Search

This paper discusses the application of Karl Maton's notion of ‘semantic waves’ to the teaching of geography at the post‐16 phase (A‐level) in England. Drawing on evidence generated through a 2‐year close‐to‐practice case study, it illustrates its potential as a scaffold in two ways. Firstly, one that can help teachers face both ways: Towards their subject discipline, to see it in more naïve forms, and towards their novice students, to make that form explicit and thus accessible to them. Such a deliberative or hermeneutic orientation stands in sharp contrast to the atomistic mode of the technicist orientation to knowledge dominant in English education. Secondly, as a scaffold that can provide a visual language for students which makes explicit the implicit relationship between different components of an essay, and in this sense, helps scaffold for a more relational mode of thinking about the geography itself. Interviews with students suggested semantic waves was: (i) a practical but not a prescriptive tool, (ii) a framework that could extend their thinking and (iii) a scaffold that connects knowledge with essay writing. It appeared to be a useful tool to bring the geographical knowledge and its complexity to the fore by aiding metacognitive thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst social and political issues have an important role in the geography curriculum, the long-term erosion of the value and insularity of disciplinary knowledge in society and the curriculum has blurred the distinction between educational aims and political advocacy in classrooms. Increasingly, teachers, policymakers, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) instrumentalize the curriculum with respect to their political objectives, including climate change and social injustice. In taking an advocacy approach to pedagogy, they potentially undermine liberal educational objectives, including the development of autonomy and subjectification. Drawing on recent work in philosophy of education (e.g. Biesta; Van Poeck, and Östman) as well as social realist approaches to knowledge, I make a case for teaching about social and political issues on liberal educational grounds. Geography plays a key role in the school curriculum by providing a space for exploring the human condition through the study of people in contrasting environments and cultural systems. Here, we examine how geography teachers can handle issues in a morally careful way and navigate a line between advocacy and educational aims. One key difference examined is the need to treat students as subjects in their own right and to help develop skills of moral enquiry. In practice this means encouraging an open-ended approach, exploring topics (and the values underpinning them) from a range of perspectives, developing sensitivity to difference, and showing tolerance for ideas of which one disapproves. For students to develop agency and moral independence, they must learn how to think about social and political issues rather than be told what to think. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key responsibility of academic scholarship is to further develop the field under investigation and to critically evaluate how it is responding to challenges from both inside and outside of the field of enquiry. This article offers an overview of whether the scholarship published in geography education (GE) from the perspective of the Commission for Geography Education (CGE) Springer book series is sufficiently engaging with contemporary global challenges and education discourses. Guided by the 2022 IGU-CGE Rennes Conference's three axes: curriculum renewal, pedagogy and teacher training, the article discusses the findings of a meta-analysis of the six books published in the CGE Springer series in the past five years (2017 to 2021).The thematic analysis shows that GE is engaging with global realities of environment and sustainability, climate change, globalisation and the importance of powerful knowledge for understanding and engaging with complex, often controversial issues. But there are also gaps and absences in terms of who is producing knowledge and from where knowledge is being generated. We contend that the book series is well placed to support the community in addressing global concerns and the related transformative pedagogies needed to enact them. However, we also suggest that the publications at this point in time have yet to fully grasp the specifics needed for the challenges that lie ahead. Some preliminary considerations for advancing the field through future publications are offered. These may be useful to GE researchers and scholars in different regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is used to describe the knowledge teachers use to teach a specific subject to a specific audience. Although PCK is linked to student success and motivation, relatively little is known about the PCK of geography teachers. Through a mixed methods approach, we surveyed a group of 73 Dutch pre-service teachers in their final year of geography teacher education. We used the PCK-consensus model to address both PCK-on action (teacher knowledge) and PCK-in action (teacher practice). We investigated the former through a CoRe-assignment and the latter through a quantitative survey. Teacher's PCK-in action focussed on teacher-centred lessons with ample attention for visualisations, current events, and efforts to engage students. The results for PCK-on action confirmed the content dependency of PCK. Pre-service teachers chose different geographical topics and used different goals and strategies when teaching these topics. In this context, we also found that they experienced difficulties when teaching controversial issues. In a final step, we combined the results of both methods for 9 teachers in individual PCK portraits. These portraits show that coherence between PCK-elements and, therefore, PCK-quality is still weak for most pre-service teachers. Consequently, their fragile subject matter knowledge seems to influence their developing PCK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the perspective of good death and related factors among healthcare professionals (HCPs), as well as to compare the perspective of good death regarding to live region and occupation. