Volume 10, Issue 1 (5-2023)
Journal of Spatial Analysis Environmental Hazards 2023, 10(1): 1-22 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Alijani B. The curriculum of geography in higher education of Iran in the 21st century.. Journal of Spatial Analysis Environmental Hazards 2023; 10 (1) :1-22
URL: http://jsaeh.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3348-en.html
URL: http://jsaeh.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3348-en.html
kharazmi , alijani@khu.ac.ir
Abstract: (3652 Views)
Abstract
During the recent decades the discipline of geography has lost its priority and position to some degree in Iran. Most of the graduates could not enter into the work in the universities and other organizations. The human-environment system, the main area of geographical specialty - has experienced many crises and hazards among which the global warming and climate change being the most destructive. This means that the ongoing curriculum is not working well and needs to experience a fundamental change. To implement this operation some points should be cleared out: The hazardous condition of the world and especially Iran, the education history and state of geography in Iran, and the relation between geography and sustainable development of the world. The discipline of geography has changed its approach according to the circumstances of each period several times. For example, at the beginning of the twenty-century due to the dominance of the environmental determinism, the dominant approach of geography was the relation between man and environment. But since the 1970’s the earth has encountered with different hazards and crises to the extent that it is named as the period of Anthropocene. Accordingly, the dominant approach of geography during this Anthropocene era is to identify and solve the hazards and crises and lead the man- environment system towards the sustainability as once was requested by the secretary general of the United Nation. In this regard the geography should adopt the sustainable development concepts and goals. For this reason, the geography of Iran should make a switch from its very specialized approach to a relatively wholistic view and pay more attention to the human- environment paradigm. To implement this order, the following assumptions should be considered.
Key words: geography curriculum, sustainable development, geography of Iran, twenty first century, environmental ethics, geographical thinking, Geography and sustainable development.
During the recent decades the discipline of geography has lost its priority and position to some degree in Iran. Most of the graduates could not enter into the work in the universities and other organizations. The human-environment system, the main area of geographical specialty - has experienced many crises and hazards among which the global warming and climate change being the most destructive. This means that the ongoing curriculum is not working well and needs to experience a fundamental change. To implement this operation some points should be cleared out: The hazardous condition of the world and especially Iran, the education history and state of geography in Iran, and the relation between geography and sustainable development of the world. The discipline of geography has changed its approach according to the circumstances of each period several times. For example, at the beginning of the twenty-century due to the dominance of the environmental determinism, the dominant approach of geography was the relation between man and environment. But since the 1970’s the earth has encountered with different hazards and crises to the extent that it is named as the period of Anthropocene. Accordingly, the dominant approach of geography during this Anthropocene era is to identify and solve the hazards and crises and lead the man- environment system towards the sustainability as once was requested by the secretary general of the United Nation. In this regard the geography should adopt the sustainable development concepts and goals. For this reason, the geography of Iran should make a switch from its very specialized approach to a relatively wholistic view and pay more attention to the human- environment paradigm. To implement this order, the following assumptions should be considered.
- The applied objective of the discipline should be defined as “locating the suitable place for the living and activities of man without endangering the sustainability of the natural environment. This objective is not clear at the present curriculum. Defining this objective will clearly show students what is their job after finishing the career.
- The main vision of geography education is the creation of the sustainable geographical space or environment.
- The research approach is problem solving. Because most of the laws and concepts are identified and defined. Due to the hazardous nature of the earth system geographers should identify the problems and research to solve them via geographical thought and knowledge.
- The terrestrial unit for working is region. This is very important concept in geography. We cannot prescribe one sustainability procedure for all of the world. But we do one for each region. When regions became sustainable, all the world will be sustained.
- In any region the hazards and crises will be identified and described through the spatial analysis methods and will be conducted towards sustainable human – environment system. This monitoring is composed of the stages of spatial analysis, spatial planning, and spatial managing.
