Hint: They’re On Each Side of Iran…
by Joe Carter
February 23, 2007
Dr. Steven Taylor, associate professor of political science at Troy University, is depressed by his student’s lack of geographic knowledge:
Out of 16 students in my general studies World Politics class only 1 could identify Iraq and Afghanistan on a blank map on their exam. One other student found Iraq and another correctly located Afghanistan.
Pardon me while I go weep quietly in the corner.
Well, it’s not exactly as if those countries have been in the news lately. Perhaps we just need more globes in the classroom — or more military veterans.
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Comments
After reading this I called my homeschooled 6th grader in and asked her if she could find Iraq and Afghanistan on the blank world map we use. She pointed to Afghanistan, saying it was Iraq, and then claimed not to know the exact location of Afghanistan. Not too bad, I suppose, considering she last studied middle east geography two years ago (this year it’s Asia).
“What we need are parents who teach at home, and more important parents who teach their children to want to learn.”
On geography, I expect the parents would score even worse. Same on most other subjects… they will be very good at whatever field they work in, but for everything else just have to go on some barely-remembered lessons from decades ago and whatever the textbooks say.
Rusty: Of the two countries you asked her to find, she found none. The only good thing I see is that she was willing to admit ignorance of the location of Afghanistan, rather than just point and hope.
Its just an effect of TV. The countries are in the news often, yes, but TV news disassociates things from geography. Places blur together.
I just asked my son and my wife to identify Iraq and Afghanistan on a blank map. They both got it wrong, or so I thought.
Actually it was me who got it wrong. I identified Syria as Iraq.
Suricou,
Yes, while she found none, she knew the area of the map (of the world) they were in. Maybe you didn’t catch it, but she is in the 6th grade and not a university student. Also, I was wrong about her having learned middle east geography in 4th grade… it was in the 2nd grade.
Context, Suricou – it matters.
Sorry, we dont have grades over here :> Our school system has years instead, and they dont match up.
Suricou,
Okay, yeah, that would be cause for confusion. Here’s a reference point: 6th grade ~ 11 years old.
This post reminded me of a CNN article (and interactive test) which reported that nearly two-thirds of Americans, 18 – 24 years of age, couldn’t find Iraq on a map. It’s a sad situation.
By: John | February 23, 2007 at 3:34 pm
What we need are parents who teach at home, and more important parents who teach their children to want to learn.