Geography Education for Global Understanding in China

In China, geography is a stand-alone subject beginning in middle school. As an obligatory course, geography education in China has great potential to provide the next generation with global understanding (GU). In this chapter, the authors aim to contribute to the implementation of GU for geography education in China. This research analyzed geography content standards regarding GU in secondary school according to the ten categories. Next, the authors used an online survey of 100 geography teachers in Shanghai and 17 other provinces employing a questionnaire tool Sojump. The findings show that (1) GU was clearly presented in geography standards, but slightly differently in middle school than in high school; (2) the content of GU is not sufficient in geography standards for geography teachers; and (3) geography curriculum resources and best practices for GU are not sufficient. The authors discuss these findings and provide suggestions to improve GU in geography education.