- All of the geography subjects and materials are necessary for sustainable development goals. The only criteria will be added is the environmental ethics in all of the geography activities and applications.
- Instructors and students should be familiar with the techniques of integration and multi-dimension modelling.
- All geography graduates will respect the nature and its resources and should consider the environmental ethics during their academic career. They should be able to identify and solve the environmental problems through the geographical thinking. Geographical thinking means asking geographical question, gathering geographical data, processing the data with geographical (spatial) methods, and presenting the results in the geographical forms, i.e., maps. All the graduates should be creative and critical and should have the power of scientific challenging and discussions.
- Geography is one independent and overarching discipline and we will offer only one total geography in bachelor level. The master career can be specialized according to the applied objectives of the societies. The doctoral program is also one integrated discipline. The specialty of graduates will be defined according to their dissertation.
- The subjects include the fundamental courses such as physical geography and sustainable development, regional courses such as the human geography of Iran, technical courses such as remote sensing, GIS, and statistics, the applied courses such as evaluating the natural resources, and so for. The students with any high school background should pass all the courses with high quality so that after graduation they have the potential to analyze the human- environment problems and recommend the required solutions.
Key words: geography curriculum, sustainable development, geography of Iran, twenty first century, environmental ethics, geographical thinking, Geography and sustainable development.
Keywords: geography curriculum, sustainable development, geography of Iran, twenty first century, environmental ethics, geographical thinking, Geography and sustainable development.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2022/12/1 | Accepted: 2023/01/20 | Published: 2023/06/21
Received: 2022/12/1 | Accepted: 2023/01/20 | Published: 2023/06/21
References
1. گنجی، محمد حسن. 1367. جغرافیا در ایران از دارالفنون تا انقلاب اسلامی. موسسه انتشارات آستان قدس رضوی، مشهد.
2. علیجانی، بهلول. 1400. جغرافیا و پارادایم توسعه پایدار. نشریه تحلیل فضایی مخاطرات محیطی، 8(3): 1-16.
3. علیجانی، بهلول. 1398. روش شناسی کمی در جغرافیا. انتشارات سازمان سمت. تهران.
4. Balciogullari, A. 2017. Geographical thinking approach in geography education. Research Highlights in Education and Science: 26-32.
5. Bednarz, S.W., S. Heffron, and N.T. Huynh. (Eds.). 2013. A road map for 21st century geography education: Geography education research (A report from the Geography Education Research Committee of the Road Map for 21st Century Geography Education Project). Washington, DC: Association of American Geographers.
6. Boehm,R. G., M. Solem, and J. Zadrozny. 2018. The Rise of Powerful Geography. The Social Studies,109 (2): 125-135. DOI: 10.1080/00377996.2018.1460570 [DOI:10.1080/00377996.2018.1460570]
7. Botan, C.N., O.R. Ilovan, and A.M. Pop. 2005. The Geographical region and sustainable development. Romanian Review of Regional Studies, 1(1):83-90.
8. Castree, N. 2015. Geography and global change science: Relationships necessary, absent, and possible. Geographical Research, 53 (1):1-15. ro.uow.edu.au/sspapers/1352 [DOI:10.1111/1745-5871.12100]
9. Castree, N., 2001. Socializing nature, theory, practice and politics. In: Castree, N.,
10. Braun, B. (Eds.), Social Nature e Theory, Practice and Politics. Blackwell Publishing, pp. 1-22.
11. Clark, W. C., and N. M. Dickson. 2003. Sustainability science: The emerging research program. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100 (14): 8059-61. [DOI:10.1073/pnas.1231333100] [PMID] []
12. Demirci, A. de Miguel Gonzalez, R., Bednarz, S. (Eds.) 2018. Geography Education for Global Understanding. Springer, Cham, 252 pp. International perspective on geography education. [DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-77216-5]
13. EMDAT, 2020. OFDA/CRED International Disaster Data Base, Universite Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium. Our World In Data.org/natural- disasters. CCBY.
