ABSTRACT

This chapter deals with geography as fundamentally a social study aimed at citizenship education broadly defined. In the United States and some other nations geography has for the last century mainly been folded into broader social studies programs which include particularly history and civics. Social studies is justified in the curriculum by its contribution to citizenship education, but what kind of geography will likely result in educating for civic competence? What would such a program of study look like? And how might geography be used to enrich other parts of the social studies curriculum? Finally, if the type of curriculum sketched were to be adopted, what special steps need be taken to prepare teachers to teach it?