Do they like geography? A study of Fijian high school students’ attitudes towards geography.

AbstractThis paper investigates the causes of students’ preference and disinclination for high school geography. The paper draws on data from 135 students from years 11, 12, and 13 (aged 16–18 years) from seven secondary schools in the Ba district, Western division, Fiji Islands. We used the posterior inductive reduction model to analyze and identify the themes that connected the interviews conducted with the study participants. We discovered that the multidisciplinary and exciting nature of geography, teacher influence, and the notion that geography offers the opportunity for high scores constituted the significant factors explaining students’ favorable attitudes toward geography. On the other hand, perceived subject difficulty, lack of outdoor activities, and negative societal impression of geography constituted the push factors underlying students’ disinclination towards the subject. The findings suggest that the inclusion of a broader range of topics, assessing and realigning the current curriculum, and integrating technology in the geography classrooms would generate interest in the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]