Özet:

Teaching local geography is the effective use of all geographical elements that can be used while teaching the geography of immediate surroundings or the neighborhood adjacent to the school where students receive their education. In other words, teaching local geography can also be referred to as a teaching approach that provides an initial understanding of the physical environment by centering on the student’s immediate and local environment. This is then gradually extended to include a range of wider environments, which in return allows individuals to understand better about the country and the world they live in. The present study aims to identify social studies teachers' opinions and suggestions about teaching local geography, its applications and the feasibility of these applications. Participants in this study were 101 social studies teachers who worked in Kayseri and Bolu throughout the 2014-2015 academic year. The qualitative research method was used while conducting the present study. The feedback questionnaire, which was composed of 8 open-ended questions and prepared by the researcher, was also employed. The findings obtained through this questionnaire were analyzed with the descriptive analysis method, which is one of the qualitative research methods. As a result of the study, participants stated that teaching local geography could be used in social studies courses and that its application would be beneficial to students. In addition to this, they also pointed out that they, as teachers, could also benefit from teaching local geography in various subjects such as landforms, climate and climate types, economy and social life, population and settlement, regions, transportation, tourism and industry as well as agriculture and animal husbandry. Furthermore, they indicated that subjects and units as regard to local geography should be added to the social studies curriculum.

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