REFLEXIONES ACERCA DE LA DELIMITACIÓN Y DEFINICIÓN DEL MEDIO RURAL. DISEÑO DE UN ÍNDICE DE RURALIDAD PARA GALICIA

The dynamics that today’s society is facing require critical citizens capable of understanding the complexity of problems from their various dimensions. This work aimed to investigate the social representations that future primary school teachers have about socio-environmental problems, sustainability, purposes of socio-environmental education, and strategies to train in Global Citizenship Education and in Education for Sustainable Development. An exploratory case study was carried out, framed in an action-research approach in the classes of Social Sciences Teaching of the Primary Education Degree of two universities in Galicia (Spain): the University of A Coruña and the University of Santiago de Compostela. A quantitative and qualitative analysis was developed by applying a questionnaire to a sample of 200 students. The results showed that students focus on problems such as climate change or environmental pollution, leaving aside issues such as social inequalities, poverty, or gender issues. In addition, they have difficulties in recognizing the strategies by which teachers can provide their students with critical thinking that leads to social transformation. Significant differences were observed in some researched aspects according to the university of origin, the grade, and the gender of the students, with gender being the one that influenced the greatest number of questions.

Landscape is a common object of study in all educational systems, but it is necessary to differentiate between studying landscape and educating in landscape. In fact, the latter is a relatively recent concept that is linked to the current reformulation of the notion of landscape according to the guidelines contained in the European Landscape Convention. The article summarizes the basic pillars on which landscape education is based and presents research results on the subject Landscape and Sustainability, as well as an experience in training of primary school teachers to educate in landscape. Both cases show the educational interest offered by the heritage dimension of landscape, its identity value, and its consideration as a social product. The need to educate in landscape using innovative methodological strategies, materials, and teaching resources –namely fieldwork and new technologies– is also highlighted.

The presence of rural geography in the curriculum and textbooks of Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate is scarce and references to rural areas imply an association with the primary sector in general and with agriculture in particular. The contents gathered in the curriculum for the different courses of secondary education include the study of the Spanish population, its distribution and dynamics, the migratory movements, and the process of urbanization. No reference is found to the aging and economic decline of many Spanish rural areas in the last decades of the twentieth century due intense migration towards cities. Nevertheless, contents do emphasize a complex issue: the elements of differentiation between urban and rural areas in Europe. Textbooks follow the guidelines set in the curriculum, thus ignoring anything related to the rural dynamics and transformations of the last decades. The intense process of urbanization that has taken place at the regional, national and European levels cannot be explained without taking into account the changes that have taken place in these areas. The study of rural areas should not to go unnoticed in secondary school, especially its new dynamics resulting from the dissemination of information and communication technologies.

El artículo defiende la relevancia de la geografía como saber estratégico y como forma de ver el mundo, lo que avala su utilidad como disciplina académica. Ahora bien, la enseñanza de la geografía debe entenderse en el sentido de una educación geográfica dirigida a promover la alfabetización geográfica, que se centra en la alfabetización espacial y en el desarrollo del pensamiento espacial omnipresente en nuestra vida diaria. La geografía contribuye a esta tarea a través de la alfabetización cartográfica, puesto que el mapa es un poderoso instrumento para alcanzar esta meta. No obstante, se revisa la deficiente utilización de los mapas en la escuela y se mencionan las limitaciones institucionales para asegurar una adecuada alfabetización cartográfica del profesorado. Finalmente, se afirma la necesidad de que los docentes reciban la formación suficiente en relación con las competencias necesarias para conducir el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje del lenguaje cartográfico.

The study of landscape is not new, nor is society’s concern for the environment. It occupies a central place in teaching geography and offers many opportunities for the integration of one’s own contents of geographic education. Landscape must be presented as a portion of space on the Earth's surface where natural elements and the actions of human beings interact, a complex reality where nature and culture mix. Knowing a landscape means more than knowing a portion of the territory, it also implies understanding the social groups and peoples that inhabit it. In this regard, and in addition to the study of exceptional, singular, or exotic landscapes, it is necessary to value the importance of ordinary landscapes close to schoolchildren. In this article, a curricular review of primary education in Galicia (Spain) is carried out with the aim of knowing how the study of landscape is approached, also taking into account the guidelines set out in the basic curricula at the national level.