Teaching of Geography in Secondary Classes of Darjeeling Sub Division, in West Bengal

Field work in geography is a long history and tradition. The notion of geography as the study human environments is a key concept that can be traced back from modern geography at the frontiers of research through the development of geography as a discipline in school and higher education during the 20th century to the historical eras of exploration and discovery. Understanding that environment demands field enquiry just as science requires laboratory experimentation and making sense of the world demands first-hand experience for the five-year-old new to school as much as it does for the university researcher. For most geographies the importance and significance of field work needs no reinforcement and is a key component of their own personal biographies in the subject (Me Part Lando, 1996). As Stoddart (1986) suggests, the acquisition of real geographical knowledge takes place in the field as a result of an interaction of physical mental and emotional experiences. Internationally, though the position of field work in the geography curriculum is highly variable, in the U.S.A geography field work has largely been ignored in curriculum development and in many states in Europe the role of field work has been marginal. In most less developed countries like India resource constraints have meant fieldwork development has been a very low priority.

“Geography is initially an open air subject” according to Tolstoy “The difference between education and tanning lies solely in the coercion which timing claims as its right, training is forcible education. Education is true.” This statement of Tolstoy will be analyzed through the discussion of the analysis importance in the teaching of geography. The elements of geography are the relief, topographical structure, rivers, climate, natural vegetations, major-agricultural crops, minerals, population settlement, rural and urban etc. of the regions. The scientific approach through observation produces the geographical theme. In the syllabus of secondary classes under West Bengal board of secondary education scope might have limited of the learners to acquire knowledge through field work consequently. The students have to think with imagination, but they frequently fail to imagine the subject in a large scale for example, those who have no idea about hill or mountain they might have the description of hills/mountains. The main process of educational psychology is too familiar from concrete to abstract. The analysis of the geographical cause and effect which the learners see always is to be taught so that they may have the imagination of the abstract. Main feature of the modern education system is to tend from known to unknown. From this point of view fieldwork has acquired contribution in modern education system. Field work study helps to achieve the practical experience of the learners of geography. Field work of geography creates excitement of imagination of the learners. As a result the learners have to be attempted and grown their interest. And they should have the potentiality to analyze the matter of unknown. In secondary classes, i.e. class IX and class X under W.B.B.S.E all the learners are teenagers and they have in their logical analysis and also they have been attempted towards logical analysis of phenomena which they have seen. Under the proper guide of teachers of geography field work the teaching process through field study may have positive and attractive of the learners. So it could be said, “Like charity teaching of geography should begin at home”. The learning outside the classroom manifesto was launched by the DTES on 28th November 2006 to promote the benefits of learning beyond the classroom. “Learning outside the classroom is about raising achievement through an organized, powerful approach to learning in which direct experience is of prime importance. This is not only about we learn but importantly how and where learn”. Overall, the study seeks to asses to relationship between achievement in geography in secondary level under West Bengal board of secondary education through traditional method and field work method of teaching.

Modern geography is now considered to be a separate science requiring a detailed of the territories of the world. Field work has an important role to play in developing geographical interest in the students of geography, especially important in the making of models for evaluating relief models from useful aids in learning and understanding geography and the students should be encouraged to prepare those understand various geographical problems. The particular work imparts first hand geographical understanding and makes the subject lively. More accurate knowledge of geography can be obtained outside rather than inside the classroom; hence it is essential for a geography teacher to select the area for field work in the class syllabus. The objectives of the effectiveness of field work study in teaching geography in secondary class are as follows: I. To get acquainted with the basic knowledge of the subject. III. To explore the pattern of relationship between fieldwork study and traditional classroom method of teaching in geography. IV. To see whether the effectiveness of field work is successfully organized through visual and various types of questions are given to develop learner‟s comprehensive and application skill. V. To compare learning geography through traditional method and fieldwork method of teaching.