14. Filho, W.L, F. Frankenberger, A. L. Salvia, U. Azeiteiro, F. Alves, P. Castro, M. Will, J. Platje, V. O. Lovren, L. Brandli, E. Price, F. Doni, M. Mifsud, L. Veiga _Avila. 2021.A framework for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in university programmes. Journal of Cleaner Production, 299: 126915. doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126915 [DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126915]
15. Fu, B. 2020. Promoting Geography for Sustainability. Geography and Sustainability, 1:1-7. doi.org/10.1016/j.geosus.2020.02.003 [DOI:10.1016/j.geosus.2020.02.003]
16. Fu,B. , Meadows, M.E., and Zhao, W. 2022.Geography in the Anthropocene: transforming our world for sustainable development. Geography and Sustainability, 3: 1-6. doi.org/10.1016/j.geosus.2021.12.004 [DOI:10.1016/j.geosus.2021.12.004]
17. Fu, B. and Y. Wei. 2018. Editorial overview: Keeping fit in the dynamics of coupled natural and human systems. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 33: A1-A4. [DOI:10.1016/j.cosust.2018.07.003]
18. Gonzalez, R.M. 2019. Europe in a global context: Eurogeo and role of geography and European geographers. European Journal of Geography,10 (4):160-176.
19. Grindsted, T.S. 2015. Educating geographers in an era of the Anthropocene: paradoxical natures - paradoxical cultures. Journal of Cleaner Production, 106: 320 - 329. [DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.10.086]
20. Grindsted, T.S., 2013. From the human-environment theme towards sustainability - Danish Geography and Education for Sustainable Development. European Journal of Geography, 4 (3), 6-20.
21. Guo, F., J. Lane, Y. Duan, J. P. Stoltman, O. Khlebosolova, H. Lei, and W. Zhou. 2018. Sustainable Development in Geography Education for Middle School in China. Sustainability, 10, 3896:1-27. doi:10.3390/su10113896 [DOI:10.3390/su10113896]
22. Hanson, S. 2004. Who are "we"? An important question for geography's future. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 94(4): 715-722. [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8306.2004.00425.x]
23. Jankell, L.D., J. Sandahl, and D. Örbring. 2021. Organizing concepts in geography education: a model. Geography,106(2): 66-75. DOI: 10.1080/00167487.2021.1919406 [DOI:10.1080/00167487.2021.1919406]
24. Lade, S.J. , Steffen, W. , de Vries, W. , et al. , 2019. Human impacts on planetary boundaries amplified by earth system interactions. Nat. Sustainability 3 (2), 119-128 [DOI:10.1038/s41893-019-0454-4]
25. Lehmann, A., J. Masò, S. Nativi and G. Giuliani. 2020. Towards integrated essential variables for sustainability. International Journal of Digital Earth, 13(2): [DOI:10.1080/17538947.2019.1636490]
26. DOI: 10.1080/17538947.2019.1636490 [DOI:10.1080/17538947.2019.1636490]
27. Liverman, D.M. 2018. Geographic perspectives on development goals: Constructive engagements and critical perspectives on the MDGs and the SDGs. Dialogues in Human Geography, 8(2): 168-185. DOI: 10.1177/2043820618780787 [DOI:10.1177/2043820618780787]
28. Maude, A. 2013. The Vision of Geography Underlying the Australian Geography Curriculum. Review of International Geographical Education Online,3(3): 253-265.
29. Maude, A. 2014. Sustainability in the Australian Curriculum: Geography. Geographical Education, 27: 19-27.
30. Meadows, M.E. 2020. Geography Education for Sustainable Development. Geography and Sustainability. Journal of Geography and sustainability, doi: org/10.1016/j.geosus.2020.02.001 [DOI:10.1016/j.geosus.2020.02.001]
31. Nagel, P. 2008. Geography: The Essential Skill for the 21st Century. Social Education, 72(7): 354-358.
32. Nelson, G. 1992. Presentation in Plenary Session on "The Global Environment: What Can We Do." International Geographical Congress, Washington, D.C., August 10, 1992.
