INQUIRY ON GEOGRAPHY LEARNING PROBLEMS IN

BASIC EDUCATION STUDENTS *

Elsa Amanda Rodríguez de Moreno1

Alexander Cely Rodríguez2
Nubia Moreno Lache3
Alix Otálora Durán4

GEOPAIDEIA Research Group

National Pedagogical University
University Francisco Jose de Calda"
Bogotá DC - Colombia

SUMMARY

The writing aims to socialize the achievements and reflections reached in the research
project: “LEARNING PROBLEMS OF GEOGRAPHY IN BASIC EDUCATION STUDENTS”
developed by the GEOPAIDEIA Group, under the recognition and support of the CIUP 5 .
Likewise, it seeks to provide a contribution to the community of teachers and those
interested in the topic so that they can permeate pedagogical practices and in turn build
new pedagogical and didactic forms that enhance the dynamics of and in the school. The
main objective of the research is to build a didactics of geography for basic education by
guiding the formative research of future Graduates in Basic Education with Emphasis in
Social Sciences of the LEBECS program.6 of the National Pedagogical University, as well
as obtaining feedback on the processes and didactics developed in the institutions under
investigation.

Keywords : Learning, learning problems, geography, didactics, teaching-learning.

ABSTRAC

... .. . . . ... ... . - . . -

The research project had the support of teacher Alexandra von Prahl Ramírez and students of the
LEBECS program of the National Pedagogical University: César Ignacio Báez Quintero, Lucia
Mercedes Cáceres Copete, María del Pilar Monroy Merchán, Óscar Orlando Reyes Sánchez and
Jéssica Lorena Suárez Valderrama who participated as research monitors. Email:
[email protected]

1 Master in Education and Social Development, Professor at the National Pedagogical University,
Bogotá DC - Colombia. Email: [email protected]
2 Master in Education with Emphasis in Teaching Geography, Professor at the National Pedagogical
University, Bogotá DC - Colombia. Email: [email protected]
3 Master in Education with Emphasis on Teaching of the
Geography, Professor of theUniversity
“Francisco José de Caldas” District, Bogotá DC - Colombia. Email: [email protected]
4 Master in Education with Emphasis on Teaching of the
Geography, Professor of theUniversity
National Pedagogical, Bogotá DC - Colombia. Email: [email protected]
5Research Center of the National Pedagogical University
6 Bachelor's Degree in Basic Education with an Emphasis in Social Sciences
By means of this text, the authors expect to socialize the achievements and thoughts they
reached in the research project “Geography Learning Problems in Primary Education.” This
project was developed by the members of the Geopaideia research team, and supported by
the CIUP. Furthermore, they want to give a contribution to all of those teachers, students,
and people interested in this particular research topic, in order to update and promote new
pedagogical and didactics trends in the teaching-learning dynamic from and within the
school. Taking into account the previous viewpoint, the main aim of this project is to
establish the framework for a geography didactics in primary education. Then, it is vital to
focus all the efforts to increase the research awareness of those students involved in the
program of Primary Education with emphasis in Social Studies – LEBECS - Pedagogical
University- and to gather, analyze, and publish information about the processes and
findings carried out in the institutions where this research project has taken place.

KEY WORDS: Learning, learning problems, geography, didactics, teaching-learning.

READING AND RESEARCH OF THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS OF

THE GEOGRAPHY.

Introduction

Reading, interpreting and re-reading the process of teaching and learning geography in

basic education in order to elucidate the learning problems of geography of basic education

students in the city of Bogotá, become the fundamental object of this work. investigative. In

this sense, it is important to state that the research assumed a qualitative methodological

approach, discriminating between the pedagogical and the disciplinary. From the point of

view of the disciplinary approach, the geography of perception was adopted, based on the

use of the senses to perceive, imagine, judge and feel; and in turn humanistic geography,

in that it emphasizes interpretation and takes into account affective, teleological and

aesthetic aspects in addition to reason. Regarding pedagogy, it was based on

constructivism but particularly on meaningful learning.

The research was qualitative - interpretive, based on the action research approach. To

develop it, the scenario of the capital city is taken, with a child and adolescent population,

inhabitants of different sectors of Bogotá DC. and in various socio-economic and socio-
cultural strata, taking into account different educational contexts and therefore diverse

realities of children and young people.

The reason for the above is supported on the one hand, given that the research sought to

take a population sample that would make up the public and private sectors and that would

reflect, to a significant extent, aspects of the reality of the various localities of the city, and

On the other hand, because in the institutions under investigation there was the intervention

and support of the group's monitors as practicing students.7 ; With this, it was somehow

guaranteed that the results showed some of the conditions of the current state of the

teaching-learning of geography and therefore some of the educational conditions of the city

of Bogotá. The population under study were Basic Education students from the following

educational institutions

INSTITUTION DEGREE GENDER

National Pedagogical Institute Eighth Mixed
INEM – Francisco de Paula Santander – Sixth Mixed
Ciudad Kennedy
Llano Oriental District Educational Center – Ninth – Seventh Mixed
Bosa
Fontibón Integrated District Educational Second – First Mixed
Center
Vermont Gym- Bogotá Second - Coeducation: Boys
Third – Fifth and Girls.
The reflections and analyzes developed throughout the research, as well as the linking of

readings and re-readings of previous aspects related to the learning problems of geography

in basic education, allow the presentation and support of pedagogical proposals, which as

scope of research enhances the teaching and learning of geography

7 At the time of carrying out the research, the teachers in training were studying the Pedagogical and
Investigative Project in the Urban Environment Didactics Line of the LEBECS.
A look at the teaching of geography in Colombia.

