GEOGRAPHICAL AWARENESS: SANITY MAKES A COMEBACK

GEOGRAPHICAL AWARENESS:

SANITY MAKES A COMEBACK















Joshua Jordan, KSC

American Military University

27 May 2009




Introduction 3

Literature Review 5

Theoretical Framework 19

Research Design 21

Findings 24

Conclusions 34

Bibliography 38





Introduction




It seems reasonable to suspect that many eyes that fall on this text
have seen demonstrations of American geographical ignorance on television.
The scene is often the same; someone stands on the side of a busy street
with high pedestrian traffic. A person asks questions of passersby, and
the viewer has a reasonable expectation that those who passed through the
experience of public education will answer these basic geographical
questions correctly. Viewers invariably see the worst of these
responses—as this passes for entertainment to a significant portion of the
American population. The author has seen cases where those surveyed
thought that Australia was North Korea. While this entertainment is not
scientific study and the examples shared do not form responsible
statistical inference, the existence of this phenomenon disturbs
many—including the author. The constant reminder of the existence of
people who hold this lack of awareness begs the questions how ignorant are
American citizens on matters of geography and in what percentages? From
this question came the project in these pages.

Why is this topic important? This topic is important because
geography is the discipline that allows a person to craft a mental model of
the world in one's mind. The idea that Earth is flat is an idea that
serves humanity well so long as journeys made are over short distances e.g.
from a cave to a water hole or hunting and gathering area. When people
start navigating from the European continent to South America, the flat
Earth theory does not serve humanity and a wider view of the globe becomes
necessary. A limited view of Earth may save time, headache, and provide
amusement—for those who like to watch people embarrass themselves on
television through displays of ignorance—but it does not serve humanity,
the United States, or the citizen. Lack of exposure to geography creates a
limited world view, which fosters limited intelligence and limited
power—not only for the citizen but ultimately for the nation.[1]

As the complex relationships of cultures, languages, resources,
nations, corporations, etc. have more and more impact on American lives,
knowledge of geography is not only desirable, it is essential. Those who
are unaware of certain details of world geography cannot reason or model as
effectively—in matters where a proper world model is needed—as those who
are geographically aware. While the gulf between the flat Earth mindset
and the spherical Earth mindset represents a pronounced example of the
difference between ignorance and knowledge, the same dynamic exists in all
matters of geographical knowledge vs. ignorance. While the limits imposed
vary based on ignorance, the limits remain. Americans today compete in a
global society. China has more honor students than America has
students.[2] How can American students compete with China if they cannot
identify the nations in the G-20 on a map? Such people will not have
credibility among the educated, as they display laziness and ignorance.
Also, such people will not be highly paid—as those who are more educated
are able to demand higher wages or go into business. Whether Americans
like it or not, the world they are living in becomes more global by the
day. As Levine points out, "The stakes for American children and the
nation could not be higher. In the 21st century, like it or not, knowledge
of the world is no longer a luxury; It is a necessity".[3] This global
society will require sensitivity to other cultures, languages, and issues.
These are impossible to grasp without a solid foundation of geography.

Thus the issue becomes one of national readiness in matters of
diplomacy, defense, and economy. It is for these reasons that geography is
important. It is not possible to uphold a dominant culture or preserve
geostrategic dominance with an ignorant citizenry. The government is made
of the people, and if the people do not grasp geography, they will not
grasp the issues that require geographical knowledge to negotiate
successfully. Geography applies to every citizen of these United States.
The purposes of this piece are: to determine if a relationship exists
between the American education establishment and American knowledge of
geography, offer an explanation of how this relationship occurs, and what
important factors may influence this relationship.




Literature Review



Finding literature for this topic was problematic as this topic lacks
readily accessible, raw data. References to studies—which are inaccessible
or require excessive fees—exist outside the reach of this project's budget.
Despite this clear impediment, enough data exists to make certain points.
Literature reviewed includes articles from periodicals, essays, books, and
scholarly works which address the specific research question: "Does the
American education establishment contribute to significant numbers of
American citizens—in recent and current times—demonstrating a lack of
knowledge vis-à-vis geography?" Citations are not given—in this section—as
there is a bibliography. Total credit for all work—save for any mistakes
or misinterpretations—in the first paragraph of each review goes to the
author mentioned in that paragraph with the year of publication of
documents concerned in parentheses. The literature reviewed below applies
to the topic of American knowledge—or lack thereof—vis-à-vis geography.
The introduction of this piece discussed the basic premises that this
literature applies to and why this topic is important.

Nuhfer (1988) argues that Geographers themselves—specifically in
academia—craft a convoluted understanding of what geography is as an
academic discipline. This is a chief cause of general American ignorance
vis-à-vis geography. Also, Nuhfer argues that many of the domains which
Geographers in academia try to teach are areas on the outskirts of
Geography and their attempts to explain certain processes are rife with
error. Nuhfer goes on to suggest that correcting this problem would
require geographers defining exactly what is unique about their particular
discipline. Geographers would then teach that—while allowing other
departments to teach those peripheral matters which Geography now tries to
dominate through an academic power struggle. Nuhfer also mentions that
those outside the discipline would do better to recognize the importance of
geography and support it wherever possible.

The piece is journalistic in nature. While the writer clearly holds
related experience, this piece uses intuitive analysis and presents
findings in a journalistic op-ed format. While this piece lacks systematic
analysis, it does offer possibilities for further research or studies.
Nuhfer offers a logically sound argument. The biases here are many. In
the first hand, the author is writing from his personal sample of
experience. In the second, this author is involved in academia and may
have ulterior motives in an academic power struggle.

The piece offers a myriad of insight. Nuhfer offers the possibility
that bureaucratic infighting among academic departments, and possibly
between administration and faculty, are matters that could contribute—or
even act as a chief cause of—general American ignorance in geography.
While studies which examine the affects of academic competition on American
education are difficult to access, this piece offers cause to undertake
such studies and consider their findings. For the purposes of this
research project, Nuhfer offers a possibility other than Americans simply
not caring to learn geography.

David Keeling (2007) offers the perspective of a geographer. Keeling
asserts that American ignorance of geography limits significant progress in
several areas. He goes on to assert the most important challenges of today
and the future are geographically based. An understanding of how geography
shapes these challenges is essential to American success. Keeling
continues to remind readers that polls and surveys reveal Americans as most
geographically ignorant—when compared with other industrialized nations—and
reminds readers that most Americans have not had a geography course in high
school or university. Keeling tells of a certain student application for
acceptance into a prestigious university which listed AP Geography—this
line was met with laughter and confusion from those reviewing it. Keeling
also asserts that most teachers of geography in the K-12 schools have not
taken relevant courses in a university. Keeling covers much ground in
confirming American ignorance and pointing out where he feels blame lies.

This piece is an essay with a clear thesis. The work is mostly
intuitive analysis. The piece cites surveys, polls, and other statistics,
but offers no citations—as a professor this man should know better. These
considerations also apply to data collection and analysis. Any analysis
given is mostly intuitive and no sources appear in the essay making it
difficult to confirm or challenge the evidence given in the work—without
further or prior research. Biases are many. This professor clearly wishes
to preserve his job and advance the sensed usefulness of his position.

