Geography lessons are always inspiring and one of the most interesting lessons was given by Aleksa Dinulović, class II-5 student at Savremena Gimnazija. He managed the role of the teacher perfectly, and the knowledge he showcased inspired the primary students to engage in creative thinking and play.

The primary students broadened their geography knowledge in a truly different way, while the student gained an important educational experience.

Aleksa conveyed his geography skills and school experiences to his younger friends. He described how geography is taught at Savremena Gimnazija and talked about different aspects of this interesting subject: relief, atmosphere, tectonic shift, etc. Just like in the primary school, Geography lessons often include case studies, quizzes, and project tasks.

GEOGRAPHY TAUGHT IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER SUBJECTS

Geography is taught in a different and fun way in both Primary School Savremena and Savremena Gimnazija. Instead of cramming facts, which is often the case in primary schools, students connect geographical content from different subjects.

This way, Geography lessons, taught by teacher Nevena Matejić, overlap with other sciences, such as history or computer science. Blending subjects is not only a more interesting way to learn, but it also broadens the students’ knowledge and strengthens their memory. In one of the subjects, students are tasked with making a video on a specific topic.

The students are free to choose the style and resources, as long as everything is historically and geographically accurate. They are always highly creative and prolific. Instead of simply reading textbooks, the students do research and present lessons to their classmates, all the while learning and having lots of fun.

An example of a successful video-project was the one that dealt with the three industrial revolutions. The most important thing was to explain the geographical context and to do this, the students required accurate historical and geographical information. The little ones had total freedom when it came to storytelling and shaping the videos.

PEER EDUCATION THROUGH SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY

A particularly interesting way to learn geography at Savremena Gimnazija is the subject Social Geography, which Aleksa presented to the primary students.
In these lessons, students learn through their own experience by “becoming” a part of a culture. The lessons are actually creative workshops where the students, in pairs, simulate a population pertaining to a different religion, e.g. Christianity, Buddhism, Islam or Hinduism.

The pairs do research on “their” population so they could present it to the class. In fact, they learn about the features of other cultures, thus enriching their knowledge. For this type of research, they are advised to use many resources about the Bible, the Quran, the Tipitaka and Shruti.

Finally, the lesson concluded with the statement that we’re all equal in our diversity, a message of peace, tolerance and mutual respect. These lessons, which blend several subjects, enable students to get a comprehensive picture of the geographical and historical context of a specific culture.