The primary purpose of teaching Social Sciences and, within them, geography, is to provide

information and conceptual tools, as well as to develop cognitive skills and attitudes that

allow students to approach the study of these sciences in order to understand human

beings who live in their immediate environment and in other places in the world, in all

historical time and geographic space. Therefore, students must notice similarities and

differences in the way of life of people who live in geographical spaces with different

locations and different times, so that they become aware that different cultures exist and

existed, so people have different ways of seeing the world and to build their belief systems.

In this way, it will be possible to master cognitive skills, share and interact with people who

have different hierarchies of values and possess the attitudes that a citizen of a

contemporary democratic society needs, which includes the local but also the global

dimension.

The research carried out by the research team of the Department of Social Sciences of the

National Pedagogical University, in Bogotá, on “The Concept of Space

Geographic that Colombian children handle, has shown that the teaching-learning process,

within the usual programs of the last decree 1002 of 1984 or within the autonomy of law

115, has not achieved the expected achievements, as analyzed in the different reports

presented at conferences and teachers' meetings, the result of research and tests applied

to students such as state exams.

On the other hand, and despite the issuance of the curricular guidelines for Social Sciences

(2002) and the subsequent development, issuance and dissemination of the Standards of
Competencies in Social Sciences (2004), the problem of the teaching and learning process

of This discipline, while it is not possible to overcome non-comprehensive memorization,

the repetition of maps and the accumulation of information about the various places on the

Earth's surface without an understanding of what is being addressed.

The above demands systematic and continuous work that allows, on the one hand, to

internalize the epistemological, methodological and pedagogical foundations of the new

legal proposals or those generated within schools and those regulated by the Ministry of

National Education, as well as such as the incorporation of new pedagogical scenarios

where the teacher can, based on the environments and communities with which he

interacts, build, apply, provide feedback and evaluate educational programs and processes

that significantly contribute to the teaching and learning of the geography.

Since 1992, the GEOPAIDEIA group has investigated the teaching of geography in primary

basic education - urban and rural sectors - with students and teachers and concluded that

none of the aforementioned actors has built the fundamental concepts of the geographical

discipline. The reason that explains this situation is the predominance of traditional

geography and pedagogy; At most, there are some teachers who apply an active pedagogy

but develop traditional content with an enumerative geographical perspective, based on the

study of physical aspects, through transmissionist teaching, obtaining rote and repetitive

learning without achieving significance in school.

Geography faces barriers in the understanding of its object and nature of study by a

significant number of teachers in educational institutions. Added to this is the lack of

geographical awareness in those who “take over” this academic space, forgetting that its

fundamental object of study is based on the understanding of the relationships Man –

Nature – Society. Thus, geography must be transformed and questioned not only from the
purely disciplinary field but also from the pedagogical field. "Nowadays, the insertion of

geography as a teaching subject presents a wide variety of situations, depending on the

countries and academic levels. In secondary and primary education, descriptive geography

courses continue to predominate, which tend to provide general information about the

different regions of the Earth and the economic and political organization of the Earth,

placing special emphasis on the study of the geography of the Earth. own country" (Capel,

1985). Sharing the conclusions of Rodríguez de Moreno (1987) in his presentation

"Problems and characteristics of the teaching of geography in basic education" presented

at the X Colombian Congress of Geography, it is highlighted:

• "The problems of education in Colombia have been the same throughout

this century: without the solutions adopted having been effective in
eradicating them.

• Research, reforms, educational development plans have been carried out

under the influence of foreign psychological, sociological and

technological currents that do not take into account the specific
conditions of the country.

• The community or group of geographers, due to lack of integration, have

not known how to project themselves at the national level, valuing their
science and placing it at the level that corresponds to it.

• The teaching of geography basically suffers from efficient pedagogical and/or

geographical training of teachers at all levels, which generates a great diversity

of problems not only in the educational aspect but at a social level." (Rodríguez
de Moreno, 1987:173)

Due to the above, in 2004 the group decided to investigate the learning process in

geography. Such investigation led to specifying the individual and social processes

necessary to obtain meaningful learning, a type of learning that is closely linked to the
constructivist conception of didactics, which despite drawing attention within the discourses

of the academic communities and teachers, is little applied in daily pedagogical practice,

both at the basic and higher education levels.

Recognition of the teaching and learning process for geography

Looking at and meaning the process of teaching and learning geography in local and

national contexts requires bibliographic consultation, particularly the literature studied and

recommended by teachers in the training of graduates. The quite elaborate speeches of

psychologists such as Novack and Godwin stand out, in relation to meaningful learning,

texts on strategies to achieve meaningful learning - in general, not about subjects in

particular - instruments to make learning explicit such as concept maps and the well-known

v heuristics , as well as new forms of evaluation to interpret the results of qualitative tests

on the cognitive, attitudinal and procedural, such as the texts that were published in Spain

during the last decade regarding curricular change in Basic Education.

Many working groups have also been formed in the United States - Harvard -, Spain -

Valencia, Seville - France - Grenoble - Italy - Bologna - whose objects of study and work

problems are teaching, learning, pedagogy, which has resulting in a range of proposals that

deal with: teaching for understanding, strategic learning, cooperative learning, problematic

teaching, among others.

