NAMALANGU SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT PROFILE

Namalangu day school is located approximately 3km away from the central business district of Senanga District. It is a school run by the Ministry of general education. Namalangu is a name derived from a big tree species called (local name) Malangu which used to grow at the site. The Malangu fruits were used as traditional bells hence the naming of the school as Namalangu. It literally means ‘of the bells or about the bells’ since the school and the bell (time) are synonymous to some extent.
Geography as a social science is offered at the institution so as to create pupils or learners who understand people, places and environment from a spatial perspective since geography is about space and location. Geography as ingredient of social sciences intends to create learners that have an appreciation of the interdependence of the world they live in such as the school itself, the family and society in general. As if that is not enough geography has an important place among the subjects taught at school. If taught well geography can equip pupils for life and promises many careers ahead, for example teaching, consultancy, lecturing, planners and many other. The geography syllabus being offered at this school is part of wider, selected and organized curriculum.
In line with the national policy on education geography syllabus underwent some major changes such as changes in content, changes in methodology as well as changes in evaluation. Coupled with the pronouncements by the Ministry of Education over Basic and Secondary Schools a Department of Social Science was formed at Namalangu Basic School as it was being transformed into a day school.
The social sciences department at this school just like any other school department came to have interim structures in 2014 after the school was upgraded to secondary status. Before that, the school was running from pre-school to grade nine (9).
Following the ministry of education's pronouncements that some basic school would be turned into secondary school, the school happens to be one of the few fortunate ones to be opened to that status.
The social sciences department, therefore, just like all other school departments, is headed by a head of department (HOD), an officer who is in a managerial scale and it is organized into four sections which are headed by heads of sections (HOS) for administrative convenience. Though this is supposed to be an ideal situation, this school has not yet received a fully and formal recognition of a secondary school as such whatever structures are there are for administrative purposes. The section which follow under social science departments are:
(a) Civic education
(b) Geography
(c) History
(d) Religious Education (RE)
In conformity with the new or revised curriculum, the social sciences department offers four subjects in classes namely; 10 A and 10B; one grade eleven (11) class. Candidates are expected to sit for their final examination in 2016. On average therefore, the total population of pupils for the secondary school section is three hundred and ten (310).
Challenges faced by the department
The same challenges faced by the school are not shelves to the department. Some of these challenges are insufficient or inadequate office accommodation, not having enough teaching/learning material such as books for teachers and pupils and lack of a library facility where teachers and pupils can go to do their research.
Staffing Levels.
As it can be seen from the list attached below and considering the number of classes, one may safely state that the social sciences are well staffed not only in terms of number, but the qualification of the teaching staff or personnel. Include Civic Education, Geography, History, Religious Education (RE) and social studies. Social studies is a junior secondary subject which combines the social science subjects with the exception of Religious Education.
The table on the other page shows all staff members of the social science department and their professional qualification as of June, 2015.a
In an-ideal situation, the HOD is supposed to have an office accommodation all by him or herself. Besides that, each of the four sections is supposed to have specious and well furnished rooms where teachers do their research and prepare for their lesson under the supervision of the HOS. At this school however, the office accommodation is not adequate as such teachers have to share the offices which are available. The HOD and the HOSs have up-to-date records of professional meetings held per term. These continuous professional developmental (CPD) meetings are held to discuss effective ways of teaching in order to improve the learner performance especially in four core subjects of our department. In addition one or two teachers may be selected to give a demonstration lesson. Thereafter, a review meeting is held and depending on the effectiveness of the lesson recommendations are made for the adoption of the lesson plan for use in the department.
Currently (2016) the secondary school sector has two (2) grade eight (8) classes; two (2) grade nine (9) classes correspondingly. Furthermore, the school has two (2) grade five classes. The school is open for development which can come from any stakeholder.

HOW TO TEACH GEOGRAPHY USING THE GLOBE

HOW TO TEACH USING THE GLOBE IN A GEOGRAPHY LESSON

 

The most accurate world map is a globe.  The globe is the most accurate representation of the earth.  Since the globe is a sphere like the earth, it therefore has properties that cannot be found on a flat map. The globe being a conceptual model is used to help learners grasp concepts in a geography lesson depending on the topic. The model of the earth (globe) enables learners to see the world in all of its complexity.

This presentation discusses the model of the globe as one of the learning and teaching aids and explains how a globe is used in a geography lesson. According to Soanes and Stevenson (2003) a model is a three dimensional representation of a person or thing. The fact that the model is (more than high definition) in three dimensions makes acquisition and retention of information easier.  Consequently, learning becomes less abstract but concrete and more interesting.

