tion reform, I have learned thatgeography is as misunderstood asit is disrespected. Geographyclearly has an image problem.However, now that I understandwhat geography is really about, Ibelieve that geography educationreform is as important as anyother item on our national educa-tion reform agenda, even moreimportant than many that get sub-stantially more attention andresources.

What could possibly be soimportant about the subject thatmost people think of as prepara-tion for little more than cross-word puzzles and foreign travel—that is, if they have any idea whatgeography is at all?

Geography is not, as its publicimage would suggest, about mem-orizing facts. Geography is some-thing that you do. Geography isabout explaining and predictingthe events that occur on our

Second acquaintance: No kidding.I believe that geography educationshould be a critical national priority.[Sly grin] We need more citizenswho can name the capital of Iowaand list the major natural resourcesof Namibia.

So, why would I leave a tenuredposition at a top university tochampion a subject that hasbecome the butt of bad jokes? Itis certainly not because I had anexemplary geography educationmyself. In fact, true to the stereo-type presented by my comedianfriends, my experience of schoolgeography consisted almostentirely of coloring in maps, mem-orizing names and locations, andlearning obscure facts aboutremote locations. And this was inschools that were rated amongthe best public schools in thenation.

Correcting geography’simage problemIn my 15 years of work in Earthand environmental science educa-

When I accepted the job of vicepresident for Education &Children’s Programs at theNational Geographic Society, I didnot anticipate that one componentof my new job would be playingthe straight man for jokes aboutgeography. However, I have foundthat conversations about my newjob frequently go something likethis:

Acquaintance: Wow, that soundslike an exciting job. What do you do?

Me: Well, the National GeographicSociety has taken on the mission ofgeography education reform. Mycharge is to improve the quality andimpact of geographic education inthe United States.

Acquaintance [sarcastically]: Oh,that is important. I heard recentlythat the Chinese have gotten evenfarther ahead of us in map coloring.

RepositioningGeographyEducationFrom Neglect to

Necessity

By Daniel C. EdelsonNational Geographic Society

National Geographic Photo Camp / Photo by Chiedo Ohanyerenwa

Geography is somethingthat you do.

© Copyright 2008 National Geographic Society

Daniel C. Edelson is the new vice president forEducation & Children’s Programs and executivedirector of the Education Foundation at theNational Geographic Society, in Washington,D.C. He was formerly associate professor oflearning sciences and computer science atNorthwestern University.

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REPOSITIONING GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

planet. Someone who is geograph-ically literate may know a lot offacts, but what makes them trulyliterate is the ability to explainwhy certain things take place incertain locations and to predictwhat is likely to happen where.For example, the techniques ofgeography are what enable scien-tists to explain what the effect ofchanging fertilizer applicationmethods in Iowa will be on thefish populations in the Gulf ofMexico.

What do you learn, when youlearn real geography? When youlearn geography properly, youdevelop a set of “geographic per-spectives”—particular ways ofasking and answering questions.You also learn a set of “geographicskills”—how to work with a par-ticular set of tools and technolo-gies, including maps and otherrepresentations of geographicinformation. Next come “geo-graphic theories.” Geographic the-ories explain how systems ofcauses and effects play out overspace and how spatial relation-ships develop and change overtime. For example, geographersuse theories of flow and move-ment to explain how innovativeideas travel from one culture to

another or how pollutants travelthrough subterranean water sys-tems.

Taken together, these geographicperspectives, skills, and theoriesenable geographically literate peo-ple to construct geographic expla-nations and predictions. For exam-ple, geographic perspectives, skills,and theories are critical to under-standing how today’s global chal-lenges—such as ethnic conflict,dwindling freshwater supplies, andclimate change—have arisen fromlocal processes, and how localaction could prevent, mitigate, orreverse these global threats.

Of course, geography is not theonly discipline whose goal is toexplain and predict processes onthe surface of the Earth. Manyothers, from geology to anthro-pology, do, as well, and these “geo-graphic disciplines” all overlap. Twoelements, however, distinguish

geography from these overlappingdisciplines and make it particularlyimportant for our students tolearn, whether they are studying itin a course of its own, or whetherthey are studying it in the contextof another course.

First, geography focuses specifi-cally on the importance of loca-tion and spatial relationships inexplaining the world. For example,an ecologist might study how indi-vidual species depend on eachother, but a biogeographer wouldstudy how those dependenciesinfluence and are influenced bywhere they live. Geographersoften explain the role of locationin geography by saying that spaceis to geography as time is to history.

Second, geography focuses notjust on specific systems, but alsoon the interactions among sys-tems. Where disciplines like biolo-gy, Earth science, and political sci-ence each focus on physical, bio-logical, and social systems respec-tively, geography has alwayslooked at the interactions amongthem across space. In this respect,geography is similar to history, inbeing a set of methods for inquirythat apply across different con-texts.

The importance oflearning geographyOnce people understand whatgeography really is, I have foundthat it is not very difficult to con-vince them of the importance ofhaving a geographically literate cit-izenry. This is important for bothsociety as a whole and for eachindividual.

From a society-wide

What could possibly be soimportant about geography,

which most people think of aspreparation for little more than

crossword puzzles and foreign travel?

National Geographic Geography Action! “Rivers”Photo by O. Louis Mazzatenta

Geography in a nutshell

Geography is the study ofhow human, biological, andphysical processes play outover space. Geography pro-vides methods for usinginformation about location toconstruct explanations andpredictions, solve problems,and make decisions.

REPOSITIONING GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

PAGE 3

perspective, geography is probablythe most important subject wecan teach our young people toprepare them for the major chal-lenges facing societies around theworld, including illness, hunger, andpoverty; environmental damageand unsustainable use of naturalresources; and violent conflictrooted in cultural, ethnic, and reli-gious difference.