Undoubtedly, there is sufficient bibliography on constructivist pedagogical models, didactic

models, teaching models and learning models, although the majority of teachers do not

have clarity either about the concept of model, or about the concepts of pedagogy,

didactics, teaching and learning. which produces great confusion. What can be deduced is

that the authors prefer new nomenclatures or names although essentially the same

meaning is had for different labels: implicit theories, preconceptions, alternative concepts,
prior knowledge, conceptions, constructs. So to begin a bibliographic search, build and

enrich a consistent theoretical framework, one must scrutinize between the lines of the

meanings of the numerous names used in the pedagogical and didactic field.

Regarding the concept of learning as established throughout the research, it has been

found that there are also several meanings, depending on the school and approach with

which it is examined. For example, “Learning in a domain would imply having more

complex and better organized networks; learning by association and restructuring has

continuity and is complementary” (Pozo: 142). On the other hand, there is “Pedagogical

learning: a process in which the student, under the direct or indirect direction of the teacher

in a situation specially structured to train him individually and socially, develops capacities,

habits and abilities that allow him to appropriate the culture and the means to know it and

enrich it. In the process of this appropriation, feelings, interests, behavioral motives, and

values are also formed, that is, all spheres of personality are developed simultaneously”

(Ocaña Cited in Kron, 1993:20). Likewise, it is possible to speak of Learning according to

(Kron; 1993:32), understood as the acquisition of skills or knowledge intentionally and

generally with a more or less great effort, which always implies an improvement in

performance; or learning as the “Acquisition of motor skills and acquisition of cognitive and

linguistic achievements, adaptation of emotional attitudes, values and patterns

(Saldarriaga, Cited in Kron, 1993:118)

Given the range of conceptions and definitions, the GEOPAIDEIA group established that

learning can be seen as a set of knowledge, needs and the way in which they can be

solved; the appreciation of what we are and what we have. School learning involves the

subject who learns in interaction with the environment: biophysical, psychological,

epistemological and the meanings that are constructed subjectively. There are several

types of learning, so the research is guided by the exposition of Juan Ignacio Pozo, who
conceives the learning of: events and behaviors, conceptual and verbal, social, procedural

and attitudinal broken down into several subtypes that have a justification and

argumentation. .

For learning geography it is necessary to take into account all aspects in order to obtain

comprehensive training, therefore the research group assumes the suggestions in relation

to the types of learning proposed by Pozo, whose synthesis we include.

LEARNING
it's a
Yo
Complex System

Learning processes (HOW) Practical conditions

Learning outcomes
(WHAT)

They are internal psychological processes of the learner, observable in their

consequences

In relation to the fundamental concept or concepts of geography, a phenomenon similar to

that described for pedagogical concepts occurs; That is to say, there are several views and

according to each of them, geography is conceived in one way or another. That is to say,

there is a meaning for each of the trends in geography, which is why we do not talk about

the same thing for positivist, historicist, contemporary regional geography, for example -

and a very different one from radical geography, which in turn It is sometimes subdivided

into several modalities.

In this regard we find definitions of the discipline that express it as " Geography is that part

of mixed mathematics that is applied to the condition of the earth and its parts according to
the quantity, that is, its shape, its location and its magnitude and movement with the

celestial appearances. By some it is taken in a very limited sense as the description of

diverse countries; and by others it is taken too broadly, because along with the description

they would like to have its political constitution ” (Valerius cited by Graves. 1997:21),

Vidal de la Blache defines it as “synthesis science, it has the ability not to disintegrate what

nature brings together, to understand the links and relationships between phenomena,

whether in the global terrestrial context that embraces them, or in the of the regional

environments in which it is located” (Vidal de la Blache cited by Graves; 1997:33).

Within the group it was agreed to assume geography in accordance with the approach of

Pett (1998) who understands it as “the study of the relationships between society and the

natural environment. Geography looks at how societies change, alternate and transform the

environment, creating humanized forms and socialization with others, to understand the

natural-social complex and its results. “Geography also looks at the conditions of society in

their original forms and how changes modify their cultures and offer or limit potential for the

development of processes such as economic processes, for example.”

Likewise, the group focuses special interest on the concept of geography from a radical

interpretation, as this school defines it as the “science that is responsible for the study of

the social space produced by the relationships of subjects and the relationships between

society and nature, through the analysis of the modes of production typical of a space”

(Peet cited by Delgado. 2003:81) “Then the synthetic center of geography is the study of

nature-society interrelationships” (Peet cited by Delgado. 2003:82). “Then the synthetic

center of geography is the study of the interrelationships between nature and society” (Peet

cited by Delgado. 2003:82). Although this current is quite strong, within geographical
thought new paradigms typical of postmodernity are being consolidated that seek to

vindicate the importance of space as a unit of analysis and not of relationships, and also

rescues the role of place as an object of human significance. On this same plane of

understanding space as social production is Milton Santos, who defines space as a

complex structural totality with its own identity and permanent evolution; while he clarifies

that geography “must let us see the world as it is, since we have an official geography that

insists on showing us the world as it is not” (Santos. 1995:36)

However, it must be specified that geography as a scientific discipline is different from

school geography, which has its own particularities, and in this project, what is interesting is

to establish the concept of school geography. In this sense, geography is understood as the

discipline that shows our works as human beings, as societies in time and space, combined

in places, successions and simultaneities. It is one that gives us tools to understand our

world, to form a conception of it and that is materialized in our actions about that world. For

this reason, this discipline, as part of the Social Sciences, aims to understand the

multirelationships that form spatial structures, produced from the interaction of geographical

spaces constituted by biotic, abiotic and anthropic factors, the latter expressed in societies,

in their actions and in their culture.

