Sue LOMAS, Geographical Association , United Kingdom
The prime purpose of the International Geography Olympiad is to identify students with the best overall knowledge and understanding of geography. Each participating country sends the four best geography students to the IGEO. These are chosen through a national competition. Since 2006 the IGEO has grown from 22 participant countries to 48, so from 88 student participants to 192.
Since 2013 there have been representatives from every continent of the world. This worldwide participation gives huge opportunity for students to learn about each other’s culture and each other’s geography.
There are two activities at IGEO that support this:
A)The ‘Cultural Evening’. This has been presented in a variety of ways that both show the sharing of cultural features between countries and with the host country. Countries have chosen a myriad of methods to do this and we have looked at the different formats and how successful they have been.
B)The poster competition. This competition takes a more academic focus than the cultural evening and provides students with a chance to research a geographical topic in their own country and present it to their peers. This competition has a judging committee formed from other IGU committees and from a host countries’ academics. A comparison of topics through time shows how the poster competition has become a more integrated and relevant part of the IGEO experience.
Surveys reveal how both these activities enable students to learn more about the world they live in and prepare to be global citizens of the future.
Mots clés : Olympiad|global citizen|culture
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