While this author shows heavy biases and even academic
irresponsibility, he does raise interesting points. Several questions
revealed while reading this article. Where are these studies that show
general geographic ignorance of Americans? Perhaps an inquiry at some of
the local universities in the Geography and Social Science Departments is
in order? Other questions are: Exactly how many Americans have taken
geography classes? What are the general curriculums at schools K-12 like?
Where can one find this information? Where can one find out what types of
classes K-12 teachers have taken? Do they all present transcripts to the
school when applying for work? Are these on record? Overall this author
raises interesting considerations and demands certain questions. While the
answers may not exist now, these questions and considerations are important
and would lead to answers to the specific research question outlined in the
introductory paragraph of this section.

New York Times through Shabad (1982)[4] raises concerns vis-à-vis
American geographical knowledge. Shabad describes the state of American
geographical literacy in the United States as of 1982 as severely lower
than other industrialized nations. Shabad references a 24-page report
which exists and seems impossible to obtain. Shabad reveals that most
answers, about geography, were wrong in a sample of 3,000 students at 185
colleges and universities in the United States. Shabad reveals that,
overall, 43 percent of the questions were answered correctly. Shabad gets
more specific through examples such as, 42 percent of the students surveyed
thought that Saudi Arabia was not an Islamic nation. When it came to India
and Hinduism, 13 percent of the students knew of the relationship between
the two. While these may not appear as matters of geography, they are.
The amount of land in Islamic hands or the relationship between pieces of
land in which certain religions are favored does matter. While this is
more social geography than physical geography it is considered to exist
within the discipline.[5] Concepts such as religion do affect geography.
From the Romans salting fields to Americans destroying the natural ecology
to build "cookie cutter"[6] houses in California, human paradigms affect
physical geography and physical geography—mostly through topography and
climate—affect human paradigms. Quite simply, one cannot have an organism
without an environment. Ergo, a relationship between any biological entity
and geography exists.

This piece is a journalistic work that uses intuitive analysis. For
the most part it presents certain findings from the report it references.
It is clear the author knows something about statistics as the terms used
are those commonly used within the discipline. Overall this piece is well-
balanced. The author even mentions the panel that wrote this report only
had one geographer on it, and this geographer thought that only 77 of the
101 questions related to Geography. So, while every report does contain
some bias—as all minds use biases—the report is balanced and fair.

This report offers interesting insights on how difficult it is to get
at data on geography and education in the United States. There are journal
articles that talk about the need for baseline studies and such. However,
even this article is not accessible through the AMU library, or other
libraries in the author's immediate area. Any access to the article
requires excessive fees. The report offers statistics, and these are hard
to come by in this project. Even though the numbers are old, American
students do not seem to be improving.[7] This particular article is
frustrating. It offers glimmers of excellent data, only to reveal yet more
mirages showing that ignorance of geography is so marked that little
accessible information exists on the specific research question.

Morrish (2001) examines English students. While these are not
American students, the comparison data may prove useful. Morrish discusses
a shift in education in the 1970s which changed the fundamental manner in
which geography was taught. While interesting—and parallel with events
which occurred in the rest of the Anglo-Sphere[8]—such discussion lies
beyond the scope of this review. Morrish suggests the use of case studies
to provide "essential links to the real world" making the discipline less
sterile and boring to those learning it. Morrish also suggests that such
studies provide insight to the theoretical base of geography as a
discipline—making the students more aware of how the process of Geography
occurs and of their own place in it.

This piece is an op-ed from The Times Education Supplement. The
author compares models of past and present and offers what he feels is a
better model. Biases reveal mostly because the author relies on his
personal sample of experience and research to offer his suggestions.

This piece provides interesting insights on how educational policy
changes of the 1970's may not be for the better—at least in England.
However, the important aspects of this article are in the solutions that he
offers to overcome this ignorance.

Pajares (1989) introduces interesting improvements. The author
recalls his experiences with geographical ignorance in a lesson. In this
case, the ignorance displayed instantaneously. Immediately after he taught
the students geography, they forgot what they were taught. Pajares decided
to make geography fun by taking the children on trips around the world
inside the classroom. In addition, he imposed measures which incorporated
geographical terms, world leaders, and other associations with geography
throughout the curriculum without overhauling it. Pajares notes that this
program addressed the needs of the students with "minimal disruption".

This is an article in a periodical told from the first person. The
article shares experience and offers methods that worked for the teacher in
his particular circumstances. Data was collected and analyzed intuitively
in the form of classroom activities. Also, data was collected and analyzed
through test scores and such. Biases here are those associated with any
human. The information comes through the author's lens of personal
experience.

This article is interesting because it reveals the structure of the
curriculum to be a problem in this case. The article also offers solutions
which do not disrupt the bureaucracy—this is a matter of extreme importance
as bureaucracy must be served. Clearly the educational system is a
contributing factor here. Any bureaucratic reform is painful and slow—as
reform is an anathema to bureaucracy. The methods offered through this
article bypass that process through tools and latitude already available to
the educator—perhaps the educators are not spending enough time using their
creative faculties? Perhaps the education establishment does not afford
them that time? Consider endless, pointless, tedious faculty meetings,
teachers workshops, and of the other absurd administrative requirements
necessary to fulfill certain obligations to receive funds or to prove
accountability and so on.[9]

Lewis (2000) discusses the changes in the educational system. He
asserts that 100 years ago students had to memorize more facts. He also
says that an American attitude of isolationism and not needing to know
about the world seeped into schools and changed the curriculum. Lewis
continues to argue that globalization and integration will bring the world
into people's lives in ways that it would not have previously. Also raised
are the points that American political leaders, and even respected
scholars, consistently display their lack of geographical knowledge. The
most important point mentioned is that without fundamental knowledge of the
planet, how can one understand globalization? This problem is serious and
the American education establishment—from preschool to post-doctorate—is
not dealing with this problem effectively. He also asserts that foreigners
are showing contempt of American ignorance—they are not just laughing at,
and deriding, ignorant Americans now. Contempt for American ignorance is
prejudicial to the national security and the interests of the United
States. Also of note, Lewis says that eventually it will be geographers
who refine their craft to ensure that geography is relevant.

This is a scholarly paper. It is lengthy; it had endnotes, and a
generous list of references. This was published in the Geographical
Review. The methods of analysis are several. He looks at individual
authors and breaks down their mistakes—rather viciously—through exhaustive
analysis of possibilities leading to the mistakes and the mistakes
themselves. Sometimes he goes too far, such as in his indictment of Robert
Kaplan—a writer for the Atlantic who wrote several books including Warrior
Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos. Kaplan fails to mention
Greece in a metaphor—which is irresponsible in this case. However, the
manner in which the author deals with this is abrupt. This illustrates
that as well as expected biases, this author seems mildly antagonistic at
times, though not in such a way that he is intellectually vulgar. It is an
acceptable, healthy, and polite antagonism. Still the reader would do
better to note this. The author is knowledgeable and wise. He seems
frustrated with ignorance and seems to have written this piece for several
purposes.