Geography develops the thinking capacity and cognitive capacity in the child, since through

the concept of space it can lead an individual to know, understand and manage a space. It

is therefore important to reflect on the teaching and learning of geography from the

classroom to the outside world, where the individual is stimulated to interpret and take

advantage of the space they occupy, to establish and understand the variations and

transformations that are evident in the geographical spaces.

Due to the training and experience of the members of the GEOPAIDEIA group, it is

considered that school geography should be developed in accordance with the

characteristics of the knowing subject from the points of view: cognitive, affective, social,

economic, cultural and biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics. of the everyday

environment. In such a way that the programs privilege the fundamental concepts of

geography, which are gradually built through didactic strategies that guide and enhance the

abilities of the students, based on the diagnosis of their characteristics -both individual and

group- as well as the realities and needs. of the communities in which the subject and the

school are immersed.

The development of research

Reflecting on the process of teaching and learning geography involving teachers in training,

accompanied by teachers from the research group, required revealing a look inside the

maximum group itself when one of the interests of the CIUP and the process of training

teacher-researchers itself is to make monitoring a means to constitute investigators. In this

sense, each of the stages was carried out as a teaching process for teachers and learning

for everyone. Reading and writing skills training was carried out with the monitors, applying

the same theories that were being studied to them.

Within meaningful learning, a very important stage to achieve positive results is to explore

previous ideas, so the project, in its action research process, assumes that each of the

team members prepares a reflection on the learning concepts. , of geography and his

personal story regarding the evolution of the concept and learning experience in

geography. This work methodology, which in turn allowed it to be approached as a

research instrument, was significant and allowed the group members and research leaders

– teachers and monitors – to become subject-object of research, thus fulfilling one of its
purposes and that pointed towards the immersion of the researcher in his research

process. Below are some of the reflections cited.

Subject Age Reflection

Women > 50 For me, the word learning has an image of fire, I relate it to learning, and given
my training with nuns in basic and secondary education, I always associated
intellectuality with the Holy Spirit, whom I invoked when I had an exam and
representation on the day of Pentecost is that it came to the Apostles in the
form of a tongue of fire. Is
 a semi-magical explanation that a girl of 8 or 9 years old made, who assumed
that if she behaved well the Holy Spirit gave her the gift of learning easily, the
fire was the ideas and when it reached the brain it made it possible to learn
whatever she wanted. The other meaning of grasping is that of hitting, grasping
and I also linked it with the idea of learning in that I had to grasp what they
explained to me and taught me in order to learn it. Write, draw, read, add,
subtract, make synoptic tables. Better meant prettier: neat, clear, clean, with
colors to differentiate the titles. The learning objects were always related to
school, I never thought I was learning to cook, iron, chip, wax. Nor did I believe
that I was learning the somewhat reduced social life of the family or applying
the rules of courtesy...
Man 30-40
Geography is the social science that studies man with space. I identify with that
definition of geography, with that definition I start a class. Because? I have
conceived it since I started studying in Pedagogy, I don't remember exactly how
it started, but all my teachers who have trained me have helped me build the
concept.
Will a taste for geography run in your blood?

