Geografi sebagai sintesis: Meneliti kembali peranan geografi di sebalik pola reruang

Geography as synthesis: Re-analysing geography’s role

Abstract

At the end of 2012 the Malaysian Ministry of Education announced steps towards transforming the national education at the school level, beginning from 2012 until 2025 with the objective of empowering national education to develop human resource that is able to fulfill the needs of a high income developed nation of 2020 and beyond. This initiative is expected to bring about major changes to all aspects of education including learning infrastructure, teachers and curriculum. At this juncture the study of geography need to be repositioned to be in line with the transformation and showcasing its relevance. The process of re-emphasizing the importance of geography as a discipline requires a reevaluation of the fundamentals and how these fundamentals, together with geography’s synthesizing capabilities contribute towards the development of local and global societies. Every discipline evolves, yet there are constants in that evolution. Space has its societal context and while the context might change, the concept of space still permeates the discipline. For the proponents of the discipline geography plays an important role in synthesizing the understand on the physical and human realms within a place, area, state, nation, continent and even the world. The synthesis is crucial in understanding the relationship between environment and society today. This article is a reflection on the changes in the discipline of geography in Malaysia within the contexts of local and global needs. The primary question remains what are the elements that must be strengthened to ensure that geography remains relevant in society’s education, articulated within the scope of mankind’s attempt in turning the world into a domicile.