Volume 22 Number 2
January 1983

George A. Van Otten and Setsuo Tsutsui

A STUDY accomplished by members of the faculty of the Department of Geography at Northern Arizona University provides conclusive evidence that there are severe deficiencies in geographic education throughout Arizona public schools. The majority of students as well as teachers have minimal training in geographic concepts and skills, and little exposure to the nature of the world in which they live. As a result most students exhibit learning disabilities which are manifestations of geocentric tendencies. The terms geocentrism or egocentrism are generally used interchangeably and are defined as the tendency to be incapable of relating information to spatial settings beyond the immediate environment.

Geography provides students with vicarious exposure to the world in which they live and skills of spatial analysis such as interpretation of spatial patterns, occupance system analysis, and a sense of place. Without such training, students lack a broad reference base upon which to relate the subject matter of other fields of study such as history, literature, and sociology.

The purpose of this article is to explore the nature, significance and causes of the problem of geocentrism in Arizona’s public schools and to propose corrective actions.

Geography is an integrative discipline. It operates somewhere near the interface of science and social science and includes many areas of emphases. Despite the diversity of scholarly interests and the applied versatility of the discipline, geography has an important unifying theme. The transcendent theme of all geographic study and application is space. Just as time is the unifying thread of academic pursuits within the discipline of history, space provides geographers with a holistic approach based upon the interdependent and interconnected aspects of spatial relationships (see Note 1). Just as every event occurs in time, it must also take place in a spatial setting. All aspects of life relate to time and space. A place, whether it be a nation, region, or even on a scale as small as a courtyard, is an expression of a spatial arrangement at a given moment in time. Places, whether familiar or foreign, represent fluid spatial patterns which change with time in response to human and natural forces and actions.

Personal interpretations and understandings of the spatial environment have significant impacts on human occupance systems and life styles. Nash, for example, notes that the Judeo-Christian tradition from which the dominant American culture originates, provided a powerful influence on attitudes toward wilderness. Undeveloped natural areas have been seen, until recently, by most people of European origin, as chaotic wasteland which must be conquered and developed (see Note 2). Native Americans, on the other hand, generally perceive wilderness as that of a natural habitat of man requiring little, if any, human intervention and modification.

Studies of geocentrism and egocentrism are not new. As early as 1913, Trowbridge addressed the issue of egocentrism and orientation systems based upon compass bearings. Recent studies of student’s sense of place have confirmed that perceptions of environments change with a multiplicity of causal factors. For example, more mobile students demonstrate higher levels of geocentrism in map construction, using their home as the focal point of the map, whereas, students who have a history of stable residence tend to identify more strongly with structures and people outside the home. Conversely, students with more mobile backgrounds tend to have better knowledge of the relative location of widely separated places; therefore, they have a broader geographic information base upon which geographic perceptions can be developed and analogies drawn (see Note 3).

Much of what is taught in public school requires students to deal with spatial concepts and to draw analogies based upon a sense of place and the interrelationship of places within space. Students who are geocentric in their orientation must interpret what they read, see, and hear almost exclusively in terms of their immediate spatial setting. Therefore, a child who has spent his or her life on the Papago reservation, for example, and who has not experienced other settings through the geography classroom or travel, must interpret all that is presented in history, literature, or other fields of study in terms of a highly geocentric orientation.

Research efforts by members of the Geography Department at Northern Arizona University provide preliminary evidence that Native American children, particularly those raised on reservations, (as well as many non-Native American children) are experiencing learning difficulties owing to their rather strong tendencies toward geocentrism. They are asked to read the great works of world literature but know little of the settings in which the themes are based. They are expected to enjoy world history, but are unfamiliar with the nature of the places where the momentous events occurred. Furthermore, these children lack the skills of spatial analysis such as map reading and air/photo interpretation.

