Behavioral Geography and Countryside

Disadvantaged and Rural Areas in the Cognitive Maps of Hungarian Secondary School Students

Abstract

The present paper aims to measure to what degree secondary schools target socio-economic and regional characteristics of disadvantaged (mainly rural) regions. At the same time, an important goal is to answer what other factors may influence the cognitive spatial perception of secondary school students, especially with regard to disadvantaged/rural areas. An important methodological element for this is the examination of the geography curriculum as a secondary source. Regarding methods based on primary sources, a questionnaire survey reveals general conceptual knowledge of one hundred and sixty students in relation to the above issue. One part of the students involved in the investigation study in secondary schools of a county seat and the other part in a small town. The aim of the investigation is to encourage the implementation of goals outlined by frame curricula and in the list of prerequisites for obtaining a secondary diploma by conceptualising a methodological modification. The results have underpinned the conviction that the examined topic fails to gain significance during both primary and secondary education. Targeting the issue of disadvantaged areas in a separate chapter or making it a more remarkable factor among the list of prerequisites, would result in the strengthening of topographical and conceptual skills. Students would be able to gain an insight into regional characteristics of socio-economic inequalities during academic breaks by taking part in educational trips, field research or visiting disadvantaged areas.