traditional World History courses and to strengthen the geographic background of the student by focusing on specific places.
The Curriculum
A model plan for a Latin American Studies course would begin with a general map exercise. Maps of Central America, South America and the Caribbean would be distributed to students. These maps would have boundaries, but would be labeled by the students. Students would be initially instructed to label all the countries they know from memory.
The students would then be instructed to fill in the countries they don't know by looking in the text or in a resource furnished to the class. Major landmarks such as the Andes Mountains and the Amazon River basin would also be included, but not capital cities or major metropolitan areas. This mapping lesson plan could be used in all regional studies courses. Giving students the time and resources to color maps can support comprehension of and engagement in the activity.
Over the course, students would focus on one or two countries at a time. This is the pattern furnished in high school and college texts, and it breaks the material down into "chunks" that the student can process. In each section, a map of the country covered would be provided for the student to complete; this would include smaller metropolitan areas or regions such as the Pampas of Argentina.
Part of the course would be to link the material by common concepts. For Latin America, one simple commonality is that most of the Spanish speaking countries achieved independence from Spain between 1815 and 1840. In Asia, domination by European countries into eh 1800's is a common concept. European domination of Africa after the 1880's is another common "big idea".
Problems
One problem is the lack of texts that are geared to high school students, in terms of short sections with questions and resources at the end of each section. On the other hand, there are a number of college level texts, which present the material in a narrative form with a lack of visual resources. There are a few plans a high school teacher can use to address this issue.
One is for the teacher to develop a set of questions similar to the questions at the end of the sections in high school texts. These are called "QUORAs", or QUestions On A Reading Assignment. To develop an effective QUORA, the teacher must break the text up into chunks that are digestible by students. Later in the course, as students become comfortable with the college style text, students can be guided to read the book and then develop their own QUORA's. In addition to addressing the student objectives for the course, it can familiarize the student with the college style text and help them develop a skill set to deal with the college text format.
Another issue with college style texts is the lack of graphics that students have usually become used to in high school texts. A way to address this is a class website, generated by the teacher. An effective website will provide the student with resources needed to help them visualize and organize the class material. Encouraging the students to find online resources and providing them with the opportunity to post resources they discover is another instructional tool.
Where Educators Can Go
American students, especially at the high school level, clearly need a deeper understanding of Geography. And they need a deeper understanding of the relationship between History and Geography. The traditional World History curriculum doesn't offer a lot of time to develop geographic skills, especially in areas of lower student awareness. Breaking History up into regional studies is an effective way to address this problem.
The Answers:
The term of the president of Mexico is six years, and the president may only serve one term. Pakistan, India and Bangladesh make up the "old" territory of India.
Donald Marchand - Currently, I am a teacher. I teach Social Studues at a small school in southern Maryland. But I think I've been a lot more in my life. ...
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