Geographic Education in the United States: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

The history of geographic education in the United States is a story of missed opportunities. Once taught in nearly every

school and considered to be essential information, geography was replaced in the curriculum by Social Studies. Unfortunately

a communications gap developed between the teachers of geography, most of whom taught several additional subjects, and the specialized, professional geographers teaching in post secondary institutions. This gap manifested itself in the lack of

a concise definition of geography and a rationale for its inclusion in the school curriculum. This gap has been reduced somewhat in the past five years as a result of new cooperative efforts among the major organizations of geographers in the

United States. Although this cooperative effort has not reached all of our goals there are obvious signs of progress. There has been a concerted effort on the part of the National Geographic Society to heighten the general public's awareness of the need

for improved geographic education. The NGS has commissioned surveys that measured the levels of geographic literacy in the

United State and other countries. This research showed that the young people in the United States knew much less about the

world than did their peers in other countries.