This research effort was initially motivated by a conspicuous lack of prior geographic education demonstrated by college students at Northern Arizona University in introductory world regional geography courses. Further investigation showed that public schools in Arizona teach very little geography, and what is taught is often either extremely elementary or ineffective. The established hypotheses were that geography is seldom taught in Arizona Public schools, and that in schools where it is taught, it is frequently not well done. To test these hypotheses several questionnaires were developed and mailed to all public school districts in the state. Teachers and administrators were asked to describe their geography programs and training. They were also asked to provide copies of their social science syllabi. Questions dealt with problems of geographic education, course content, teacher preparation, and public school teacher’s attitudes about the contributions of geography to educational processes.

There was a 21.6% return rate on the request for curricula information and a 14% return rate on teacher questionnaires. Although the relatively low response rate provides adequate statistical data for a reasonable survey, the number of responses does indicate rather low levels of interest on the parts of public school teachers and administrators in general.

About one half of the elementary schools present social studies in modules of which geographic education is only a small part. Of greater significance, however, is the almost total absence of geography courses at the secondary levels. Out of 27 school districts, only two require geography at the secondary level, two others offer it as an elective, and one district claims to teach geography in a course called "History and Free Enterprise."

Approximately 30% of the teachers surveyed complained of lack of support, interest, and encouragement in the development of geography courses in their districts. Moreover, about 80% of the respondents suggested that understanding of the modern world, and even survival within it, requires strong skills of spatial analysis. There is an apparent dichotomy between what educators think is needed in geographic education and what schools actually provide.

Of those teachers who teach some geography, less than 45% have a major or minor in the discipline. Moreover, most teachers in the social sciences incorporate rate geography into other courses with rather general titles. Most of these teachers do not meet minimum state requirements to teach geography and some of them have never taken a university geography course.

Those few geography majors teaching in their field note that historians often try to teach geography with less than professional results. Other teachers with a variety of majors outside geography suggest that they are not prepared to teach geography and find it difficult to incorporate geographic concepts into their classes.

At Northern Arizona University, education majors are not required to take geography. Therefore, most of them concentrate on required courses and maintain rather geocentric orientations of their own. Since the other two universities do not require geographic training for education majors, it would seem that their graduates are equally unprepared.

In order to assist in correcting these deficiencies, a course in geography for teachers is being developed at Northern Arizona University. The College of Education has given some initial support to make this course a requirement for education majors in the social sciences and humanities. The course will be first offered in the fall of 1982 on a trial basis by the Geography Department. Emphasis will be placed on geographic concepts, skills, and educational techniques. Moreover, the Northern Arizona University Geography Department has developed a course in remote sensing for teachers to be offered in the summer of 1982.

There is a pressing need for increased attention to geographic education in Arizona. Geocentrism on the part of students, particularly Native Americans from isolated areas, presents severe learning handicaps. Teachers of social science and humanities in Arizona public schools, and especially in reservation schools, should be required to complete courses in geographic education. Universities and colleges training teachers in social science and humanities need to develop courses of study which focus upon geographic concepts, skills, and knowledge. Nevertheless, the colleges and universities cannot accomplish revival of adequate geographic education without support from Arizona schools and the public.

1. James, Preston. All Possible Worlds, p. 13, The Odyssey Press, (New York) 1972.

2. Nash, Roderick. "Wilderness and the American Mind," pp. 1-41, Yale University Press, (New Haven), 1973.

3. Sonnenfeld, Joseph. "Egocentric Perspectives," Annals of Association of American Geography, Vol. 72, No. 1, p. 69.

4. Arizona State University. General Catalogue, 1981-82/82-83, pp. 195-196.

5. Northern Arizona University, General Catalogue, 1981-83, pp. 126, 127.

6. The University of Arizona. General Catalogue, 1981-82, 1982-83, p. 107.

7. Arizona Department of Education. Arizona High School Bulletin: A Handbook for Approval Secondary Schools, 1980, p. 17.

George A. Van Otten has taught classes on the Navajo and Hopi reservations in Geography and Land Use Planning over the past five years. He received the Ph.D. degree from Oregon State University and is currently an Assistant Professor at Northern Arizona University, CU Box 15016, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011.

Setsuo Tsutsui received his doctorate at Oregon State University and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Northern Arizona University, CU Box 15016, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011.