Evolution of geography in the United States' public school curriculum: An analysis of the influence of societal movements and historical events
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze the evolution of geography in the United States' primary and secondary education system throughout the nineteenth century to the initial years of the twenty-first century to determine the causes of variations, shifts in focus, and relative importance placed on geography curricula that have defined the position of the subject as a stand-alone discipline and as an integrated part of the social studies. A broad theoretical framework guided the process of data collection and analysis. This theoretical perspective, resonating largely from sociologists of education and education philosophers and historians, states that national and international societal movements and historical events play a significant role in how schools develop their objectives and curricula in K-12 education. Additionally, this theoretical framework along with an historical-qualitative research methodology allow for retroactive predictions of the relationships between historical and societal circumstances that have influenced the curricular position of geography education. Analysis and interpretation falls into two categories: (1) findings in light of the study's seven research questions; and, (2) findings in light of the theoretical framework. Data extrapolated and analyzed from numerous sources provide support for the idea that national and international events have profoundly affected the K-12 education system, generally, and the evolutionary course of school geography, specifically. This study reveals that, aside from the nineteenth century in which the discipline was a prominent subject of study, the discipline's parent organizations and academic scholars failed to meet society's demands and the needs of education as they neglected matters pertaining to K-12 geography education, which resulted in the marginalization of geography education. Beginning in the early twentieth century, in effect, geography education stood at the periphery of public education--a position that has characterized geography since. Therefore, until geography education, the parent organizations, and academic scholars satisfy the six theoretical variables and the four theoretical propositions, the discipline might continue to maintain a marginal position or, more bleak, lose identity as an identifiable, stand-alone subject of study in the United States' primary and secondary education system.
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Zachary A Moore,
"Evolution of geography in the United States' public school curriculum: An analysis of the influence of societal movements and historical events"
(January 1, 2008).
ETD Collection for Texas State University.
Paper AAI3353658.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3353658