This paper is profound. It references Ptolemy and his thoughts on
geography. Ptolemy saw geography as a representation of the known world
and all within it—2,000 years ago. People must know the world, lest it get
smaller. This underscores the importance of geography. Even the author
was unaware of the deep importance of this discipline until undertaking
this research. Some data on the matter of American knowledge of geography,
and the effects of the education establishment on this knowledge, exists
but it is exceedingly difficult to find, why is that? Why is so little
attention paid to the subject of geography? Is this more than just a
process of the education establishment? Is this cultural? Most
importantly this paper reminds readers that what happens in K-12 and
university education environments does not disappear simply because one
goes out into the world and becomes a scholar, intellectual, and so on.
This lack of knowledge finds its roots in the education establishment,
extends out to society, and is of dire importance. While this document
assumes the educational system—and perhaps the culture—are the impetus for
this ignorance, it also reveals the profound importance and broad influence
of this phenomenon.

The Economist (1988) discusses statistics describing American
ignorance on matters geographical. It gives some data on other developed
nations as well. The Economist also claims that American ignorance is
worsening and evidences a declining education establishment.

This is a journalistic work using intuitive analysis. It also
references several studies, but these are no longer accessible. The
analysis is systematic in that it brings in data from other developed
nations and uses them to place matters in context. The limitations are
that much of this article is general. The glittering generalities do not
give enough specific information for scholarly taste. The bias here is
that this information is for general consumption and offers no notes for
readers to follow up on the assertions of the article. What if the author
made mistakes? The data referenced here is important, but this article
does not offer access to this information.

With raw data as scarce as it is, the data in here would add some
flesh to the paper. It is becoming clear the education establishment
influences American geographical ignorance. It is also clear that this is
happening in many developed nations. This puts the paper in global
context. This data will outline important points. Again more accessible
data on this matter is lacking. This is a major finding of this research
project—that more research and data are necessary for this profoundly
important matter. An argument exists that if geography were important,
relevant data would exist. This is not necessarily the case. There was a
time in the United States where Americans were not aware of the nutritional
content of their food. One could have argued that if it was important,
researchers would focus more on this matter. Now American food displays
nutritional labels. Again, Ptolemy put it best when he said that knowledge
of geography is knowledge of your world and everything in it. Lack of
knowledge of geography makes that world smaller. A smaller world-view does
not support advanced paradigms. In this light, the argument that geography
is not important enough to warrant study holds water—if the person making
that argument is comfortable with a limited model of his or her world and
the lack of advanced paradigms that will follow. If everyone in the United
States feels like this, the nation would lose its position of geostrategic
dominance and this would lead to a lower quality of life for American
citizens.

Piscionere (2007) offers a veritable treasure trove of information on
these matters. Piscionere reminds readers that most Americans cannot find
Afghanistan on a map but know the details of a popular reality show on
television. Piscionere goes on to highlight the dangers to national
security of a nation that cannot find countries on a map, cannot speak
their languages, and has no interest in anything outside its borders [yet
routinely conducts wars outside its borders]. Piscionere, through remarks
by President Bush, discusses American cultural apathy brought on by lack of
education. Piscionere also mentions that American education focuses mostly
on developed nations—in matters of language and culture. Piscionere also
mentions that travel abroad programs also involve developed nations,
mostly. This, of course, does not help to familiarize students with the
geography of the rest of the world. In addition, Piscionere mentions that
linguistic education amounts to an unacceptable patchwork, which does not
foster human connections between American students and foreign students.
This, of course, aggravates a lack of interest and knowledge in geography
creating a cyclical negative feedback loop.

This is a scholarly paper. It is lengthy, and has footnotes and a
good bibliography. The reasoning used is mostly intuitive. The author
points out that Americans are ignorant and undedicated because their
teachers are the same and the structure of the system supports this
ineptitude. The author points out reasons this is bad and reasons the rest
of the world will eventually become sick of the "ignorant American" and how
this impacts national security and prosperity. Data comes from other
sources and is analyzed intuitively without system or detail. The biases
here—in addition to the normal biases—are the author's emphasis on
international affairs. The author feels this focus is important to protect
the national security. Normally this would be considered common sense, but
in the mainstream American culture it becomes a bias—as American culture is
insular.

Insights offered here are great. For some reason Americans try to
preserve the isolationist culture. This would work well if only the United
States government did not get involved in foreign wars consistently and
repeatedly and if the nation did not engage in international trade—both of
which are workable possibilities. The author offers interesting points on
American education, certain sicknesses and certain remedies. Much of this
may stem from the culture. The culture of isolationism may have influenced
the education establishment, creating a negative feedback-loop of
ignorance. The founding fathers may have been against involvement in
foreign affairs, but they did not themselves refrain from study and travel.
Unfortunately, the American culture and education establishment seem often
to support the idea that travel and study are not necessary. Yet both also
support the idea the United States government should involve the republic
in military adventures—even though many Americans demonstrably cannot find
these nations on maps, cannot speak their languages, and know nothing of
their cultures. It seems Rome went through these problems. While the
Prince of the Vatican[10] and his cronies were able to survive the fall and
maintain a city-state, the circumstances are not similar with the current
American circumstances. This information is relevant because an argument
could be made that the Vatican came out of the fall in a good position, why
not the United States? Rome is relevant because American citizens would do
well to learn from Rome's bad example and undertake the inverse in matters
of geographical knowledge.

Levine (2005) blames an education establishment that is not evolving
fast enough to meet the needs of American children. He offers statistics
and comments on the lack of education in matters of Geography, foreign
languages, and other foreign concerns. Shifts in trade and organizational
requirements, both in the government and private sectors, demand better
prepared students to deal with international issues—if for no other reason
so they act as responsible and informed voters when deciding on matters
that influence the world. He goes over certain statistics that outline the
new requirements of life in the United States and how the American
population cannot properly assimilate these changes because of its
ignorance.

This is a policy paper. It is not as long as many scholarly papers,
but it is much longer than an article from most periodicals. The theory
behind this paper is that American students are ignorant of international
affairs—for the most part—and the education establishment from preschool up
needs changes to prepare American children to compete globally or the
United States will lose its status. Biases—other than normal—include a
heavy reliance on statistics to make the argument work. As Korzybski would
remind the reader, the map is not the territory. The word is not what it
describes. The statistics are not necessarily the reality. Also, the
studies he cites target certain demographics. Many students do not watch
"Survivor"[11], other popular reality shows, or even watch much television
at all. This survey is mostly targeted to those who have time and
inclination to watch such programming.

The statistics that appear in Levine's work help readers understand
the education establishment is a problem. How the education establishment
got this way and how to change it will be different for different regions
of the United States, after all the Union is made of the several States
which are fifty countries. The federal government may contribute to the
problem as it gives funding—with strings—to schools. At this point, it is
possible to isolate several contributing factors here: money, culture,
federal government, and local governments. All of these influence the
American education establishment.

Groennings and Wiley (1990) compiled a book on seven academic
disciplines and their relationship to international perspectives. The
editors site statistics about fossil fuel consumption projects and the
inability of a significant percentage in a survey being unable to identify
OPEC nations on a map. The editors go on to reveal why geography is
important. The work brings up certain studies and statistics among college
students. The work also mentions a lack of emphasis on geography in
education and the liberal arts.

