Developments in the status and content of geography teaching in the secondary schools of Finland in 1770-1888

Abstract

Geography became established in the school curriculum in Finland at the turn of the 19th century. It was regarded as a sister discipline to history, and both were considered important elements in a general education. Geog­raphy was thought to provide the pupil with the basis for a knowledge of the regions and nations of the world, a prerequisite for beginning to study history. Thus the teaching of geography was pushed more towards the lower forms in the school and made to serve the needs of history teaching.

A further factor in this concerned certain pedagogical trends in the 19th century, including the principle of the child's expanding horizons, in which one should proceed from the known to the unknown. This emphasized the importance of studying one's own local district in the lower forms. Also, with the awakening of national sentiments familiarity with one's own coun­try became a major goal of geography teaching in schools. Thus geography was seen as an important tool for the development of a national identity.

In this light, the content of geography teaching in schools was centred principally around places and place‑names, and although descriptive region­al geography did begin to be introduced in the course of the 19th century, the explanation of cause and effect was not a part of the teaching during the period studied. This implies that the progress made in geography as a science had not yet extended to the Finnish schools, partly as a result of the fact that geography lacked an independent status at this time, even in the university.