The Role of Geographic Education in Shaping the Muslim Image of the World
Date
2000
Authors
Ibrahim, Mohamed Babiker
Saarinen, Tom
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education
Abstract
The role of geographic education in shaping the Muslim map image of the world is examined in this paper. University students from four Arab Muslim countries, Morocco, Sudan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were asked to sketch a map of the world on a blank sheet of paper as part of a worldwide study of sketch map images of the world. The strong focus of the Muslim students on the Islamic nations of Asia and Africa, and their more limited knowledge of other world areas, contrasted sharply with the more Eurocentric image of the total world sample. An initial disadvantage faced by the Arab students was the rarity of map use in their societies. Other aspects of their geographic education which affect the quality of their sketch maps of the world are pointed out and suggestions for improvement are offered to the Arabs and the rest of the world.
Description
Keywords
sketch maps, world, Muslim, geographic education, Arab, mental maps
Citation
Ibrahim, M. B., & Saarinen, T. F. (2000). The role of geographic education in shaping the Muslim image of the world. Research in Geographic Education, 2(2), pp. 25-52.