This work is a book containing several scholarly essays with endnotes.
The reasoning used here is that one cannot understand one's own nation
without knowing about others. The premise is that geography provides
context for other studies necessary to be competitive in a global society.
Data collection is secondary, through reference studies. Analysis consists
of the authors' intuitive impressions of the data. Biases present
themselves in the usual fashions of personal experience and such. Also,
this work is written from a globalist perspective. The authors clearly
wish to see integration of the world's nations and want to manage resources
and populations. The premises are distinctively Malthusian.[12]

This work offers interesting statistics. Again, there are some
statistics with citations but most of the writing is what to do about the
problem with little discussion on how to fix it. Gathering data remains
problematic. Even as finding raw data from which to draw conclusions
remains elusive, no source found during research offered an argument that
something other than the education establishment of the United States is
responsible for geographic ignorance. There are several factors that feed
into how education occurs in the United States, but all of these factors
work through education i.e. culture, money, governance, etc.

Gatto (2000) asserts that "mass dumbness" occurs by design. Gatto
discusses how children were given positions of increasing responsibility at
younger ages in older days. He uses the example of Admiral Farragut who
took his first command at the age of 12. Gatto asserts that public
education is the brainchild of the "four great coal powers" and quotes Max
Mason as saying that public education is for controlling behavior, not
education. Gatto goes on to say that in 1840 complex literacy rates were
"between 93 and 100 percent". Gatto goes on to say that coal and mass
production compelled changes to the education establishment in the United
States.

This is a book. It is long and well-researched. Unfortunately it
does not contain citations as it is written for the masses and not for
scholars. However, occasionally it is possible to make out the sources by
looking for the nearest dates, using the book, periodical, or speech
mentioned and running Google searches. Secondary data is used and
analyzed intuitively. The biases here go beyond the norm. The author
clearly believes in either a conspiracy to dumb down the youth of America
or the author believes that good education was sacrificed in the name of
production. One is tempted to say the author started out with the idea of
finding data to support his conclusions; however this is not the case.
Yet, without researching the author and his journey through the material he
discusses, it is not possible to come to this conclusion. The author
clearly wants to point the finger of blame at financiers, capitalists, and
Fabian socialists.[13] While the author does not offer other hypotheses,
his arguments are strong.

This work highlights concerns about American education. Geography
falls within the category of education. This will help discern when and
where the shift in education occurred and what it entailed—though such
considerations lay beyond the scope of this paper. The book reminds us
that an education establishment cannot think, feel, or decide. There are
people behind the faceless bureaucracy. This point is something to focus
on—the people, forces, and other dynamics that are shaping the education
establishment and causing it to perform in an unsatisfactory manner. This
book will offer some insights about what could work through the education
establishment to cause geographical ignorance.





Theoretical Framework



The primary gap in available literature is severe. Research reveals
that access to raw data remains outside the scope of both timeframe and
resources for this project. This study will compensate for this gap
through use of available data in the literature—placing trust in those
sources. Of course, a fundamental question of this study's validity is
possible because of the gap and subsequent compensation. This study calls
for more research specifically designed to produce raw data on the
educational experiences of those who teach geography at all levels of
American education from K-12 to post doctorate. With raw data this study
would hold better means to define the relationship between education in the
United States and American knowledge of geography. This study uses what
is available and draws conclusions from that data.

Through rationalism one may accept that without education, people will
not control as much knowledge as they would with education. How can a
person know about geography if that person is not educated in geography?
Ergo, education is necessary for knowledge in geography. American citizens
are educated—for the most part—in America. Therefore, through rational
thought the reader should note a relationship between the American
education establishment and American knowledge of geography. At this time,
no compelling argument exists to prove that such a relationship does not
exist.

Several independent variables influence the education establishment in
the United States. These factors are identified through rationalism:
funding, culture, public policy, and law. Nothing moves—at least not
far—without money to fund the movement. This includes educational
materials, teachers, students, etc. Ergo, funding is a major independent
variable influencing the education establishment. Culture includes the
attitudes, choices, and mannerisms which affect an interest in the
education establishment and in being educated. Public policy and law have
a direct impact on how resources are used, how education occurs, and how
one ensures quality control in matters of education. Thus the project
offers the following diagram of factors which influence the education
establishment:





Funding

Culture

American education establishment

Public Policy

Law



Clearly, this model involves variables that lay far beyond the scope of
this project. Studies in American culture and its influence on education
would require a single study, as would each of the other independent
variables. This model appears in this study to reveal the complexity
of factors influencing the Education establishment—which becomes the
independent variable for this study. The theoretical framework for this
study involves one independent variable—the education establishment—and one
dependent variable—American knowledge of geography. The diagram for this
dynamic follows:

American Education establishment American
Knowledge of Geography

This more simplified theoretical model is small enough for use in this
piece. Again, the American education establishment is a gestalt made up of
several independent variables and their consideration is beyond the scope
of this piece. Note, this theoretical model flows mostly from the author's
own analysis of all literature mentioned. Each piece of literature
reviewed in the previous section made a contribution to the model through
presentation of data, narrative, etc. The author takes credit only for
mistakes in this model—and gives equal credit for what remains to all
authors aforementioned. The American education establishment is a gestalt
which directly affects American knowledge of geography. From the specific
research question, the lines of consideration flow through a rational
theoretical framework to offer the following hypothesis: The American
education establishment directly affects American knowledge of geography.




Research Design



This is a descriptive study and is qualitative. Again, the specific
research question is: Does the American Education establishment contribute
to significant numbers of American citizens—in recent and current
times—demonstrating a lack of knowledge vis-à-vis geography? This
question lacks a sturdy selection of referencing literature and scholarly,
scientific research. These points make the project problematic at certain
junctures. The strategy for this project is to collect relevant literature
and use the best portions of that literature to decide whether to reject
the hypothesis under consideration.

The hypothesis tested is: The American education establishment
contributes to significant numbers of American citizens'—recent and
current—demonstrating ignorance of geography. For this hypothesis, recent
and current describe, approximately, 1980-2009. As much literature on this
topic does not exist, this study will not model a theory or add to an
existing theory. This project will test a hypothesis concerning education
in the United States of America.

As this study deals with education, available data would focus on
American high school students, American university and college students,
and their educators. As law mandates all Americans attend high school,
and many attend university and college, this project will infer the
findings to all American citizens who, primarily, pass through American
education institutions. Supremely, as law mandates all Americans attend at
least two years of high school; this study infers these findings to most of
the American population. The term "most of" is used as there always seem
exceptions to any absolutist statement. American citizens must exist who,
through special circumstances, were not subject to the same experiences as
the majority. Sampling methods depend on the studies used for this
project. As this is an 8-week course, it is problematic to collect and
analyze raw data. Also, no raw study data is accessible to the researcher
now. Therefore, this project places trust in the sources, their data, and
interpretations. The data will be used to mark whether the hypothesis is
rejected. For example, if one study claims that American high school
students miss an average of 90% of questions on geography a researcher
cannot reject the hypothesis that American education contributes to
American ignorance of geography. So while the data is not raw and
verifiable, as necessary for certain other research roles, enough data
exist to decide whether to reject a hypothesis.

