President of the Ghana Geographers Association (GGA), Dr. Ishmael Yaw Dadson has reiterated the need to generate the interest of children in the study of geography at the basic level.
According to him, though the new curriculum reforms seek to do that, teachers of the subject must use innovative ways to teach the discipline,
Speaking to ATL FM NEWS at the side-line of the opening of a 4-day conference by the Ghana Geographers Association at the University of Cape Coast which was under the theme: COVID-19 – SETTING NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF GEOGRAPHY, he said geography transcend all disciplines and students must be made aware of the essence and relevance of the subject.
He indicated that there is a new curriculum reform where geography is now integrated at the basic school level and at the secondary school level a curriculum reform is ongoing.
“One of the things is to generate the interests of the children, especially by the way we teach the discipline and then the opportunities that they are likely to get when they go through the course,” he said.
Dr. Dadson further added “we need to educate them on that and then let them also see the essence relevance of the subject or the discipline at various levels. You know, geography transcends all disciplines. So as we say, university is a university education. So geography prints you holistically and it can fit into any field when you apply the knowledge”.
He also dispelled the notion that geography is not a science indicating that it draws its conclusions scientifically.
He intimated that geography is science because it is defined by what it studies, then the tools and the procedure through which it conducts its studies.
“We have what we call the scientific method which is adopted by almost every science discipline. In geography we observe and then follow a systematic procedure in arriving at our conclusion. The conclusion is drawn should be scientifically based. And geography also transcends both the social science and the natural science because what we deal with is both the natural and then the human activities on Earth”, he indicated.
Touching on the theme for the conference, Vice president of the Association, Prof. Alex Barimah Owusu stated that, as geographers, they see themselves at the forefront of the war against covid-19 and the challenges of collecting data and teaching which is being virtually informed the theme for the conference.
He noted that there is the need to think about what different ways that can be used to approach the covid-19 situation that has engulfed the world.
“We say that is a challenging time, and perhaps the major challenge that we are facing stem from Covid-19. We as geographies see ourselves at the forefront of or the war against COVID-19 we need to think about what different ways can we approach what we do as geographies in the face of COVID-19,” he stated.
Prof. Barimah Owusu further indicated that the conference also aimed at talking about the challenges that Covid-19 brings to geographers and the kind of new skill sets or new innovation geographers will need in order to adapt to meet the needs of geography in the face of COVID-19.
Topics discussed at the conference included Geography in Ghana, teaching, policy, and curricular, transformation through time, Adjusting Geography Education to the “New Normal Condition” created by the COVID-19 Pandemic, Why was Africa spared from the impact of COVID-19? Some attempts at theorisation, The Impact of COVID-19 on Social Connectedness: Learning from Students’ Experiences in Abetifi Presbyterian Senior High School, amongst others
About GGA
The Ghana Geographers Association (GGA) was established in 1958 as the official professional organization for all people who are associated with Geography, either through formal training, teaching or practice. The Association is registered with the objectives and purposes of organizing and uniting senior members of the Universities in Ghana, students of Geography, teachers of second-cycle institutions and all practitioners who are directly or indirectly involved in Geographical studies. The main activities of the GGA include the organization of annual conferences on topical national issues that enable members to present their research results for discussions towards promoting national development; improving teaching and learning of Geography through capacity-building workshops for its members, especially Geography teachers in the second cycle institutions, publication of appropriate Geography textbooks and Journal for advancing Geographical studies. in Ghana, participation in international Geographical workshops, quizzes and congresses. Over the past ten years, GGA has used its annual conference, which attracts an average of 550 participants to improve teaching in second cycles institutions, promote the study of Geography in Tertiary Institutions and promote national development on topical national issues.
Source: Anthony Sasu Ayisadu/ATLFMNEWS