But geography is not just aboutlarge-scale phenomena or remoteand exotic locations. Geographyalso concerns the study of neigh-borhood and community. Forexample, students in a geographyclass of today might study wheretheir food comes from, how itgets to them, what happens to theleftover food and packaging, andthe economic and environmentalimplications of each stage in thisprocess.

In addition to preparing studentsfor the global challenges of theirworld, geography can preparetomorrow’s citizens to respond tothe local challenges confrontingcommunities across the country—the spread of drugs and gangactivity to suburban and ruralcommunities, the increasing fre-quency of property-damagingfloods and wildfires, steadily risingcommute times, and the lack ofaccess to fresh meat and producein impoverished urban communi-ties.

Geography is also critical tomaintaining the health of theAmerican economy in a fast-changing global context. Retailers

would deny the importance ofgeographic skills and knowledgefor the core mission of their orga-nizations. I expect it would beequally hard to find one whowould say their workforce hasbeen adequately prepared withthese geographic skills and knowl-edge by our educational system.This would not be so true of theircounterparts overseas.

Geographic literacy is increas-ingly important for individuals—for both their personal and eco-nomic welfare. In the personaldomain, maps and geographicinformation systems are increas-ingly being used to help peopleweigh information about opportu-nity and risk. Information aboutweather, natural hazards, and realestate is now disseminatedthrough sophisticated interactivemapping tools. To make decisionsabout where to live or travel andhow to protect oneself and one’sfamily against threats to their wel-fare in today’s world, one needs tobe facile with maps, visualizations,and analytical tools.

In the economic arena, geo-graphic literacy is rapidly becom-ing a critical occupational skill inthe modern world. Jobs involvinggeographic information systemsare among the fastest growing cat-egory in today’s economy, as arejobs that require an understandingof environmental processes, for-eign cultures, or the dynamics ofgeophysical systems. Just as linguis-tic and quantitive literaciesbecame critical for success in theinformation economy thatemerged at the end of the 20thcentury, geographic literacy isbecoming a critical skill for

analyze geographic information toselect locations for distributioncenters and retail outlets. Militaryplanners do the same to establishbattlefield and supply-line strate-gies. In the increasingly globaleconomy, corporations requireexpertise in human and culturalgeography to understand overseasmarkets and forge multinationalbusiness relationships.

It would be hard to find a busi-ness or governmental leader who

National Geographic Geography Action! “Migration”Institute / Photo by Gwendolyn B. Faulkner

Space is to geography as time is to history.

Who does geography?

When you stop to thinkabout all the people who dogeography as part of theirlives or their livelihood, yourealize how essential geo-graphic literacy is to thefunctioning of our society.Just a sample of the differenteveryday people who dosophisticated geographic reasoning:

• Real estate developers• Battlefield commanders• Meteorologists• Transportation planners• Marketing analysts• Epidemiologists• Farmers

Geography has its own spe-cialized terminology. For exam-ple, when geographers definegeography, they describe it interms of space and place. The1994 National GeographyStandards describe geographyas “the science of space andplace on Earth’s surface.”

The terms space and placeare very important to geogra-phers. Space exists indepen-

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REPOSITIONING GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

success in the globalized but cul-turally fragmented and environ-mentally threatened economy ofthe early 21st century.

The status of geographyeducation todayGiven the importance of geogra-phy for 21st-century citizens, howdoes it stack up against other sub-jects in terms of prominence inthe K–12 curriculum and resourcesdedicated to improvement?

On the positive side, throughthe efforts of a small but vocalcommunity of geography educa-tors, 49 of 50 of our states haveexplicit educational standards forgeography. Most of those states’standards are based on nationalgeography standards that wereauthored by a consortium ofgeography organizations. Andgeography is listed as one of thecore academic subjects in the NoChild Left Behind (NCLB) legisla-tion.

However, for the most part, geog-raphy is the forgotten stepchild ofeducation reform. It is the only oneof the core academic subjects that

has no federally funded program forinstructional improvement.Furthermore, as with the othersocial sciences, the NCLB legisla-tion does not mandate stateassessments in geography, whichmeans that the elaborate account-ability systems associated withNCLB provide a disincentive forschools to teach geography. Forthem, any instructional time

Geography is the only one ofthe core academic subjects that has no federally funded

program for instructionalimprovement.

Photo by O. Louis Mazzatenta

dent of people, but place is ahuman construct. Places aredefined by people, typically bydelineating or naming them. Forexample, neighborhoods areplaces. A neighborhood comesinto being when it is recognizedby people as distinct from sur-rounding spaces. Countries,municipalities, and parks are allexamples of places. Places arenot constant, however. They

change. They can even cease toexist. Space, on the otherhand, is constant. Space iswhere people and places exist.Space can be described in con-crete terms that are indepen-dent of human experience (e.g.,location, distance, size, density).Geographers recognize thatboth space and place are nec-essary to properly describe theworld of human experience.

devoted to geography is time thatcould be spent teaching the math,reading, or science that schoolsare accountable for under NCLB.

As a result of this lack of federalfunding and federal accountabilityfor geography, in most locations itis a core academic subject in nameonly. While the other social stud-ies disciplines such as history,civics, and economics have alsobeen left out of the NCLBaccountability system, they at leastall have federal funding programsto encourage educationalimprovement. So, where geographydoes receive attention in the cur-riculum, it is the result of local ini-tiative.

Clearly, improving the state ofeducational reform’s neglectedstepchild is going to be a substan-tial challenge. The community ofcommitted geography educatorsacross the country, which I havejoined, has its work cut out for it.The first step, though, is rehabili-tating geography’s public image. Asthe ancient geographic proverbteaches us, “The longest journeybegins with but a single step.”

Place and space in geography