This study will be single-method. While multi-method studies are
more valid, the purposes here are to confirm or refute the hypothesis. The
researcher has no role in raw data collection or analysis—such data is not
accessible and the limited time frame of the course makes any data
collection problematic. Other researchers conducting the same collections,
through the same sources, would note the same results. The secondary
sources are in order and properly vouched for through the researcher's
familiarity with these sources through reading and cross-referencing where
possible. Data is collected from the internet and libraries and copies
are kept on the computer where possible and notes are kept in a notebook
where not possible.

Analysis of collected data is minimal. As the sources are secondary,
the relevant data is presented as usable statistics. These usable
statistics measure certain information and, without access to the raw data,
it is not possible to use other analytical methods on the data. The
researcher will take the data, as it stands, and offer certain conjectures
based on that data. These conjectures reveal through systematic methods.
For example, the researcher finds that 60% of American university students
in one survey did not answer questions about geography correctly. Is
information available on the nature of the questions and their difficulty?
Are there reasons other than the hypothesis for this result? Does this
survey refute the hypothesis? Is information available on the students
surveyed? If these are university freshmen, a researcher can infer high
school education in geography, but cannot infer college courses in
geography. These are the questions the research needs to examine. If
certain information is not available, the study should mention this.

Overall reliability is ensured through transparency in the methods
used. The lack of raw data is frustrating and necessarily costs in
validity. However, this study could also become the impetus for future
research—even with data access lacking now. Therefore, it is important
that this study describe its faults with conjecture. In this way, if
another researcher follows this design, this researcher will remark the
same results—though not necessarily the same interpretations. As the
students among the research samples are expected to have passed through
courses on geography, it is possible to infer the findings to the
population at large.

Problems faced in data collection are aforementioned. There is a
limited time to conduct any studies, and this limit lies beyond the scope
of the project. Access to raw data and studies conducted on these
questions is not available at this time. These two considerations make
data collection problematic. It is necessary to rely on trusted sources of
information that are not always as clear and systematic in their writings
as this study will be.

Limitations of this study are many. A chief limit is in the culture
of the United States—and the several states. The American culture of
isolationism must be a contributing cause to geographical ignorance.
However, adding this into the study would require more time and research
and is beyond the time and resources assigned for this project. Also, the
American education establishment is not a large centrally planned
apparatus. Federal requirements exist, but the government does not
micromanage all decisions made locally. Therefore, states, counties,
cities, and towns have certain amounts of autonomy in their education.
This being the case, it is problematic to consider all the details of the
various education establishments, their interactions with federal
requirements, and so on. All of these subsystems locally, and other
federal entities, comprise the American education establishment. It is
simply not possible to examine every aspect of the American education
establishment in the course of this project.

Thus, with the time and resources allotted, it is difficult to
consider other contributors to American ignorance in geography. It is
impossible to conduct a full analysis of the American education
establishment. The study time-line consists of the eight weeks in this
course. The project is due by the end of the course.[14] The researcher
holds the time, skills, and resources needed to conduct the design as
presented at this time.





Findings




Before proceeding to the findings, it is necessary to offer a brief
preface. In the interests of conserving space, brief pattern analysis
occurs at the end of this section. This examination does not stop at each
example and point out how causality occurs or whether or not the example
supports the hypothesis. This preface is iterated at the end of the
assignment, yet appears here as a courtesy to readers who may find
themselves accustomed to a different format.

The history of education in the United States is long and varied. A
complete discussion of the history of education in the United States is
beyond the scope of this work. However, basic considerations are necessary
for the reader to recognize the state of affairs concerned. Gatto (2001)
offers much to consider: "At the age of twelve, Admiral Farragut got his
first command. I was in fifth grade when I learned of this. Had Farragut
gone to my school he would have been in seventh".[15] Today, most officers
do not receive a commission without first passing through a four-year
education after K-12. An argument against this position, based on
increased reliance on technology, holds little validity as officers make
plans and give orders and noncommissioned officers and soldiers use the
technologies that support officers' directives.[16] Admiral Farragut was
born in 1801. This would mean that Farragut took his first command in
1813—during the war of 1812. Why wasn't Farragut in school? The
institution of public schooling, as it exists today, did not exist at that
time.

It wasn't just public schooling that did not exist in 1813. The
social construct of "adolescence" did not exist either. As Gatto (2001)
points out, "During the post—Civil War period, childhood was extended about
four years. Later, a special label was created to describe very old
children. It was called adolescence, a phenomenon hitherto unknown to the
human race".[17] While a discussion of how changes in the culture affect
the education establishment offers further illumination, detailed
discussion remains outside the scope of this piece. Besides this new
social construct, a small group of dominant men would also influence the
American education establishment. Gatto (2001) argues,

Somehow out of the industrial confusion which followed the Civil
War, powerful men and dreamers became certain what kind of
social order America needed, one very like the British system we
had escaped a hundred years earlier. This realization didn't
arise as a product of public debate as it should have in a
democracy, but as a distillation of private discussion.[18]

This quotation brings us back to the subject of money and its influence on
education. However, further discussion exceeds the scope of the project.
These pieces of information offer context. Gatto's offering allows readers
to find the genesis of changes affecting the education establishment and,
by proxy, American knowledge vis-à-vis geography.

Unfortunately raw data on student performance during the 1800's is
also absent. An admissible argument is that a man who is ready to take
command of other men in time of war—or on a military vessel—received
superior education to one who cannot take said command. What educational
establishment would Admiral Farragut have experienced? One possible answer
is found in Gatto (2001) through his quotation of Clifton Johnson on
Abraham Lincoln's education:

He acquired much of his early education at home. In the evening
he would pile sticks of dry wood into the brick fireplace. These
would blaze up brightly and shed a strong light over the room,
and the boy would lie down flat on the floor before the hearth
with his book in front of him. He used to write his arithmetic
sums on a large wooden shovel with a piece of charcoal. After
covering it all over with examples, he would take his jack-knife
and whittle and scrape the surface clean, ready for more
ciphering. Paper was expensive and he could not afford a slate.
Sometimes when the shovel was not at hand he did his figuring on
the logs of the house walls and on the doorposts, and other
woodwork that afforded a surface he could mark on with his
charcoal.[19]

The style of education that Clifton Johnson ascribes to Abraham Lincoln
differs from the style of education offered to American citizens today. A
reasonable assumption follows. A man would not be given command of a ship
without some knowledge of navigation and geography; such a man would have
the lives of other men in his hands. A man who lacked knowledge of
geography would not function well as President of the United States. How
would a man lacking this knowledge keep any pretense to competence in
international affairs, properly oversee the Civil War, or command a ship
against the British Navy in the War of 1812? Thus the piece comes again to
the hypothesis under scrutiny: The American education establishment
directly affects American knowledge of geography.

What is geography? According to Nuhfer (1998), geographers
themselves craft a convoluted understanding of what geography is as an
academic discipline.[20] If the discipline itself lacks clear definition,
how can anyone expect proper teaching and learning of the discipline? One
of the first priorities of those who comprise the American education
establishment would be to describe exactly what the discipline is, and make
sure the boundaries between this discipline and periphery disciplines are
maintained. Nuhfer's work suggests that bureaucratic competition within
academia may cause geographers to overstep their boundaries and teach
matters that others may hold better qualifications to teach. Through
rationalism a position emerges. If competition among academic disciplines
affects how students receive education and from which teachers and
professors, then the education establishment must affect the knowledge
shared with students.

