Mapping Down Under
It usually starts with a television show, where a character mentions something about how the water runs down the drain in the opposite direction on the other side of the world. In the U.S., the opposite side is Australia, and kids are fascinated when things are not the same everywhere in the world. The idea of water is always mysterious, to young people as well as adults, and the way water flows is constantly baffling.
Soon enough, the adult will pull out a wall map , to demonstrate where things are on the globe, to show that there are places far enough away that water might flow in another direction entirely. This is the starting point, for many kids, in interest in geography. Teaching kids about geography is a way of literally opening up the world, and the process reflects the stages of the development of self.
At the beginning of a life, the awareness is all contained within the self, and it’s something that seems to happen until the development of language. Then, there is a subtle shift from the interior to the exterior, and everyone realizes that they are not the world, but a part of it. An Australia map can teach about the specifics of places that are not here, and this can lead to making important connections that can start to shape an entire world view.
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