Israeli students’ perceptions of geography instruction goals

This research compares the official Israeli Ministry of Education's curriculum goals of studying geography with the perceptions of Israeli Jewish and Arab junior high school students who study the subject. In addition, the perceptions of Jewish and Arab students about the importance of studying geography are compared. In the first stage of research, 500 students from northern Israel were asked open questions about how they perceived the goals of geography education. In the second stage of research, 280 middle grade students (ages 14–16 years) in northern Israel participated. Of these, 129 students were Jewish and 151 students were Arab. These students were given a questionnaire to fill out which included 17 statements about geography that were formulated from stage one of the research. These statements related to the importance of studying geography as a curriculum topic and as a subject that is interrelated to wider economic and political processes. The results of the research indicate that there is a si...