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed one hundred ninety-five HCPs. The good death scale (GDS) was used to assess the perspective of HCPs on the concept of good death. Results: A total of 195 HCPs were included in this study. One hundred twenty-four (63.6%) participants were women. Ninety-eight (50.3%) and 95 (48.7%) of the participants were registered nurses and were living in the east, respectively. Seventy-five (38.5%) of the participants had 11 years or more of professional experience, and 132 (67.7%) of them grew up in the region where they worked. The mean score of all participants in GDS was 57.5±6.3, and the mean scores of the sub-dimensions were 30.9±3.8 for the "psychosocial and spiritual sub-dimension", 10±1.9 for the "personal control sub-dimension" and 16.6±2.4 for the "clinical sub-dimension". In multiple linear regression, living in the east, being a nurse, being a woman, and taking education on "good death" were positively related to the GDS score of the HCPs. Conclusion: Given the growing importance of "good death," it is increasingly important to clarify the definitions and constantly raise awareness by providing appropriate education. In this study, the small number of participants and the inhomogeneous distribution of the sample by age, gender, occupation, and region could lead to potential biases and concerns about generalizability. It is recommended to conduct research using a scale to assess nurses' and doctors' perceptions of death in a more homogeneous and larger group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of between‐desk instruction during inquiry‐based learning to deepen learning is well recognised in some curriculum areas but remains under‐researched in geography. Inquiry‐based learning incorporates the use of generative questions and inquiry methods to support student‐driven investigations. This paper reports on a study of teacher–student interactions during geography inquiry‐based learning. A cross‐case fine‐grained analysis of two teachers’ video‐recorded lessons in a classroom laboratory using a kikan‐shido coding framework showed that “guiding” was the dominant between‐desk function used. The teachers differed in whether guiding was mainly used for task completion or to deepen student understanding. Semi‐structured interviews revealed that the characteristics and sequence of these guiding actions were influenced by teachers’ beliefs. Those beliefs mediated how teachers guided students during the inquiry, debunking a dichotomous view of inquiry‐based learning as either teacher or student directed. We conclude that inquiry‐based learning is a necessary and complex interplay of teacher‐directed and student‐directed activities and that more research on the elements contributing to the kikan‐shido functions performed by teachers could help better identify and strengthen teacher practice for inquiry‐based learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe rapid advancement of technology and widespread access to digital resources have transformed teaching practices and enhanced educators’ competencies. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offer new avenues for understanding global events and conducting multidimensional analyses. This study aimed to evaluate teachers’ potential use of geospatial technologies by analyzing the objectives of geography curricula for grades 7–11 in Kazakhstan. Additionally, this study investigated barriers to GIS adoption among geography teachers and strategies for cultivating geospatial thinking skills. The research employed curriculum analysis and a teacher survey involving 208 respondents from across Kazakhstan. The results indicated moderate adoption of geospatial technologies, with mobile GIS applications being most prevalent. However, obstacles such as equipment costs, lack of experience, and time constraints hinder their utilization. This study underscores the importance of integrating geospatial technologies in geography education to foster students’ spatial thinking, creativity, and information literacy. Moreover, this study highlights the role of a GIS in enhancing educators’ and students’ proficiency in modern geoinformation systems and digital technologies. The findings offer practical insights for educators and serve as a valuable resource for enhancing geography instruction and promoting geospatial technology integration in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GIScience is essential to geography education. Different curriculums and textbooks have been developed to teach GIScience in classrooms through lectures and exercises corresponding to the educational situation of each country. We developed e-learning materials based on existing research outcomes for GIScience education in Japan, such as the Japanese GIS core curriculum for university education. Using the materials, we held a three-day intensive GIScience class at the University of Tokyo from 2018 to 2022 with questionnaire surveys to investigate the educational effects of the materials and factors influencing GIScience learning. The attending students browsed the materials and studied GIScience by themselves but asked questions of teachers if necessary. The questionnaire survey results indicate that most students felt geospatial data processing is somewhat complex, but they were satisfied with the opportunity of GIScience learning. Whether the students thought the exercise was simple and easy depended on their confidence in computer knowledge and operation and their preferred learning style at their own pace. The students' satisfaction level and ease in using the material correlate with their motivation level, the number of questions they asked the others, and their preferred style for learning at their own pace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline in geography programs in the United States since the 1980s and general questions