My dad was always proud to tell us about his youthful exploits, which involved
crossing many paths in a single day to move from one town to another in
Boyacá, his homeland. Born in the land of freedom, he went from Gámeza to
Tópaga and Cerinza, a route that leads to the Pisba moor (you remember the
liberating route, well, that one but in reverse), along that route they could collect
wild potatoes, milk the cows and eat panela, the cold should be a bit extensive,
Bolívar did it 185 years ago and my dad did it 65 years ago, today I don't really
want to go there, I think it is difficult because of the violence that is experienced
today. My dad told me those stories with the energy of a “minstrel” or a “song of
deeds” and his adventures moved me. In those moments, in me, the desire to
study was little, however the idea of traveling the world I wish I was on foot, my
head began to wander...
Women 20 – My learning process has been directly related to my family and especially to my
30 grandmother, since she was the person who raised me since I was little, she
taught me many things from the emotional, which has been the most important,
as well as the cognitive and attitudinal, determined the latter due to the codes
of conduct that were established in my family thanks to the genius of my mother
but also to the warmth of my father and that were sometimes broken by the
pandering of my grandmother.
LEARNING GEOGRAPHY
The learning of Geography in my life has been characterized in three stages of
my life:
1. Stage- Primary:
• There was access to books for young children “the earth” is one of them
In this, the meridians and parallels were illustrated with examples that one
could make with simple material such as an orange, tempera and brushes,
in the same way it was explained what the wind, hurricanes and cyclones,
the formation of clouds, the formation of beaches and cliffs, volcanoes,
earthquakes, the characteristics of jungles, deserts, the exploitation of the
earth with the example of coal as well as the differences of animals
according to space and in the same way
man and finally the different means of transportation.
• In fourth grade, models were made with the help of my older sister. It was
 a fun task because it was manual and allowed for a form of recreation but
also for learning about Relief, as well as drawing the map of Colombia and
Cundinamarca, then filled with plasticine and a Colbon layer made it look
very pretty and personally motivated me.
• In fifth grade, orientation was difficult for me, since it was taught with the
classroom as a reference, and the right and left hand, but then this
happened when they took me out to the patio and made me get up early at
5:30 to see where it came out. the sun, as well as playing streets and
races in rows with arms extended, that's how the streets and the races
were, for this year the compass was used, but I never learned to use it
because a certain classmate took possession of it and wouldn't let it go
and The teacher didn't tell her anything, we took her for a field trip in
Chipaque and there we did a very fun workshop that involved describing
the landscape, listing animals, taking temperatures, following the route,
etc., in fifth grade I learned a lot about geography, too. We worked on the
plan of the city center, recognizing the seventh street, the cathedral, on
July 20, and then working on the historical part and going on an outing with
the family.
• ° Stage- Baccalaureate:
• The Geography of Colombia and what one could learn through perception
was left aside for a Regional Geography; Starting from Greece, with the
Physical Relief, continuing with ancient societies such as the Egyptian, the
Mesopotamian, and the Hindu, the problem was that the relief and
importance of societies were learned through memorization and small
exams that together They made up the note of the year.
• We continued with the same teacher, who continued with the program for
seventh and eighth grades with the geography of Europe, and the same
thing happened, it was easy for me to learn the names of mountains and
spend the entire afternoon reviewing them, walking around the study
room , making a sketch of maps and locating the plateaus, the plains etc.,
in the end I did well but then I completely forgot.
• In ninth grade, he returned to the Geography of Colombia, with a new
teacher, who emphasized the creation of maps through various materials
such as sand, oats, gelatin powder, which were striking, they were more of
an art exhibition, however there was an understanding of the topic about
the rise of the mountain ranges and the sinking of the seas, mention was
also made of cultural geography, the change in the dress of women and
men, the customs they had and the traditions that endured, linked to the
understanding of the history of the 19th and 20th centuries in Colombia. It
must be said that these tasks were the ones I liked to do the most,
because they awakened my creativity and it was not monotonous and
boring work but rather rewarding.
• To finish high school 10th and 11th, emphasis was placed on Economic
Geography and Political Geography, following a text complemented with
guides, but more emphasis was placed on economic and financial
exchanges and the sectors that included it, social exclusions, poverty,
among others, were never identified. elements that are part of it, work is
done outside of social problems.
 3rd Stage- University: We entered the University with certain gaps in terms of
Geography, the truth is that it was very difficult for me to understand Maria
Cristina Franco in the first semester, in the first semester with the text
“Trayectoria de la Geografía”, it was used to repeat the text verbatim without an
understanding of the text. However, the first field work on “Doña Juana” was
very good. There, photos were taken and there was an exhaustive
bibliographical consultation with different district entities. In this first stage, it
was very difficult for me to understand the theory of geography and it caught
my attention more. the practice.
• Then it caught my attention and it still is physical geography, I relate it
With the economic, that is, the exploitation of natural resources, the so-
called Megaprojects, I really like this, it is a critical geography that sees
beyond the purely identified environment of geography to recognize the
scope and threats of geographical space. Likewise, observation and the
opportunity to get to know other parts of the country enable a more direct
interaction with geography and the relationships it establishes with other
disciplines, such as anthropology and history, motivating me to study and
apply Geohistory.
Man 20 -30 I think that since I was very little I liked to look at car sales, when I moved
around the city or when I went on a trip. Observe and look for forms in what
was out there or far from me at that time; I was too young to understand that I
also did part of what was out there, it was what I liked the most, I think it was an
activity that became everyday as I grew up and interesting to the extent that
each time I found objects that were never there. there or that I had never seen,
I think it is one of the advantages that at 6 years old one already moves around
the city alone. I hardly remember the primary school stage, I think the teacher
on duty made us take the guide book and develop social science workshops,
so geography was reduced to naming the products of the regions of Colombia
and memorizing the capitals of the departments, mayors and police stations.
Thinking then that geography was naming cities and what the limits of
Colombia were was normal.

It is important to highlight how there are some common aspects in the previous reflections

and that they are related to:

• Incidence of socio-cultural patterns determined by the family context.

• School habits related to the experience in primary and secondary basic education,

which relevantly refers to: memorization, repetition, transcription of books into

notebooks and tracing maps.

• Life experience through family outings, stories from grandparents, parents and bus
tours.

• Personal tastes for activities in different places and times but lacking reflection
 when preparing them.

To make the reflections explicit, it was necessary to develop workshops on what reflection

as such means, its stages and complexity as it is deepened. From the reflective work

described, it can be concluded that students cannot be told to reflect, since it is not an

activity that arises spontaneously, but rather they must be taught to do so and subsequently

write about it.

Simultaneously with this activity, the intervention was developed in the institutions under

investigation, as well as working through the Focus Group methodology with various

teachers from the institutions involved in the project as well as from others, with the

purpose of contrasting the scenario in which the teaching-learning of geography takes

place and in this way to elucidate this panorama more clearly.

By weaving the aforementioned instruments - Focus Group and personal reflections, which

in turn were contrasted with the experience lived in the institutions under investigation with

the students - children and young people -, in view of the theoretical references addressed

by the project it is possible to conclude that:

• In the first years of the experience of spatial behavior, spatial relationships are

established according to social and cultural patterns. They are different processes

depending on the environment in which one is born and lives (stage of lived space).

It is evident that in the rural sector different references are learned from those

learned in the urban area.

• The preschool years, in the case of those who had that experience or in the first

years of primary school, learning refers especially to social learning, assessment of

qualities of space: large, small, open, closed, psychomotor coordination in spatial
 behavior thick and thin.

