International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education
Editors: A/Prof John Lidstone, Queensland University of Technology and Prof Joseph P. Stoltman, Western Michigan University
Book Review Editor: Dr Sarah Witham Bednarz, Texas A & M University
Editorial Assistant: Donna Bennett, Australia
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Volume: 13 Number: 1 Page: 90–96
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A Comparative Evaluation of Geography Schoolbooks of Greece and Cyprus
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Fivos Papadimitriou
University of Macedonia of Economic and Social Sciences, Thessalonica, Greece, and Hellenic Open University, Greece
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This article focuses on geographical education in Greece and Cyprus (Southern Cyprus). The two countries have different sets of books for their educational systems, approved by the relevant Ministries of Education. Since the teaching of these officially approved sets of books is compulsory, the context of geographical education in these countries is essentially determined by these schoolbooks. Despite their great significance to geographical education, we still lack an evaluation of the relative positive and negative aspects of these books. It is thus the aim of this paper to contribute towards such a comparative evaluation. All the schoolbooks are evaluated with regard to the selection and presentation of the educative material relating to topics and methods of geography. The evaluation of the two sets of schoolbooks shows that the approaches to geography are significantly different in Greece and Cyprus and, to a certain extent, it can be said that the relative advantages of each country's schoolbooks are missing from the other. Future editions might place a greater emphasis on quantitative aspects, theoretical problems and methods of geography.
© 2004 F. Papadimitriou
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