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This article represents a new focus on how we can make student teachers' images more explicit and voiced in teacher training in geography. The expectations and values of the generations of students entering teacher education constantly change, and undergraduate curricula and faculty must respond accordingly. This article addresses this need by exploring the educational needs, concerns, and beliefs regarding geography teaching of newly admitted undergraduate preservice geography teachers at a single university in Czechia (n = 75). Using an entry survey of two open-ended questions, we used interpretative phenomenological analysis to identify four groups of geography teacher education students with different concerns and expectations regarding initial teacher education (ITE). The findings show that beginner geography teacher education students represent an intrinsically distinct and difficult-to-read cohort. Some students were confident and close-minded, whereas others were reflective and asked specific questions. Additionally, some students cared only about practical tools without considering theoretical justifications or research. Students with high levels of professional identity were also identified. We conclude that long-term individualized and career-oriented student support that reflects and respects future geography teachers' mutually distinct disciplinary identities is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tasks are a powerful instrument for geography teachers, as they let students engage with the subject. To advance the cumulative learning of students, teachers have to make sure that students learn how to deal with complex and abstract knowledge structures. In the Netherlands, teachers face a dilemma when it comes to task setting: the intended curriculum aims for a considerable part at (parts of) higher order thinking, whereas the high-stakes exams have a clear focus on the use of thinking strategies. This paper explores the task setting and debriefing of Dutch geography teachers by analyzing twenty-three videotaped lessons in upper secondary education by using the Geography Task Categorization Framework. The results show that Dutch teachers mostly rely on textbooks when setting tasks. The focus lies on reproduction and the use of thinking strategies. Tasks aiming at (parts of) higher order thinking are barely used. Furthermore, teachers use tasks from previous high-stakes exams already used in an early stage of upper secondary education. In the debriefing of tasks, teachers move from simple and concrete to complex and abstract knowledge and vice versa. However, most of these movements aim at simplifying knowledge structures. In the observed lessons, curriculum aims at the level of (parts of) higher order thinking are not achieved. The evaluative rules as set by the high-stakes exams and the type of tasks offered by textbooks seem to be dominant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the pedagogical potential of Interactive Spherical Video-Based Virtual Reality (ISVVR) in geography education from the teachers' perspective. Based on a synthesized developmental model, namely ACE (Acceptance, Creation, and Expertise), we analyzed 187 sets of survey data collected in teacher professional training in which geography teachers were introduced to the production of ISVVR for learning and teaching purposes. The quantitative data analysis revealed that the participants were positive about the pedagogical use of ISVVR. Also, based on the analysis of the qualitative data gathered through the open-ended survey questions via a data-mining technique, we found that participants' adoption concerns were already beyond the evaluative acceptance level, majorly revolving around issues on pedagogical technology integration. It is suggested that further efforts of teacher professional development are needed for designing and refining the pedagogical use of ISVVR in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparing learners for the future requires twenty-first-century teaching that integrates professional tools in the classroom. Geospatial technologies (GST), which represent geographical professional technologies, lack robust integration in high school geography. Researchers continue to ask why educators teach about rather than with GST. Understanding teacher decisions is paramount. This mixed methods study examined commonalities among teachers who use GST using Mishra and Koehler's (2006) Technological, Pedagogical, Content Knowledge (TPCK) framework as a theoretical lens. This investigation examined whether geography teachers who exhibit stronger geospatial TPCK used GST more frequently than other teachers who exhibited a less developed knowledge base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to improve geography education via teacher preparation programs has been a concern for nearly three decades, but few examples of a single, comprehensive university-level course exist. The purpose of this article is to share the model of a pre-service geography education methods course. Within the course, geography content (physical and social) is paired with different pedagogic strategies (visual, kinesthetic, technology) and other content areas (reading, history) to refine pre-service teacher conceptualizations of geography as a subject and to see geography’s potential inclusion across various grade levels. End of course student evaluations demonstrate student satisfaction and learning, while post-course interviews similarly indicate that the class was (1) more useful and practical than other education program coursework for beginning ones teaching career, and (2) stimulated the continued use of geographic concepts and materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of current discussions on natural hazards, natural risks and (human) disasters around the world, the aspect of disaster risk reduction (DRR) is gaining more and more importance. The present contribution elucidates the didactical consequences this development has on competence-oriented Geography teacher training at universities/colleges as well as in Geography Education research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve a deep and wide implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into all forms of education, the capacity of educators and trainers needs to be increased. This paper describes the curricular architecture of a master’s program in Geography with an emphasis on ESD. Based on a first feedback given by graduates, the paper discusses both strengths and weaknesses of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over two decades after the scholarly interventions that coalesced into ‘critical GIS’ as a field within GIScience, critical GIS remains underdeveloped in conversations on teaching and learning. The literature on GIScience education has emphasized content more than pedagogies – what to teach versus how to teach to move students toward particular