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David McGuinness, Ireland
National Geographic is a world renowned geography teaching and learning resource. Their books, programs, magazines, films and, more recently, podcasts are available to educators and the general public. Their resources reach out to over 330 million people worldwide and are distributed in 29 different languages.
National Geographic's overall mission is to "inspire people to care about the planet," said Anne Pollard, program officer for their Education Foundation. Through methods such as research, conservation, exploration, education and outreach, it teaches that geography is more than just maps, names and places. After conducting a student survey in 2006, National Geographic realized that students were lacking in "geographic literacy." According to figures from the National Geographic-Roper Survey, only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map and half of young Americans can't find New York on a map.
Soon after discovering these astonishing survey results, National Geographic established a new mission consisting of motivating and enabling each new generation to become geographically literate through a variety of means. It introduced new and even more accessible resources, including programs such as "Geography Action," which is a method of teaching youth about global awareness. It also acquired an abundance of online resources for the public to use, such as an online education guide, teacher resources and interactive maps for young people.
Along with all of these new approaches toward teaching youth to be more geographically literate, National Geographic started a campaign called "My Wonderful World." This was set up due to the shocking survey results and it also targets parents, of which 20 per cent can't even locate the Pacific Ocean on a map. The online campaign, www.mywonderfulworld.org, gives information and resources for parents, educators and children. "The 'My Wonderful World' session at the Celebration of Teaching and Learning was especially effective in its use of statistics and questions at the end of the session," said Lorna Nickson-Brown, a 16-year-old student from England and a PEARL Reporter. "Its aim to 'inspire people to care about the planet' was clearly evident in its enthusatic presentation and shocking realization of young people's lack of knowledge in geography."
National Geographic is passionate about teaching young people about the world they inhabit today so that they can benefit from it tomorrow and it's quite clear that progress is being made. |
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