about the utility of a geography degree is a long-running thread in the discipline's shared identity. With recent closures of geography undergraduate programs and a projected "demographic cliff" of traditional college-aged students in the coming years, understanding how and why certain geography programs are under threat is crucial. Drawing on an underappreciated source for the study of geography course enrollments, this article examines enrollments in undergraduate geography courses between 1948 and 2000 to understand the discipline's larger standing in the U.S. academic landscape. By examining historical undergraduate course enrollment, as opposed to the number of graduates, it is possible to better hypothesize and understand the ramifications for the decline of programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Motivation: This article argues that the NGO sector should prioritize translation as an anti‐racist practice because failing to tackle colonial language hierarchies replicates historic power structures. Aligned with the locally led approach to development, the article responds to calls for more research into the role of translation in shaping development outcomes, and answers direct appeals from NGO practitioners for translation glossaries in different languages to improve communication between development actors. Purpose: We introduce a new participatory method for co‐producing translations of terms that community members deem important for their visions of "development" and social change. We contend that participatory translation fosters an anti‐racist approach to knowledge production by centring communities in the construction of meaning, which may encompass language and concepts outside the international development lexicon. Approach and methods: The study was based on the principles of community‐based participatory research, and an Advisory Board of community members was instrumental in its design. The draft of the glossary was produced in two three‐day participatory workshops in Lilongwe and Zomba, Malawi. These were attended by 36 people representing potential user groups of the glossary. Findings: The workshop participants created 385 translations of development terms, including 70 translations that are not listed in the Oxford Chichewa–English Dictionary. They also engaged in critically reflective discussions that challenged dominant discourses of development. We argue that participatory translation is a tool to transcend the language barrier in a way that simultaneously subverts conventional power hierarchies and offers access to different ways of understanding the world. Policy implications: NGOs in different linguistic and geographical contexts could adopt participatory translation activities in the early stages of forming relationships with communities and local partners to build trust and common understanding. In line with an anti‐racist approach, this would help to combat systemic linguistic exclusion, which exacerbates other forms of disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Arctic Triumph: Northern innovation and persistence" is a book that explores the complexities of disaster risk reduction in the Arctic. It emphasizes the need for multidimensional collaboration and engagement with Indigenous knowledge to effectively plan for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from disasters. The book examines the construction of an Arctic imaginary, the preservation of cultural heritage sites, the impacts of extractive industries, and the importance of shifting from a response-based approach to a mitigatory approach. It also highlights the role of geopolitics and international cooperation in Arctic disaster risk reduction and response. Overall, "Arctic Triumph" presents a story of resilience and invites critical dialogue on the discourse of disasters in the Arctic. [Extracted from the article]

This program at SMAN 1 Sungai Limau uses the discovery learning learning model with audiovisual aids to increase students' interest in learning. Information and communication technology (ICT) has advanced so quickly, and it has benefited a wide range of human endeavors. The educational sector can benefit from the advancements in information and communication technology, as there are numerous learning opportunities that arise from its application. Technology of information and communication in education will be useful as a storehouse of knowledge, learning properties, and educational tools and as a learning medium. Likewise, research and development products carried out by the Teachers in the PGRI West Sumatra University Geography Education Study Program can optimize the design of learning media by creating educational materials that will increase students' interest in learning and comprehension of the information they are absorbing in class, thereby meeting learning objectives and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored how pre-service geography teachers conceptualize "nature" using photovoice. The researcher analyzed the participants' data to extract six themes: primary nature, secondary nature, nature as the law of things, nature as a relational geography, nature as a threatened place, and nature as a necessity for human well-being. The participants said that their conceptualizations of nature helped confirm their experiences and the level of their conceptualization of nature acquired through school education. This study has also helped the instructor understand students' levels of conceptualization of nature and is significant as a guide to planning and practicing follow-up classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of "left behind places" and the need for policies to address regional inequalities and promote economic growth. It discusses the challenges faced by these places and the impact of global shocks like the financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. The article examines the policies implemented in the UK, the USA, and the European Union to reduce regional disparities, highlighting varying degrees of success and the need for more comprehensive approaches. It emphasizes the importance of place-based policies, economic security, reduced inequality, and a democracy that works for everyone. The article concludes by discussing the need for customized policy interventions that consider local needs and focus on social and environmental aspects of regional decline. [Extracted from the article]