 Kochhar, (2005:123) describes ‘Teaching Aids’ as “devices which present units of knowledge through auditory or visual stimuli or both with a view to help learning”. Teaching Aids of all sorts are meant only to help in teaching and not to act as a substitute for teaching nor to replace the teacher, Das (1985).  It should be mentioned that there are many ways of classifying Teaching Aids.  However, educational research indicates that learners remember only 10% of what they read 20% of what they hear and about 50% of what they hear and see, Nacino (1982: )  et al.

According  to  Kali  and  Linn  (2008),  visualizations  play  a large  role  in  helping  science learning  because  they  make  unseen  and  complex  material  visible.  By  making  certain  content  more  animated,   users have  a  better understanding  of  the  concepts  and  gain  a  richer  picture  of  the  process  behind  a  particular  topic.  

 Globe Tossing

The teacher guides the pupils by tossing the globe from one to another.  Each pupil has to find a place or feature named by the person tossing/passing the ball and then names a place or feature on the globe for the next person to locate.  This can be a useful 'settling’ activity when children return from another subject such as physical education (P.E.) with children joining in as they come into class.  They might be confined initially to places named on the globe but this might be extended as they become more knowledgeable and experienced.  Here the teacher throws the globe to a student at a time. They look at the location under their left thumb when they catch it and have to come up with three clues (on the globe) e.g. neighboring countries, continent, major river, cities etc. for the rest of the class. The person who guesses correctly then gets past the globe.

Care for the earth

Here the teacher can teach can employ class discussion   on how to care for the Earth.  Start with how to look after the globe because it needs to be handled carefully.  Use this as a metaphor for environmental concern, care and responsibility, issues to do with pollution can be highlighted to inculcate the mindset of environmental responsibility, Simon (2002).  With the facilitation by the teacher, the class discusses the fragility of the Earth and changes that are occurring to it, such as climate change.

 Spin the Globe/Roll-a-Globe

In groups of six, pupils spin the globe on the table or floor.  Each pupil to identify one of the places or features (longitudes or latitudes) that is facing them when the globe stops spinning.  One pupil rolls the globe across to another.  He /she say which feature of place is uppermost on the globe when it reaches them.
   

Actually you can also watch this video  for further understanding. 

  

 Where in the World?

The teacher can brainstorm pupils about certain features or places of the world. For example, naming particular features and/or places (archipelago) for pupils to find and point to on the globe;   Serengeti National Park or Barotse plain.  The pupil then passes the globe to the person sitting next to them.  The teacher repeats the task on other pupils.

 Spot the Biggest/Smallest/etc

 The teacher can ask the pupils to find the largest continent or ocean or the smallest of four named islands, countries bigger or smaller than another country, the longest mountain range or river or the largest lake or inland sea, Simon (2002). The teacher allows the pupils to set each other features and places to find places where they have been during the holidays.  Children note the country or   region of the World.  This might be an informal geography activity or a task in a project on titled 'Places we have been to'.  This can be extended to include 'Places where we have connections'.

 Atlas Connections

The globe can also be used in combination with other learning resources such as text books specifically the atlas since it has very similar information.  This can be used for pupils to note the differences between maps on a sphere and on a flat surface. In this case the teacher introduces the both the atlas and the globe to find features and places on both.  Globes often do not have as many places named on them as an atlas will have named in its pages.  Children may look up a place or feature in the atlas and find it on the globe.

Using question and answer method pupils being led by the teacher discuss the similarities and differences between the globe and the atlas as representations of the Earth, what is shown and why, how these features and places are shown, and where distortions in the shapes of features are and why.

 In the News

The teacher takes the pupils to the Demonstration Hall for news broadcasts. As news is being presented, brainstorm the pupils to estimate the location of places where the events have taken place on the globe.  This can be done in pairs or groups to promote teamwork. They might check locations at home or in school on an atlas; then have them show where these places are on the globe and outline what the news item was and why it interested them.

 Briefly, the model of the globe is a very important tool for teaching about a geography lesson because it brings the abstract to near reality. After all, what is the purpose of the model?  Bringing the abstract into concrete, the complexity into simplicity and the unknown into the known so that learning (knowledge, skills, attitude and values) is enhanced.

REFERENCES

Das R.C.  (1985)  Science Teaching in Schools: New Delhi Sterling Publishers Private Limited. Kochhar. S.K (2005) Teaching of History. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Limited.

Kali, Y and Linn. M.C (2008) Designing effective visualizations for elementary school science, the Elementary School Journal, 109.

Nacino Brown, Oke. F.E and Brown D.P (1982) Curriculum and Instruction; An Introduction to Methods of Teaching: London, Longman.

Simon Catling (2002) (3^rd), Placing Places: Sheffield, Geographical Association Limited.

Soanes   Catherine and Stevenson Angus   (2003) Concise Oxford English Dictionary: London, Oxford University Press.