“Universities’ Duty To Inform In Geography”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31161, 10 September 1966, Page 21

“Universities’ Duty To Inform In Geography”

Universities had a duty to keep the public and secondary schools informed about advances in geography. Dr. J. M. Soons told the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Geographical Society in her presidential address. Schools should also be told of new requirements, she said.

Dr. Soons, a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Canterbury, also said in her address, “The Two Geographies,” that the subject was developing and was now recognised as a science. Dr. Soons said that with new material and applications. many students often did not know where geography was going. Teachers in schools also tended to get out of touch with new areas of study. It was the trend for secondary school teachers to concentrate more on passing their knowledge on to pupils rather than to pursue geography as such.

“This is one of the reasons for the gulf between teaching geography in schools and in the universities,” said Dr. Soon. The two main functions of geography in the community were in education and research. Each had different characteristics and approaches, she said.

Dr. Soons said it was fashionable to talk about the dynamics of geography and its recognition of change. But too many geographers in schools considered it to be

static. Technology brought about changes in man's physical environment which were not adequately recognised.