“There is a significance difference between the achievement of teaching geography through fieldwork study and conventional (classroom teaching) method”. After data processing in survey report 9 & 10 the calculated value of t is larger than the table value of t at 5% level at 1% level. So, we can justify properly the effectiveness of fieldwork study in teaching geography in secondary classes is positive. The result of survey report 9 & 10 (comparing classroom teaching and fieldwork method of teaching) the hypothesis which the researcher has been taken is being also accepted.\

A classroom has limited space. The limited equipment of the classroom bears no comparison to the beautiful resources of nature outside the classroom. Nature can serve as a laboratory where the teacher and the pupil can carry out unrestricted experiments up to any length of time. Field experiences are therefore, useful as the permit a first-hand study of actual objects and geographical situations. Field work awakens interest which the classroom teaching cannot do. Thus plants and animals can best be the classroom. Similarly there are certain other geographical situations which cannot be studied in the classroom because of its size inaccessibility and inconvenience. The geographical situations like contour maps, weather reading, waterfall and erosion can best be demonstrated outdoor rather than the classroom. Experiences gained outdoors are basic whereas those acquired in the classroom teaching are only supplementary during field works, alls senses are

Field trips for younger pupils‟ can be arranged with the vicinity of the school because long trips require use of transport and money and involve many administrative problems. Beside long trips required advance preparation and one time consuming and may require permission from parents and school authorities.

The research work has been developed through statistical analysis of the scores of student‟s achievement of secondary classes. The researcher has used the method to questionnaire, Mean + Ratio etc. The hypotheses which are the tools of this research have been proved by these statistical techniques. The scientific statement about the real world one normally ordered in a consistent hierarchy. The lowest-order statements are called factual statement, the intermediates are called generalizations or empirical laws and the highest-order statements are called general or theoretical causes. The principal aim or geographical studies is to find the highest-order transform of the lowest-order statements, which is achieved via the above two routes. Hierarchically, the development of understanding in geography was based on interpretation of field studies. After teaching in the classrooms and administering the achievement test, the 100 (one hundred) students of class IX (secondary level) of two schools of Darjeeling sub-division in West Bengal have been selected randomly for the field study. As I have selected the topic – Rocks and Works of River, so the students have been studied under my guidance, all along the course of the river “Rongtong” which blows through Darjeeling sub-division. They were at their field work and interacting with me from 10:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M. on 30.08.2010 as the rocks and the River Rongtong is Perennial stream in the river. So the all questions of learners from their syllabus in secondary class were not possible but if it was clear that the students were able to understand Rock and River as mentioned in the syllabus, with the pedagogical approach from the field work. The researcher has been attempt to analyze the scores of the class room teaching and field work method of teaching in the survey report (1 -10) relating to the hypothesis which the researcher have been taken accordingly. Higher Secondary Schools in which school situated in urban area. The achievement tests have been conducted on the one hundred (100) students and each schools share 25 students. For the opinion of the teachers of geography 25 schools have been surveyed by the researcher. The students and the teachers are in the schools of Darjeeling subdivision in West Bengal. This study has been administered on the students and the students have been divided into various categories on the basis of the taken hypothesis.

To determine the effectiveness of field work study in teaching geography in secondary classes, the researcher has taken 100 (one hundred) students from 2 (two) High and Higher secondary school giving 25 (twenty five) students each of the school. The schools are of Darjeeling subdivision in West Bengal. Categorically the students have been divided i.e. the students under traditional method of teaching (class room teaching) the students under following fieldwork method of teaching in geography, the students belonging to boys and girls.

The researcher selected 100 ( one hundred) students of classes of secondary and Higher Secondary schools under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in the Darjeeling subdivision in West Bengal, to find out how for the teaching following fieldwork study in geography secondary classes would differ from traditional class room teaching. The researcher has been attempted how fieldwork would be effective in teaching geography in secondary classes; simple random sampling and stratified sampling techniques have been applied for this research study. The studies have been divided into different categories urban boy‟s girls etc. The researcher has selected the students of Darjeeling sub-division in West Bengal for sampling because it is District Head Quarters and the researcher himself is the representative of sub-division. The names of the two schools are given below. 1. Municipal Boys High School Darjeeling 2. Municipal Girls School (H.S) Darjeeling

One chapter in geography in class IX in the syllabus under W.B.B.S.E has been selected for the study, particulars are given below:

II) Some information about rock III) Classification of rocks IV) Importance of rock

The above mentioned one chapter has been taught of the 100 students of class – IX of four school sharing 25 students for the study. The score of the achievement tests of the students have taken before and after administering of the fieldwork.