• In primary school courses, learning related to locality, department, country and

continent – even planet – is acquired by rote and repetitively. There are mechanical
learnings also related to tracing and coloring sketches and maps.

• In secondary school, emphasis is placed on obtaining memorized learning based on

book-based teaching, both for team members over 50 years old and for adults

between 30 and 40 years old and young people under 20 years old. From which it is

concluded that despite the emergence of new educational theories and new

geography teaching didactics, teachers in official and private schools insist on

focusing their programs on traditional content without establishing relationships or

constructing spatial analysis.

• Despite the above, it was also seen that the learning achieved in school life is not

restricted to the development of academic programs; on the contrary, there is a

strong impact on the family, the distances traveled between school and home, the

environment. transport that is used, the activities that are carried out of a

recreational nature, the trips that are made outside of school or within it in

extracurricular activities, ultimately the daily lives of people.

• Rote learning is not incompatible with meaningful learning in that it can start from
rote and mechanical learning to become meaningful when it is anchored to prior
knowledge or the student is motivated to understand, contrast and analyze what he
memorized. Memory is a quality that must be formed; it is also necessary to cement
new knowledge and properly interpret spatial contexts. The fundamental
requirement is to motivate and work to make it a comprehensive memory.

• The learning and appreciation of symbolic spaces: religious, sacred, political,

environmental milestones is acquired in the process of family and group

enculturation and generally tends to be more rooted than the learning “achieved” at
school.
Regarding the conception of what it means to learn, the following stands out:

• The relationship with academic or school learning. What is learned in everyday life

is not considered learning (dancing, interacting with peers or adults, use of utensils,

organization of personal objects, orientation and selection of routes to go from one

place to another, perception of distances and areas, establishment of relations of

proximity, continuity, neighborhood, location, identification of spatial symbols,

conception of public, private, social space, etc.)

• Preparation for a learning evaluation is done based on memorization of authors,

bibliography, dates, facts, places. Learned task satisfaction occurs when there is a

tangible result: writing, drawing, graph, map, etc. There are doubts about what has

been learned when one can only make an oral expression about what has been

internalized.

• There is no habit of explaining the conception or prior knowledge about the areas of
knowledge or the topics to be discussed in a class or in a school program, either by
teachers or students. With the monitors

research tried to form that habit and it is deduced that it facilitates learning when the

question about the tasks to be carried out is answered: what do I know about it?,

answering from empirical knowledge and from academic knowledge, developing a

scheme that allows visualizing such a balance and therefore thus account for the

achievements achieved.

• There is a common idea among teachers and students that rote learning does not

have great value, stimulated by texts by recognized authors that promote

meaningful learning. However, it should be noted that rote and mechanical learning

can become meaningful depending on the reflection, internalization and application

of it.
 • Another common aspect that is found is taking learning as a mandatory task that is

required at school, so there is no intrinsic motivation to learn, but rather it is

something imposed. In fact, the project team does not believe in extrinsic

motivation, but rather in the need for each person to express the interests and

motivations they have to learn something and reflect on the importance of learning

in their training and personal development.

In relation to the preconceptions or ideas that exist about geography, made visible through

the instruments applied, the reflections lead us to extract some trends such as:

• Geography is related to the physical aspects (relief, hydrography, climate, soils,

etc.) of the earth's surface.

• The idea remains that geography is the description of the earth's surface.

• The geography classes received in the academic life of basic education from the

90s onwards are smaller and conceptually poorer than those of previous decades,

even than those of the mid-20th century. The above is evidenced by a lack of

knowledge of the discipline, which distances the teacher and therefore the student

from this knowledge. The concern for achieving the relational surpassed the

disciplinary and it is impossible to achieve a balance between these two

fundamental aspects if they are disconnected.

Representation of geographic space8

8 Representation of the geographical space constructed by a male subject (10 years old) belonging
to one of the institutions under investigation.
 Source: personal archive of the researchers.

• There is a disarticulation between the legal statements issued by the Ministry of

National Education regarding Curriculum Standards and Guidelines and what
happens in various schools and pedagogical settings.

• People who are not interested in Social Sciences but aspire, carry out or carry out

work in areas of health, engineering, arts, biological sciences, etc. It does not have

a spatial scheme that helps them orient themselves on the planet. A test on the

location of countries that are the subject of daily comments in press, radio and

television news (Iraq, Ukraine, Cuba, Japan, Southeast Asia) demonstrates total

geographical illiteracy. This situation, although less harsh, also usually occurs

among people who work in Social Sciences, particularly in geography.

• The situation that exists among people who have access to computers, the Internet

and other communications technologies is contradictory because distances have

been transformed, but geographical knowledge has been reduced despite being at
hand.
 • There is a link between demotivation due to tasks (coloring, painting maps, making

summaries, reading (school texts, atlases) and demotivation due to the subject.

Furthermore, the majority of basic education teachers do not conceive of teaching

geography through newspapers, literature, music, cinema, theater or other cultural

expression, so the teaching of geography becomes monotonous and discouraging. .

Representation of geographic space9

Source: Personal archive of the researchers

• There are various possibilities to enhance geographical learning, including

awakening interest through field trips carried out by teachers or family outings.

Travel is stimulating for most learners at any age and with different intellectual

conditions. However, it is necessary to re-orient and re-conceive field trips from a

conception that aims to understand them as a field pedagogy that enables the

construction of truly significant learning.

