A Comparative Study Of Chinese And American Junior High School Geography Curriculum Standards

In 2011,China promulgated the latest "Compulsory Geography Curriculum Standards," and the United States issued " The Next Generation Science Standards" in 2013,in which Earth and Space Science is a very important part. Course objectives are basically the same in both standards, such as requiring students to master the relevant knowledge and skills of geography, cultivating students to love nature, etc. But there are also some differences between these two standards in some aspects. For example, in American standards,the requirements of geography skills for students to master is higher than China’; and American standards emphasize the integration of geography and other disciplines, etc. Basing on a thorough understanding of two standards’ promulgation backgrounds, the paper made comparison of two standards on both macro and micro levels, analyzed the similarities and differences between the two standards as well as their strengths and weaknesses, provided some suggestions and ideas for the further improvement of our country’ standards, and provided reference for future development of China’s geographical science education.This paper consists of an introduction and four parts:The introduction states reasons and significance of the topic, defines the concept of "geography" and "curriculum standards",combed the research status at home and abroad about the geography curriculum standards systematically, and describes the research method and innovation of this paper.The first part focuses on the backgrounds and processes of two standards’ promulgation, then briefly introduces similarities and differences between old and new standards of each country,and states the significance of the two new standards.The second part compares the two standards on macro-level, including two aspects: the nature of the curriculum, and the basic concept of the curriculum. Then the paper summarizes the similarities and differences between two countries’ standards.The third part compares the two standards on micro-level, including three aspects: course objectives, course content and student assessment, and selectively chooses some specific content for in-depth contrast. In the comparison process, the paper gives careful thinking on the problems in our junior high school geography curriculum standards.The forth part proposes some advices to our standards on the course objectives, curriculum content, and student academic evaluation. Proposals include putting more emphasis on training students geography skills and systematically designing academic goals of geography skills; conducting inquiry learning and inspiring students in practice; adopting "spiral" method in the presentation of course content; strengthening the integration of geography and other disciplines; and improving students’ academic evaluation mechanism.