Matters of competition within academia are not the only causes at work
here. Keeling (2007) offers evidence of the problem: "Myriad polls and
surveys leave no doubt that Americans are among the most geographically
illiterate of all developed societies. The ranks of Americans who have ever
taken a geography class in high school or university are small".[21] Could
all of this flow from the competitions within academia and the lack of
definition for the discipline of geography? Keeling (2007) offers more
perspective:

Indeed, the attitude of many college admissions officers, deans,
provosts, and presidents towards geography as critical in
preparing students for success in a global society remains
antediluvian. Witness the recent outburst from a Pomona College
admissions official who questioned Advanced Placement Human
Geography courses for high-school seniors and recounted how his
colleagues had reacted with confusion and laughter upon seeing
an AP geography course on a potential student's transcript.[22]

Advanced Placement (AP) courses are the most difficult to take in High
School and usually count as college credit. Clearly, these emotional
outbursts are evidence that admissions officials at Pomona College do not
see the value of geography. That being the case, what education could a
potential student expect in the discipline from that institution? While
Pomona College is not all universities, and a researcher cannot necessarily
infer that such a reception would occur at all institutions of higher
learning, the Pomona College reception occurred and rationalism demands
that this affects student's knowledge of the discipline. However raw data
of Pomona College is lacking—ergo decisive demonstration of this remains
elusive.

If this is the attitude of a college admissions board toward
geography, what would one find in the K-12 level? Again the examination
turns to Keeling (2007):

Part of the problem is that most of the people teaching
geography at the K-12 level, when it is taught at all, have not
studied geography at the university level. Very often, they are
coaches or social studies majors who have no idea why they are
teaching geography. These educators are the ones writing the
social studies content standards for the K-12 schools at the
state level.[23]

Keeling's quotation speaks volumes. Unqualified people teach geography and
craft the geographical standards for K-12 schools at the state level.
However, Keeling does not reveal which states this occurs in.

Keeling revealed how the education establishment in the United States
would affect the manner in which geography is taught and also how educators
and administrators in the education bureaucracy deal with the discipline.
The examination turns briefly to English education. While this portion
applies to students of geography in England, the problem of ignorance is
similar and the roots are found in the shift of education policy. Moorish
(2001) identifies the specific problem thus, "Geography candidates have
long been criticized [sp UK][24] for the inadequacies of their case
studies. Examiners point to vague and generalised [sp UK] answers, lacking
in specific facts, short, or simply irrelevant. Why do students find it so
difficult to provide the required material?"[25] Moorish's criticism
applies to 15-16 year old students trying to complete the requirements for
the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). When the author was
15 and 16, South Hiram Middle School did not have its students undertake
case studies on geography. Perhaps this is a reason Americans consistently
score lowest among developed nations?[26] Moorish goes on to describe the
roots of the problem:

The origins of the problem go back to the curriculum changes of
the 1970s. Before the "quantitative revolution" geography was
largely based on regional studies that drew together a wide
variety of information about particular places. The examination
boards decided which countries or continents were to be covered.
Emphasis was placed on learning the features of these locations
and candidates were expected to reproduce the facts in
detail.[27]



Moorish points out that examination boards decided what geographical
information was important and what geographical information was not
important. This contributed to the problem of inadequate case studies by
the secondary school students of the United Kingdom. This proves a
relationship between an education establishment and its students' body of
knowledge on geography—assuming trust of the source. As the United States
tests behind England—and England has its own problems with its students'
geographical knowledge—looking here offers more insight into the problems
of American education, especially when considering the argument of Lewis
(2000): "Ironically, however, in the presumably bygone days of American
isolationism a large amount of global information was imparted in schools.
One hundred years ago, even junior high school students [secondary
education students in the UK] were expected to acquire detailed
knowledge".[28] Lewis describes a shift in American education which took
emphasis away from geography. In the paragraphs that follow, some data on
American knowledge of geography appears.

As stated, possibly ad nauseum, much raw data on the credentials of
American teachers is lacking as is raw data on student performance.
However, this next portion will cite trusted sources who enjoyed such
access. This portion presents numbers concerning American students and
matters of geography. Shabad (1982) discusses a 24-page report issued by
The American Association of Geographers: "The survey, which covered 3,000
students at 185 colleges and universities in the United States, disclosed
that 60 percent of the student sample, composed equally of two-year college
students and of freshmen and seniors in four-year institutions, had taken
no courses in college geography".[29] While introducing four-year freshmen
into the sample may skew it slightly, the institutional requirements do not
favor geography. Institutional requirements are a device controlled by
members of the education establishment—in this case the universities
themselves. Why does it matter that many students are not taking geography
courses and many teachers are not qualified to teach them? The Economist
(1988) cites a National Geographic Society survey:


One in five of those polled could not name a single country in
Europe. Three in four could not find the Persian Gulf on a map.
One in four could not find the Pacific Ocean. One in two could
not find South Africa. More astonishing, nearly one in two could
not find New York state [sic] on a map. Indeed, 14% could not
even find the United States.[30]

Researchers may infer that such results are caused by the education
establishment of America. However, the Economist (1988) offers still more
evidence of this:

In all eight other countries sampled, people over 55 years old
could identify fewer places than people aged 18-24. Americans
over 55 could locate nine of the 16 places, but 18-24-years olds
could name only 7.5. In that age group, Americans are more
ignorant than all the other countries -- well behind Mexico and
Britain. The society used the same maps for a similar poll in
1947-48. Comparing the results reveals a steady loss of
geographical knowledge.[31]

While this steady loss of geographical knowledge could find blame in a
steady loss of American interest, this does not absolve the education
establishment of responsibility, nor does it nullify same as a cause. How
many students are not interested in mathematics, sciences, or English? It
is the challenge of educators to make these disciplines interesting, or
else to provide the proper motivation for students to become proficient in
the same. If it is not, then it is their responsibility to ensure that
students meet the standard and are able to prove certain knowledge among
the liberal arts and sciences. If students are not meeting the standards,
the education establishment must have some influence in this. It is not as
if Americans were always ignorant of geography—as the survey shows, this is
a relatively recent development. Groennings (1990) discusses a 1980 survey
conducted by the Educational Testing Service. This survey reveals that
only 29 percent of Americans polled could recognize the OPEC nations.
Groennings (1990) goes on to cite a survey of 8th grade American students
with the following results: 35 percent could find Egypt and 31 percent
could find the United Kingdom on a map.[32] Through this information,
research indexes symptoms of the lack of American knowledge vis-à-vis
geography as far back as this 1980 survey.