Due to the dominance of ableist narratives, there is a distinct lack of diversity of participants and geographies in education research with students with disabilities. To address this lack, we developed podcasting as a method for DisCrit-informed qualitative research in the form of a pilot project for the first author's doctoral study on the experiences of acquired disability as intersected with policy, race, gender, sexuality, religion, and nationality. Using writing as method of inquiry, in this paper, we reflect on moments of questioning, tensions, challenges, and ethical ponderings that we encountered throughout the creation of the podcast project. These tensions include questions about what digging deep means in DisCrit research, the challenges of negotiating power, ethics, and care, questioning whose stories are worth telling and who gets to tell them and, finally, the epistemological provocations we rubbed against. Specifically, we argue that the creative, digital, and culturally specific properties of podcasting offer a counterstorying approach to ableism, by generating situated knowing about living with a disability. Podcasting, as a DisCrit-informed qualitative approach, may enable researchers' abilities to develop rich, nuanced, and detailed understandings of experiences of disabilities, across geographies, identities, and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMaps are spatial representations of environments and are thus inherently geographical. As such, attaining map skills necessitates fostering students’ cartographic- and language-related abilities when using maps, which represent a characteristic role in geography education. However, to our knowledge, there is no empirical research on the cartographic- and language-related abilities required when using maps in geography education classrooms. To gain more profound insights into the linkages between cartographic concept knowledge and language skills regarding maps, a qualitative study among students is conducted. Upper secondary students drew a sketch map using a digital pen of a familiar route in the school area, while simultaneously being recorded thinking aloud. Students’ representations of the cartographic concept in their sketch maps and their cartography-specific/-unspecific language use in think-aloud protocols were analyzed qualitatively. Despite the high heterogeneity within the sample, results show linkages between the cartographic concept representation and cartography-specific language use among the participants. In addition, students who use cartography-specific language at a medium or high level paraphrased less and represented cartographic concepts more appropriately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a global crisis exacerbated by human activity and a matter of urgent concern. There is a significant knowledge gap among primary school students in Serbia, as the topic of climate change is barely covered in the curriculum. This study examines their awareness, knowledge and attitudes. Of the participants, 96.6% are aware of climate change, but their knowledge and attitudes vary considerably. Some 80.10% expect climate change to have a significant impact on humans through floods (90%), droughts and temperature increases (85% each). Further results show that schools are a key source of information (35.10%), followed by television (30.10%) and the internet (14.90%). In summary, this study highlights the need for comprehensive, multidisciplinary climate education to address different levels of awareness, encourage informed and proactive responses and engage young voices in discussions about climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the concept of sense of place (SOP) has become increasingly important in recent years. However, literature is dominated by studies dealing with the concept outside the field of education. Yet its potential for geography and environmental education (GEE) is considerable. The aim of this literature review is to determine how SOP is conceptualised in research, what the focus of the research objectives are, which research methods are used to validate the concept in primary and secondary GEE, and to summarize the main research findings concerning both primary and secondary school students. Fifty relevant studies from two literature databases - Web of Science, and Scopus - were searched and analysed. The results show that students' SOP is conceptualized predominantly through the sub-concept of place attachment, is examined predominantly through qualitative research methods, and that research has focused on the process of developing and fostering SOP, as well as identifying its potential in specific individuals. Place-based education and environmental education programs are effective in the process of students' SOP formation. The conceptualization of students' SOP and its empirical research can contribute to its effective implementation in GEE. This promotes the development of students' relationship with the environment, which is one of the key aspects in the process of building their geographical and environmental literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the book "Spatial conflicts and divisions in post-socialist cities" edited by Valentin Mihaylov. The book focuses on the conflicts that arise in urban areas during the transition from socialism to capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe. It examines cases of military, ethnopolitical, social, and economic conflicts in cities in East-Central Europe, including Bulgaria, Poland, Ukraine, and the former Yugoslavia. The book provides valuable insights into the impact of these conflicts on urban space and the challenges faced in the post-socialist urban field. [Extracted from the article]

