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Is Geography/Environmental Education Ahead or Behind, with Regard to Global Issues?

Both of the editors of the journal, as young geography teachers, thrived on engaging their students in discussions about contemporary issues – those persistent social, political, economic and geographic pulses of a dynamic world that continued to poke their friendly, and sometimes unfriendly, heads into the geography classroom. Seldom were the issues represented very well in the geography books that we used. Doing justice to the issues necessitated going beyond the two covers of the book and the four walls of the classroom to enquire about the world ‘out there’. What were the implications of an issue for us, the class, and how might we begin to examine future challenges and take reasoned positions on contemporary issues and participate in their resolution as responsible citizens? Well, that was a big order – a task sized for the United Nations and beyond the abilities of most governmental systems to address effectively. And, we as teachers expected our students to solve problems seasoned politicians and diplomats were unable to resolve? Reality does set in with most imaginative young classroom teachers, although some of us are slow learners. In the practice of becoming an effective teacher, the objective for the lessons that examined contemporary issues was not to expect the resolution of the issue, but to engage in objective examination of evidence. Following the examination of evidence, the students were expected to take reasoned positions based on the best information, and then to participate as members of schools, neighbourhoods and extended communities to achieve changes that would possibly relieve the stress of the contemporary issues on society. In some cases, the action taken was directed close to home. In other cases it was directed to other regions of the world. Whatever the resolution of the issue, and often it was only within the realm of possibilities for a resolution, it was the experience of considering the alternatives that made the students think about and take a stand on an eventual decision to support a proposition forwarded by their classmates, or by a public policy intended to promote the common good. That was where the content of geographic education led teachers and students. It had its hypothetical side, but it also had its practical side. That hindsight encouraged the editors to raise a persistent question. Is geography/environmental education engaged adequately and effectively in addressing the major contemporary issues of the 21st century? We concluded: probably not, based on the manuscripts that we receive, read and publish in IRGEE, as well as what we read in the other literature of geographical education. What would a model of topic selection and investigation look like if it demonstrated such engagement by students in issues. We believe it might appear quite close