This relatively recent development is a fact reaching the awareness
of those in the highest echelons of power in the United States. The reader
may remember when Dan Quayle embarrassed the United States by making
remarks about Latin Americans speaking Latin when they speak Spanish or
Portuguese as their main languages. Piscionere reveals: "President Bush
indicates that the primary problem in American society today is cultural
apathy, brought on by a lack of education".[33] This lack of education
contributes to a lack of knowledge of geography. Supported by cultural
apathy, this becomes a vicious cycle. As previously shown, American
knowledge of geography is diminishing. Levine (2005) refers to a survey
saying "that 25 percent of our college-bound high school students cannot
name the ocean between California and Asia".[34] This fact comes as little
surprise considering the percentages who could not find the United States
on a map in previously cited data. Levine (2005) also says that "with some
notable exceptions, our public schools are doing a woeful job of teaching
students about the world outside America's borders".[35] The paragraph
that follows presents one of these notable exceptions.

Until now, this examination juxtaposed theory and data relating to
the education establishment and the results of tools designed to test
knowledge of geography. This final portion of the findings narrative goes
inside the classroom for an example of what is happening in American
schools. Pajares (1989) relates a story of his teaching experience. In
this story he tells us that after teaching his students about the geography
of the United Kingdom, one of the students raised her hand and wanted to
clarify whether England was the capital of Great Britain. Another student
said that it was Scotland, and another student said that Scotland was in
Ireland. Pajares was taken aback and adjusted his curriculum accordingly.
This action remained well within his purview and made geography interesting
for his students. This resulted in better student performance in matters
of geography.[36] The Pajares example proves that education establishments
affect the quality of knowledge their students are able to show. Pajares
offers an example of how the members of the education establishment can
make changes that improve student performance.

This concludes the narrative portion of the findings section. The
project now addresses pattern analysis—as aforementioned in the preface to
this section. The findings presented prove causality. This paragraph will
focus mostly on the Pajares example and expects the reader remembers enough
of other examples to tie these in. Before the Pajares paragraph, several
sources united to offer evidence of causality. However, the Pajares
paragraph contains all necessary elements to prove causality, save for the
theory. Time ordering occurs through the Pajares example. Pajares' style
of teaching changed before his students' ability to show their knowledge of
geography changed, other sources mentioned before Pajares concur with this
finding.[37] The Pajares example demonstrates non-spuriousness. No other
variables affected events in the classroom other than participants of the
education establishment. Researchers may infer the same dynamic among
certain other evidence presented. Co-variation is also evident in the
Pajares example. As Pajares changed his style, demonstration of student
knowledge also changed. Other evidence presented before Pajares' example
supports co-variation. Relevant theory is found earlier in this work—in
the theoretical framework section. Simply put, the primary source of
student knowledge is the K-12 teacher and professors of any higher
education the student pursues. If this education establishment is
performing poorly, student performance will also be poor. These insights
prove causality. Analysis—and all examples offered—support the hypothesis:
The American education establishment directly affects American knowledge
of geography.




Conclusions



The findings of this study suggest much for the discipline of
geography. Geographers need to be clear about what their discipline
entails. Geographers' efforts to perform this task would better occur
without passion or prejudice. Ideally, academic competition would cease
among departments as competition matters to bureaucratic power and
allocation of larger budgets. The competition would better center on who
is doing the better job of educating students. As Pajares
indicates—through his example—making changes in how teachers present the
material to students will also have measurable results. Children who can
answer questions aptly in class—as opposed to being unable to do so—have
greater potential to perform better on measured tests. The education
establishment must focus on educating students, not on other goals which
deprive American students of a proper education.

The theoretical model states the education establishment has a direct
effect on a student's knowledge. Other remarks on the theoretical model
suggested certain causes that would affect the education establishment.
One possible change to this theoretical model is the introduction of a
feedback loop. A simplified version might look thus:

Public policy

Law
American knowledge of Geography

Funding American
education establishment

Culture



Education affects the variables that affect the education establishment.
President Bush argued that bad education led to cultural apathy. Yet,
cultural apathy leads to more bad education. When teachers have no desire
to be aware of what is beyond America's borders, how can parents be sure
that their children are receiving proper emphasis on these matters?
Factors that determine exactly what the education establishment is and does
are affected by the citizens of this nation. These citizens then educate
future citizens. Thus, a more complete theoretical framework would
indicate this loop. The sources of this study reveal that this loop is a
negative feedback loop or vicious cycle. The implications for American
society are grave.

A citizenry which contains a significant portion of people who cannot
find their own nation on a map, cannot point to the nations where their
energy—fossil fuels—come from, and cannot identify oceans surrounding their
homeland cannot be taken seriously. As mentioned earlier, the ignorant
American is no longer met with laughter but with contempt. It is simply
not possible to sustain a dominant culture or a position of geostrategic
dominance with a citizenry that lacks a proper grasp of the world in which
that society exists. This state of affairs should embarrass those who teach
geography and certain members of the education establishment. Members of
academia had better ensure that those who pass through its institutions are
properly educated and able to preserve the United States in its position of
geostrategic dominance.

If this project were to go to the next level, it would need teams of
analysts and researchers to gather raw data from various locations among
the several states. This data would include standardized testing of
students and American citizens of all levels and age groups. The project
would need data on the qualifications and academic experience of all
educators who teach geography. The project would also need standardized
testing of the educators' knowledge of geography. Ideally, this project
would continue to gather this data over several years or even decades.
This would settle, without any doubts, the causality outlined in the
theoretical model and findings in this paper.

Such a project raises other possible implications for the discipline
of geography and education in general. It would be preferred to have such
studies occurring always in all disciplines. Perhaps an education
establishment where not only students, but educators as well, are routinely
tested on the accuracy of their knowledge is in order? Educators could
refresh themselves on lost knowledge as needed. Perhaps a radical
restructuring of how universities work is in order? One might argue the
most important aspect of a university is the faculty. This follows from
the assertion that a university's most important function is to educate
students. Yet, the largest buildings on campuses tend to be administrative
buildings and the goals of many institutions revolve around how much money
they can make. Certain universities are even publicly traded companies.
Perhaps this emphasis on finance forms a problem? While the following
point may seem off topic, it is relevant. The author asks for the reader's
indulgence. When the big auto companies of the United States put
financiers rather than engineers in charge of their companies, taxpayers
got the bill. What happens when financiers run universities? Unlike the
bailout policies—which take money from taxpayers to pay for the shoddy
practices of the companies that failed—there is no solution to transfer
knowledge when shoddy American education practices lead to an
intellectually bankrupt citizenry.

This examination has shown that United States citizens are losing
knowledge of geography. The broader implications here are that action must
occur to fix this problem. More studies are needed. This project should
expand to include proper budgets and personnel to discover the severity of
the problem and offer solutions to this problem. While this study proves
causality, and moves toward solutions, greater effort is necessary if the
United States is going to have a citizenry that is prepared to maintain its
position in the 21st century.





Bibliography



Economist, The. "Here Be Foreigners." The Economist, 30 July 1988, 26. (no
author information exists)

Gatto, John Taylor. The Underground History of American Education. New
York: Oxford Village Press, 2001.

Groennings, Sven, ed. and Wiley, David S., ed. Group Portrait:
Internationalizing the Disciplines. New York: American Forum, 1990.