learning objectives. This emphasis is reflected in dominant curricular approaches to critical GIS, in which questions around the complicated origins and complicit social, political, and economic relationships of GIS are taken up as discrete topics, tacked onto instruction that otherwise prioritizes technical dimensions of GIScience. We argue that GIScience coursework must resist such modularization by approaching critical GIS not as a set of topics, but an orientation to GIS praxis that ‘does’ GIS from within a questioning stance, to ask how we know. We outline specific curricular shifts and teaching practices we have used to foster this orientation in GIS students, offering ways of continually engaging students in practicing this orientation as they learn strong technical GIScience content. Finally, we trace the successes, challenges, and tensions sparked by these critical GIS pedagogies, drawing on student evaluation comments from our courses and reflecting on broader implications for GIScience instructors and geography faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reports on a problem-based learning (PBL) fieldwork activity carried out by geography education students on the Mooi River in the North West province of South Africa. The value of doing practical fieldwork using a PBL approach in the training of geography teachers was researched by means of an interpretative multimethods approach. Findings indicated that students experienced this approach positively as a teaching and learning strategy and expanded their view on the complexity of environmental issues. PBL fieldwork should be part of the training program of geography teachers and can add to the growth of ecologically literate citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author offers her view on the teaching of geography in Mississippi, and emphasizes on the need for geography teachers to integrate political and cultural discourse in geography studies with the students.

The author discusses the practices of Geography, role of geography educators to get science and social science together and requirement of leaders to effectively manage department and nurture colleagues to help them succeed.

Teaching education is Ireland is currently undergoing significant structural and conceptual changes. School placement is at the centre of these reforms. This article reports the findings of an all-Ireland study which investigates student teachers’ experiences of teaching geography during their school placements. Based on data collected from surveys and focus group interviews with one cohort of B.Ed. students, this study illustrates the emotional journey of school placement, emerging identities as teacher, the positive impact of initial teacher education, the problematic nature of messages from ‘third parties’ and conflicting conceptualisations of geography. The findings of this study are important for student teachers and teacher educators as they illustrate the complexity of school placement and the importance of emotional as well as cognitive engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The study reported here investigated experienced teachers' views on several nature of science (NOS) issues 2 to 5 years after they completed a demanding secondary science teacher education program in which the NOS was an extensive and recurring component. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed to determine study participants' NOS understanding. Study participant's NOS views were determined to be generally accurate and robust, suggesting that experiences in their science teacher education program had a long-lasting positive impact on NOS understanding. The preservice program that study participants completed has several unique features that may account for that long-lasting impact and has implications for preservice and inservice science teacher education professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research tracked the confidence of 16 undergraduate and postgraduate pre-service geography teachers as they completed a single semester, senior phase geography curriculum course. The study focused specifically on the pre-service teachers' confidence in geographical subject matter knowledge and their confidence in teaching geographical skills. Data were gathered from participants through two surveys (one at the start of the semester and one at the end of the semester), interviews following video-taped micro-lessons in which participants taught a geographical skill to the class, and focus group discussions. Undergraduate students were more likely to have completed a larger number of geography discipline courses than the postgraduate students – a consequence of the program structure and selection process into the program. Results indicate that undergraduate students were also more likely to report higher levels of confidence in geographical subject matter knowledge and teaching geographical skills. Participation in microteaching activities appears to have had a positive effect on most participants' level of confidence in teaching geographical skills. These results have implications for geography curriculum courses taught in initial teacher education programs, particularly shorter graduate entry programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a study conducted among primary geography teacher educators. The research examines the perceptions of educators of primary teacher students’ desired and achieved levels of substantial knowledge, syntactic knowledge, and beliefs about the subject of geography. The findings indicate that primary teacher educators do not view their students as having significant knowledge about geography. They believe their students have better syntactic knowledge and beliefs about the subject of geography, however. Teacher educators believe that more hours of teaching and more attention to subject knowledge could raise the quality of primary teacher training in geography. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The development of geographical reasoning is essential in geographical education. Strategies developed by the English Thinking Through Geography group (TTG) offer a promising approach to promote geographical reasoning. In the last decade, the TTG approach has become a regular element in geographical education in several countries. Research suggests that teachers acquainted with TTG do not always take full advantage of the possibilities of these strategies. The adoption of the TTG approach is explored ten years after its introduction in the Netherlands. Findings are presented of a survey conducted among Dutch geography teachers (N = 307) about the significance they assign to geographical reasoning and their use of TTG assignments. The results suggest that teachers use TTG selectively and adapt TTG assignments to fit them into existing practices and beliefs about students and teaching geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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