One chapter in geography in class IX in the syllabus under W.B.B.S.E has been selected for the study, particulars are given below:

II) Three works of River – Erosion, Transportation and Deposition III) The various landforms resulting from – a) The upper part of the course or the mountain stage b) The middle course or plain stage and c) The lower course

achievement tests of the students have taken before and after administering of the fieldwork.

The following hypothesis is formulated by the research study and proved after data processing.

„There is a significance difference between the achievement of teaching geography through fieldwork study and conventional (classroom teaching) method‟. After data processing in survey report 9 & 10 the calculated value of t is larger than the table value of t at 5% level at 1% level. So, we can justify properly the effectiveness of fieldwork study in teaching geography in secondary classes is positive. The result of survey report 9& 10 (comparing classroom teaching and fieldwork method of teaching) the hypothesis which the researcher has been taken is being also accepted. So, we can justify that the fieldwork method of teaching is more effective than the classroom (conventional) teaching.

The study finds out i) Fieldwork method of teaching is more effective than the classroom (conventional) method. ii) There is no significant difference between the achievements of boys and girls learners following the fieldwork method of teaching. iii) There is no significant difference between the scores of boys and girls students after classroom teaching.

The Learning outside the classroom manifesto was launched by the DFES on 28th November 2006 to promote the benefits of learning beyond the classroom. “Learning outside the classroom is about raising achievement through an organized, powerful approach to learning in which direct experience is of prime importance. This is not only about what we learn but importantly how and where we learn”. The research work presents a broad perspective on the current state of fieldwork in the geography curriculum. It raises important questions about its role in developing both geographical skills and understanding and its contribution to generic learning and cognitive and effective development. Consequently fieldwork

accelerating cognitive development and preparing students with generic skills of enquiry, cooperation and teamwork and this is an area in which geographical education can have an impact on a wider understanding of pupils‟ learning and development. If we take up the local field study in the syllabus of secondary classes in geography the text book will be more logic, judicious and attractive and it becomes more logic, judicious and attractive and it becomes more fit to all categories of pupils in urban areas and also to the boys and girls learners. It is the researcher‟s hope that the curriculum setter under W.B.B.S.E will take the feedback of the effectiveness of fieldwork in secondary classes rationally for the benefit of the students.

1) Fieldwork makes geography come to life, puts everything into content in glorious 3D and helps students really grasp how geography literally shapes the world around us. 2) Well-planned, safely run, quality fieldwork can benefit students learning and personal development. 3) Fieldwork helps accelerating cognitive development and preparing students of teenagers with generic skills of enquiry, cooperation and teamwork. 4) Teaching through fieldwork helps the learner „learning by doing‟. 5) Group-working task has been emphasized under the active supervision of the teacher. 6) It clears the differences in cognitive and affective gains between students studying rivers in a fieldwork setting and in a classroom setting. 7) The contribution of fieldwork in developing pupils thinking skills emerges strongly from this research. 8) The development of field sketching skills, appropriate strategies for integrating them into the geography curriculum and for assessing pupils‟ achievement in field sketching. 9) Here learners learn by interacting, thinking, discussing and solving problems. 11) Local fieldwork also provides an excellent opportunity for cross-curricular links to be made with Citizenship and education for sustainable development (ESD). 12) Fieldwork enhances the reinforcing feedback of the students that results from their interaction. 13) Learners would acquire to be adapted consciously to the changing nature of the environment. 14) The approach is task-based and proactive. 15) The learners‟ intellectual skills are well-developed. 16) Fieldwork is still seen as important with objectives linked clearly to the demands of the geography curriculum in secondary classes in the schools under W.B.B.S.E. 17) The subjects following fieldwork programs performed significantly better as compared to the subjects following classroom teaching. 18) The subjects following fieldwork programs were found to be significantly better as compared to the subjects following the traditional method.

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Assistant Professor, Teaching in Geography, S.R.B.T. College, Darjeeling, SUB Division in West Bengal E-Mail – santanubb@gmail.com