Keeling, David. Geographical Ignorance Limits America's Opportunities
[essay online]. New York: American Geographical Society, 2007,
accessed 13 April 2009; available from
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Levine, Michael H. Putting the World Into Our Classrooms: A New Vision
for 21st Century Education [policy paper online]. Washington, DC:
Progressive Policy Institute, 2005, accessed 13 April 2009; available
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Lewis, Martin W. "Global Ignorance." Geographical Review, (October 2000).

Morrish, Mike. "Case-study Competence." The Times Educational Supplement,
23 March 2001.

Nuhfer, Edward B. "Academic Geographers Are Partly to Blame for Americans'
Ignorance of Geography." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 April
1988.

Pajares, Frank. "Geography in a Fortnight." Educational Leadership,
(November 1989).

Piscionere, Alexandra. Immediate and Long-Term Dilemma: American Ignorance
in International Affairs and Foreign Languages [scholarly discourse
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Shabad, Theodore. "Americans Get A Failing Grade In Geography." New York
Times, 27 May 1982, sec A, p. 7.



-----------------------
[1] A nation is comprised of citizens, thus this logically follows.
[2] The author learned this from a presentation on global shift, the name
of the source escapes the author at this time.
[3] Levine, Michael H., Putting the World Into Our Classrooms: A New
Vision for 21st Century Education [policy paper online] (Washington, DC:
Progressive Policy Institute, 2005, accessed 13 April 2009); available from
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http percent3A
percent2F percent2Fwww.ppionline.org percent2Fppi_ci.cfm
percent3FknlgAreaID percent3D110 percent26subsecID percent3D181
percent26contentID percent3D253280&ei=VRD-SYwdpri2A-
KhnNMB&usg=AFQjCNG7bPDz4NTictWLt-6JjP3w0y9WFw
[4] Turabian has some strange format for the footnotes and bibliography of
this. Apparently the article title goes first and then the publication
with no mention of the author. In this case the source is referenced in
the bibliography with a line beginning as "Americans".
[5] These considerations would vary from University to University and even
person to person. However, these considerations are relevant to geography.

[6] The official name for these escapes the author. These are the houses
that look like every other house in the housing development. Those who
lived in military quarters are familiar with the concept. Apparently these
were created following WWII when young men were returning from war and
needed places to live—thus the concept migrated from the military to the
civilian world.
[7] This statement is based on personal research, there are many who agree
and possibly many who do not agree.
[8] The Anglo-Sphere refers to the Anglo-Saxon nations: The United States,
Canada, New Zealand, Australia. One might go so far as to include Ireland,
France, Germany, and Scandinavia in the Anglo-Sphere because of the
interbreeding, yet this generally is not acceptable so the term applies to
the four aforementioned nations.
[9] I speak from experience teaching ESL in Asia and conversations with
professors and teachers.
[10] Pope became the substitute name for Caesar. This occurred after the
military and political arms of the Empire failed and the Roman Empire
became the Holy Roman Empire. The Vatican remains a city state. The Pope
is not only the infallible high priest of God; he is the Prince of the
Vatican and the head of the Holy See.
[11] This was the show referenced in a study that Levine mentions in his
paper.
[12] This refers to Malthus and his economic theories.
[13] For the purposes of this work, there are two types of socialist.
There is the Stalinist socialist—the types that kick the door down and fire
machine guns into the room. These are brutal dictatorships like those of
China, North Korea, Soviet Union, etc. Another form of socialism is called
Fabian socialism; the doctrine of such people is evolution by stealth or
the inch-worm effect. The inch-worm moves along until it meets resistance,
it changes direction laterally until it can continue forward again. When
an American wakes up in the morning and reads "We're All Socialists Now" on
the cover of a popular news magazine, one is witnessing discussion of
Fabian socialism.
[14] We just discussed this via email, thank you.
[15] Gatto, John Taylor, The Underground History of American Education,
(New York: Oxford Village Press, 2001), 2.
[16] The author spent time in the United States Army, Military Police Corps
and began military training through JROTC. These statements reflect the
author's experiences.
[17] Gatto, John Taylor, The Underground History of American Education,
(New York: Oxford Village Press, 2001), 16.
[18] Ibid, 15.
[19] Ibid, 22.
[20] Nuhfer, Edward B, "Academic Geographers Are Partly to Blame for
Americans' Ignorance of Geography", (The Chronicle of Higher
Education, 20 April 1988), B2.

[21] Keeling, David, Geographical Ignorance Limits America's
Opportunities [essay online] (New York: American Geographical Society,
2007, accessed 13 April 2009); available from
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http percent3A
percent2F percent2Fwww.amergeog.org percent2Fnewsrelease percent2FAGS-OpEd-
geoignorance.pdf&ei=MAn-Sb_1FImYtAOx9cXxAQ&usg=AFQjCNF-uBTypnYRKXCiqEMDJiq-
O8NM5w
[22] Ibid.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Note [sp] is normally used for misspellings; [sp UK] is used to note
that this is the proper spelling in the Queen's English with UK standing
for United Kingdom.
[25] Morrish, Mike, "Case-study Competence" (The Times Educational
Supplement, 23 March 2001), 2.
[26] Sources supporting this claim appear later in the work.
[27] Morrish, Mike, "Case-study Competence" (The Times Educational
Supplement, 23 March 2001), 2
[28] Lewis, Martin W. "Global Ignorance." Geographical Review, (October
2000).
[29] Shabad, Theodore, "Americans Get A Failing Grade In Geography" (New
York Times, 27 May 1982), sec A, p. 7.
[30] The Economist, "Here Be Foreigners." (The Economist, 30 July 1988),
26. (no author information exists)
[31] Ibid.
[32] Groennings, Sven, ed. and Wiley, David S., ed., Group Portrait:
Internationalizing the Disciplines (New York: American Forum, 1990), 34.
[33] Piscionere, Alexandra, Immediate and Long-Term Dilemma: American
Ignorance in International Affairs and Foreign Languages [scholarly
discourse online] (Washington, DC: George Washington University, 2007,
accessed 13 April 2009); available from
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http percent3A
percent2F percent2Fwww.gwu.edu percent2F~uwp percent2Ffyw
percent2Feuonymous percent2F2006-2007 percent2F06-
07AlexandraPiscionerefinalczedit.pdf&ei=hA_-
SZXvGIKytgOd1Z3OAQ&usg=AFQjCNF8QQSwPbQvzF6cKqojb9nb0AC1Ug
[34] Levine, Michael H. Putting the World Into Our Classrooms: A New
Vision for 21st Century Education [policy paper online]. Washington, DC:
Progressive Policy Institute, 2005, accessed 13 April 2009; available from
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http percent3A
percent2F percent2Fwww.ppionline.org percent2Fppi_ci.cfm
percent3FknlgAreaID percent3D110 percent26subsecID percent3D181
percent26contentID percent3D253280&ei=VRD-SYwdpri2A-
KhnNMB&usg=AFQjCNG7bPDz4NTictWLt-6JjP3w0y9WFw
[35] Ibid.
[36] Pajares, Frank. "Geography in a Fortnight." Educational Leadership,
(November 1989).

[37] In the interests of conserving document space and the reader's time,
these sources are not listed again. The Pajares example alone is enough to
establish causality; the other sources offer supplementary evidence
building to this example.