• Movies (cinema and television, videos) are interesting but not enough to achieve

9
Representation of the geographical space constructed by a female subject (9 years old) belonging
to one of the institutions under investigation.
 significant learning in relation to plots or settings. Even so, they are tools that,
conceived in a pedagogical way, can be excellent strategies for teaching
geography.

Likewise, the research - as another instrument of the process - analyzed some school texts

that circulate or have circulated in the city of Bogotá, which have been used at different

historical moments and seen as tools of school work. By performing this activity and making

the contrast, the following stand out:

• Publishers, in general, continue to address a traditional and rote conception of

geography, reinforced in the way they handle, present and propose educational
texts, which in several institutions are the working compass.

• Inconsistencies between the support presented at the beginning of the book and the
development of the themes.

• Most school textbooks have an average of 250 pages illustrated in full color, but
with an excessive number of topics, without a central articulating axis around which
these topics are integrated.

• When evaluation is included by topic or by chapter, it emphasizes questions of

evocation, comprehension and synthesis. There are very few analysis and
relationship questions.

• The illustrations in several cases do not have an educational or complementary

meaning to the text to explain a topic, but rather have a simply decorative function.

• Stereotypes are perceived that often manage to maintain a discriminatory position

due to: ethnic groups, gender, social classes, jobs, places, spaces, etc.

• The topics are worked on in a traditional way, generally contemporary aspects or

problems to be solved from a geographical point of view are not included, to guide
an interactive methodology. In the texts in which these themes appear, they are
only stated and described.
 • The contents continue to predominate as the central core of the curriculum; There is

still a lack of a conceptual foundation and a didactic reflection that makes it possible

to build significant learning based on previous ideas, relationships with experiences

and academic knowledge from other educational levels and the relationship with the

student's daily life.

In conclusion

Articulating the partial conclusions cited above and weaving the entire research process, it

is possible to affirm that an approach to general conclusions of this research project, which

in turn respond to the objectives set for it, correspond to:

• The geography learning that basic education students and teachers have is rote,

referring to spatial realities from more than two decades ago – they are still
identified as snowy, places that are no longer snowy, or countries that no longer
exist.

• Geography enables a range of learning such as: social, affective, conceptual,

verbal, attitudinal, intellectual and motor skills, political, economic, cultural, historical
that are not explained within formal education.

• Geography teachers must have rigorous and updated training in the discipline and
pedagogy that enables them to carry out a solid teaching and learning process.

• The majority of teachers in charge of guiding the teaching of Social Sciences in

primary school do not have specific training in the area; they are normal teachers or
graduates in primary basic education who emphasize the teaching of language and
mathematics.

• It is observed that generally in several schools - the object of research - there is a

tendency to marginalize the teaching of Social Sciences topics or at least do not

include geography within the curriculum, although these are explicit in the curricular
 guidelines and in the standards of the Ministry of National Education and should be

incorporated and continue to build on said plans.

• Both the language of the guidelines and the competency standards

in Social Sciences and Citizen Competencies has been assumed by a number

significant number of teachers as an imposition of the MENU and not as a

construction possibility.

• The pedagogical training of teachers in basic education is weak in

research, so meaningful learning is not achieved due to the lack of motivation to

investigate the previous ideas of teachers and students, as well as the generation of

small classroom projects that direct students and teachers themselves in research.

formative.

• The concept of geography differs from the concept of school geography in that the

latter takes into account the specificities of the purposes of education and the

objectives of training in each of the cycles, levels and grades. In that sense, there is

no clarity among teachers about this differentiation and therefore there is also

weakness in study plans, programs and projects.

• The processes of cognition and metacognition are important to take into account to

achieve significant learning in both students and teachers, so this investigation must
continue to determine the most appropriate strategies for each age and condition.

• The local, regional and national environment must be the object of study in primary

basic education because it is feasible to establish a tangible integration between

theory and immediate geographical reality and thus the foundations of learning that

requires reflection, internalization and application can be laid. . Likewise, the

incorporation of this learning provides bases for articulating vital citizen education in

the spatial and temporal scenario.

 • The development of spatial skills is achieved by practicing them in the immediate

environment and based on everyday information about both space and the needs of

moving from one place to another in the city. On the other hand, it is important to

map the spatial characteristics of the environment to obtain skills in graphic

communication and visualize spatial relationships.

• The investigative training of the monitors was positive not only in their learning
process in the research methodology but also because the gains acquired from their
own reflection as teachers in training close to practicing and the possibilities of
permeating and initiating a transformation in The conception and scheme of
teaching geography validate the existing efforts and limitations. Therefore, it is
important to continue strengthening research incubators as well as incorporating
students into the projects led by professors and researchers at the university.