33. Peng, J. , Y. Hu, J. Dong, Q. Mao, Y. Liu, Y. Du, J. Wu, Y. Wang. 2020. Linking spatial differentiation with sustainability management: Academic contributions and research directions of physical geography in China. Progress in Physical Geography, 44(1): 14-30. DOI: 10.1177/0309133319878107 [DOI:10.1177/0309133319878107]
34. Persson, L., B. M.C. Almroth, C.D. Collins, S. Cornell, C. A. de Wit,* M. L. Diamond, P. Fantke, M. Hassellöv, M. MacLeod, M. W. Ryberg, P. S. Jørgensen, P. Villarrubia-Gómez, Z. Wang, and M. Z. Hauschild. 2022. Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities. Environmental Science and Technology,56: 1510−1521. doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c04158 [DOI:10.1021/acs.est.1c04158] [PMID] []
35. Pretorius, R.W. 2017. Repositioning Geography in Education for Sustainability: the South African Higher Education context. PhD dissertation in geography. University of South Africa,
36. Reinfried, S., Y. Schleicher, and A. Rempfler. (Eds). 2007. Geographical Views on Education for Sustainable Development. Proceedings of the Lucerne-Symposium, Switzerland, July 29-31. Geographiedidaktische Forschungen, 42: 243-250.
37. Sanchez,J.G. 2011. Teaching Geography for a Sustainable World: A Case Study of a Secondary School in Spain. Review of International Geographical Education Online © RIGEO, 1( 2):158-182.
38. Turner, B. L. II. 2002. Contested identities: Humanenvironment geography and disciplinary implications in a restructuring academy. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 92 (1): 52-74. [DOI:10.1111/1467-8306.00279]
39. UNESCO. 2014. Shaping the Future We Want. UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Final Report.
40. University Grants Commission. 2019. Learning Outcomes Based Curriculum Framework for
41. Geography Undergraduate Programme. 125 pp. Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi.
42. Verstappen, H.T. 2009. Geography, sustainability and the concept of glocalization. Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín, 70: 106-113.
43. Vick T..2008. Sustainable Development": Critical Concepts in Geography". Portland State University. Geography Masters Research Paper 23.
44. Wilbanks,T.J. 1994. Sustainable Development in Geographic Perspective: Presidential Address. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 84 (4): 541-556. [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1994.tb01876.x]
45. Will,S., K. Richardson, .C. Sarah, and I. Fetzer, J. Rockström, E.M. Bennett, R. Biggs, S.R. Carpenter, W. de Vries, C. A. de Wit, C. Folke, D. Gerten, J. Heinke, G. M. Mace, L. M. Persson, V. Ramanathan, B. Reyers, and S. Sörlin. 2015. Planetary Boundaries: Guiding Human Development on a Changing Planet. Science,347(6223): 1-11. DOI: 10.1126/science.1259855 [DOI:10.1126/science.1259855] [PMID]
46. Wu, J. 2013. Landscape sustainability science: ecosystem services and human well-being in changing landscapes. Landscape Ecology, 28:999-1023. DOI 10.1007/s10980-013-9894-9 [DOI:10.1007/s10980-013-9894-9]
47. Yarnal, B., Neff, R., 2004. Whither parity? The need for a comprehensive curriculum in human-environment geography. Prof. Geogr. 56 (1), 28e36. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1111/j.0033-0124.2004.05601005.x. [DOI:10.1111/j.0033-0124.2004.05601005.x]
48. Yli-Panula, E., Jeronen, E., Lemmetty, P. 2020. Teaching and learning methods in geography promoting sustainability. Education Sciences,10: 5. doi:10.3390/educsci10010005 [DOI:10.3390/educsci10010005]
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
