Geografija ir edukacija, Nr. 1, 2013, p. 65 – 78.
Daiva Verkulevičiūtė-Kriukienė, Angelija Bučienė, Dalia Umantaitė-Vaivadienė
Klaipėdos universitetas
Klaipėda University
Klaipėdos universiteto Visuomeninės geografijos studijų programa skirta rengti specialistus, gebančius spręsti teritorines socialines, urbanistines, ekonomines bei gamtines problemas bei prieštaravimus, kurie Vakarų Lietuvoje yra specifiniai. Šio tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti Klaipėdos universiteto (KU) Socialinės / Visuomeninės geografijos bakalauro ir magistrantūros studijų programų absolventų, pasirinkusių mokytojo, dėstytojo ir mokslininko profesijas, požiūrį į KU suteiktas jiems žinias bei studijų programų kokybę.
Reikšminiai žodžiai: socialinės / visuomeninės geografijos studijos, geografijos mokytojas, dėstytojas, tyrėjas.
Summary
The department of Geography at Klaipėda University (from 2000 changed to Social geography department) was found in 1995. During 18 years of its functioning about 300 graduates of social / human geography fulfilled their study requirements and received the degree of bachelor and /or master in geography.
The urban, natural and resort landscape, port and maritime sector, other branches of industry, the country side with still dominating agrarian activities all are developing in the same space or very close distance. Social activities in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea and Curonian lagoon engender more sharp conflicts than in other regions of Lithuania. That is why the more specific nonstandard regional development and management problems appear here, and in order to solve them, the specialists with good knowledge of geographical and social peculiarities and solutions are demanded. The large requirement of geography teachers, particularly in the schools of small towns and countryside of Western Lithuania is remaining. It often happens that geography at school is taught not by geographers, who can‘t always detects the specifics of this science and aren‘t able to transfer all the quiddities of it. The department of Social geography at Klaipėda University trains the students as the perspective young teachers / lecturers, capable to combine novelties of geography as a science and the experience from older colleagues. Thus the department of Social geography at Klaipėda University prepares the specialists of human geography, capable to work in wide range of geographical fields and economic activities, and education in geography as well as research are among those spheres, which are very important.
The aim of this research is to analyse the point of view of graduates from KU Social / Human geography study programs, having chosen the profession of teacher, lecturer or researcher in geography, of the study programs and their quality. It became evident after the research that 74 % of respondents-graduates started to work as a teacher during their study period already. All the respondents are of young age (58 % of them work less than 5 years). A little bit more than half of them were thinking about this profession even before started their studies at Klaipėda University. Thus they were motivated to choose the pedagogical work or scientific research, and tried to fulfills this wish while were studying. Its delight that the pedagogical and research work was selected by themselves or it was suggested for them – no one has appealed to the labor market. However for the work at school it was necessary to pass the supplemental courses that gave the right to continue to work as a teacher. According to the opinion of respondentsgraduates, they were lacking of didactics of geography, social pedagogy, conflict management, pedagogical psychology, the knowledge of which are very important while working as a teacher. That is very valid reason, forcing to revise the study programs and to correct them in accordance to this demand. Nevertheless all the lacks, three quarters of respondents-graduates assessed the study programs as good and very good.
Keywords: studies of social / human geography, teacher of geography, lecturer, researcher.
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