• All efforts, contributions, research and aspirations to renew the teaching of

geography are highly valid and deserve institutional support, academic communities

as well as teachers, students and the school community in general. This is probably

the most prosperous path to refreshing your teaching and transforming the practices

that limit it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

ALDEROQUI, Silvia. (1994). “The city is taught” in Didactics of Social Sciences. Buenos
Aires. Paidós Educator.
ANGUERA, María Teresa et all. (1988). Practical Encyclopedia of Pedagogy. Volume I.
The child in the stages of teaching. Planeta Editorial. Barcelona.
BALE, John. (1987). “Teaching of geography in primary school.” Morata Editions. Madrid.
BAILEY, Patrick. (1981). “Didactics of Geography.” Kapelusz Publishing House. Madrid.
CALAF, R., SUAREZ AND MENENDEZ. 1998. Learn to teach geography.
Oikos-Tau Publishing House. Barcelona.
CAIVANO, Fabricio. (1990). “Barcelona is the school” in The city is the school. Dávila
Editores. Barcelona.
CANDAU, Vera Ma. (1987). “Didactics in Question”. Narcea Editorial. Madrid.
CAPEL, H. LOUISE. and URTEAGA, L. (1984). “Geography in the face of educational
reform.” Geocritical Magazine No 53. Barcelona.
CASTORINA, J. TO. (1990). “The position of the object in the development of knowledge”
in Problems in genetic psychology. Dávila Editores. Buenos Aires.
CATLING, S. J. (1978). “Cognitive mapping exercises as a primary geographicall”
Experience. Teaching Geography 3, 120-123.
CUBERO, Rosario. (1995). "How to work with the student's ideas". Diada Editorial. Seville.
DELGADO, Ovid. (2003) “Debates about space in contemporary geography” National
University of Colombia. Bogotá DC

DELVAL, J. (1989). “The child's representation of the social world” in The social world in the
child's mind. Madrid Editorial Alliance.
DEBESSE, ML (1983). “The Environment in School: A Pedagogical Revolution” Barcelona.
Fontanella Publishing House
ESTEBANEZ, José. (1983). “Trends and Current Problems in Geography.”
Madrid. Chisel Editorial.
FREIRA SUÁREZ, S. (1995). Teaching social sciences. Madrid Editorial De Latorre.
GIL, Purificación and PIÑEIRO, Rosario. (1989). “Geographical thinking in school age:
Simulation as a teaching resource” in Teaching social sciences. Madrid. Distributions
Viewer.
GUREVICH, Raquel (1995). Notes on teaching a renewed geography. Buenos Aires. Aique
Publishing House.
GRAVES, Norman (1985 - 1997) “The teaching of geography. Editorial Visor, Madrid
HERNANDEZ, Pedro. (1997). “Building constructivism: criteria for its foundation and
instructional application” in The construction of school knowledge. Barcelona. Paidós.
HANNOUN, H. (1977). “The Child Conquers the Environment.” Buenos Aires. Kapelusz
Publishing House
KOHLBERG, Lawrence. (1989). “Moral studies and moralization. Focus
Cognitive-evolutionary in “The social world in the child's mind”. Madrid. Editorial Alliance.
KRON, Friedrich. (1993). “Basic Terms of Pedagogy” in General Pedagogy. Quito. Abya-
yala Publishing House.
LYNCH., Kevin (1966). "The image of the city". Buenos Aires. Infinite Editions.
BROWN, Ma. Jesus. (1995). “Assessment in Geography” in Teaching Geography From
Theory to Practice. Madrid. Editorial Síntesis SA
NATIONAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (1994), General Education Law; Decree 1002 of
1984. Bogota.
NATIONAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (2004), Training in science: the challenge. Bogota.
NATIONAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (2003), Training for citizenship…yes it is possible.
Bogota.
MONTAÑEZ, Gustavo. (1997). “Geography and Environment” in Geography and
Environment.
Approaches and Perspectives. Bogota. Savannah College.
MORENO, A. AND CARDENAS, R. (1998). “The construction of the concept of Geographic
space in fifth grade students” in Education and Culture magazine No. 47. Bogota.
Magisterium Publishing House.
MORENO, Amparo and others (1988.) “Social Sciences” in Encyclopedia
Pedagogy Practice. Volume No 1. Barcelona. Planeta Editorial.
PEET, R. (1998) “Modern Geographical Thought”. Ed. Blackwell, Oxford.
PEREZ, Ángel (1990). “Understand and teach to understand. Reflections on the Thought of
J. Elliot” in Action research in education. Madrid. Morata Editions.
PEREZ, R. AND GALLEGO, R. (1994). “Constructivist Currents. From Conceptual maps to
the theory of intellectual transformation. Bogota. Editorial Magisterio POZO, M. Juan
Ignacio (1994) “Cognitive Theories of Learning”. Morata Publishing House, Madrid.
POZO, M. Juan Ignacio (1996) “Apprentices and teachers.” Alianza Publishing House,
Madrid.
RODRIGUEZ, DE MORENO, Elsa Amanda. 1987. “Problems and characteristics of
teaching geography in basic education” in Proceedings of the X Colombian Congress of
Geography. Quindio's University. pp 163 -177
RODRIGUEZ, Francisco. (1997). “The consideration of Social Sciences teachers from a
practical and critical perspective.” In Teacher training and social science didactics. Seville.
Editorial Dyad.
Rodríguez de Moreno, Amanda: Conceptions of Pedagogical Practice. In Folios Nº 16 year
2002 National Pedagogical University Bogotá.
SABATÉ, Ana et al. (1995). Women, space and society. Editorial Síntesis, Madrid.
SANTOS, Milton (2000) “The nature of space. Ariel Publishing, Barcelona.
SANTOS, Milton (1995) “New conceptions of geography.” Keynote lecture V Meeting of
Geographers of Latin America and the Caribbean, Havana – Cuba, August 1995.
SOUTO, Xosé. (1996). “Teach Geography or educate people geographically.” Iber
Magazine. No. 9. Barcelona. Grao Publishing House.
SOUTO, Xosé (1998). “Didactics of Geography”. Rowan Editions. Barcelona.
WALLON, Henri. (1984). Psychological evolution in the child. Critical Editorial. Barcelona.