Volume: 13  Number: 1  Page: 6–20

Curriculum Reform and Primary Geography in Finland: A Gap between Theory and Practice?

Tani Sirpa University of Helsinki, Department of Applied Sciences of Education, PO Box 9, Helsinki, Finland

This paper examines geographical education for children under 13 years of age in Finland in the present situation, in which geography is taught as part of 'Environmental and Natural Studies', the school subject integrating biology, geography, environmental studies, civics, physics and chemistry. In the content analysis of school textbooks, attention is paid to the role of geography and some of its central concepts. It is shown how the social dimension of the environment is neglected, causing the inability to implement education for sustainable development in practice. The local environment of the students is apparent in the textbooks, but they seldom contain any social or cultural elements. The viewpoint of the article comes from the cultural turn in geography, with its ideas of subjectivity, identity and the significance of culture, because, it is argued, the theoretical debates could offer many interesting approaches for geographical education in classrooms.

Keywords: primary geography, the cultural turn, environment, culture, curriculum reform, Finland

© 2004 S. Tani

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