We reflect on Geography in the US university by focusing on the paths taken by undergraduates into and beyond our classrooms. Those paths reveal aspects of Geography that appear unique to this national context, and include the structural barriers to US students' entry into Geography, from their highly uneven exposure to Geography in school to their unfamiliarity with it as a university degree. Yet many students still manage to find the field, with the troubling exception of Black and Indigenous students. We also highlight the paradox whereby graduates of this 'invisible' field are in high demand within government and industry, even as their training encourages them to simultaneously critique the tight coupling of Geography with those structures of power. We suggest that these are the distinctive and constitutive attributes of Geography in US universities that shape undergraduates and the geographies that they take out into the world. We reflect on Geography in the US university by focusing on the paths taken by undergraduates into and beyond our classrooms. We suggest that these are the distinctive and constitutive attributes of Geography in US universities that shape undergraduates and the geographies that they take out into the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to determine the views of faculty members who have studied in the field of geography education on research orientations in the field. The criterion sampling method, one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used to determine the sample of this research, which was carried out in the case study design within the qualitative research tradition. Accordingly, 33 faculty members who completed their doctorate in the field of geography or geography education and have studied geography education constituted the participants of the study. A semi-structured interview form was used to determine the faculty members' views on research orientations in the field. Content analysis was used to analyze the data obtained. According to the findings of the study, 96 code expressions were generated from the opinions of the faculty members about the orientations in the field of geography education. These codes were then organized around three main themes: orientations, problems, and expectations. The main theme of orientations consisted of the sub-themes of study topics, reasons for topic preferences, research orientations, and influential events and phenomena; the main theme of problems consisted of the sub)themes of problems, rich literature, and limited literature; and the main theme of expectations consisted of the sub-themes of the future of the field and researcher profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing evidence that London's disadvantaged youth have a better chance at progressing to elite universities than their counterparts outside the capital. Drawing on case study research in a disadvantaged East London locality, this article suggests that a convergence of structural factors that favour elite university progression may help explain this high progression. These factors include local schools' valorisation of elite universities and their associated prioritisation of resources and strong framing of university choices to privilege Russell Group progression. Students' apparent advantageous access to the widening participation provision of elite universities and to internship and networking opportunities arising from London's corporate philanthropy also appear to play important roles. The article advocates for greater strategic planning by the regulator and further partnerships across all sectors of the economy to enable a fairer distribution of widening participation opportunities nationwide. It concludes with a call to reflect on the wisdom of privileging elite university progression at all costs and asks whether we should really be championing such a narrow vision of social mobility in the first place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The African Book Publishing Record is a valuable resource for libraries, educational institutions, and booksellers looking to purchase books published in Africa. It provides comprehensive listings of new and forthcoming books, including complete bibliographic information. The record covers books in English, French, Portuguese, and African languages, and includes a news section and reviews of African magazines and scholarly periodicals. Listing in the record is free, and submission deadlines are provided. This resource is culturally sensitive and respectful of diverse perspectives. [Extracted from the article]

This paper analyzes the integration of indigenous knowledge into South African geography education as an intersection of social justice and decolonial imperatives. Historically, colonial education systems have marginalized indigenous epistemologies by privileging Western knowledge as universally superior. Integrating indigenous perspectives into curricula can counter this legacy by promoting cognitive justice and unsettling Eurocentric dominance. However, meaningful integration requires moving beyond superficial additions of indigenous elements within unchanged Western-centric curricula as this risks appropriating indigenous knowledge in disempowering ways. The paper argued that ethical integration necessitates recentring indigenous knowledge systems in their own right alongside Western frameworks to enact pluralistic, horizontal cognitive frameworks. A qualitative literature analysis identified key themes around recognizing indigenous epistemologies, dismantling enduring hierarchies, and developing responsible community-centred integration processes. While systemic constraints pose barriers, integrating indigenous perspectives into geography education holds the transformative potential to advance both social justice inclusion aims and decolonial decentralization agendas. This convergence provides opportunities to develop anti-oppressive curricula that empower marginalized knowledge and ontologies. However, realization requires extensive efforts to sustain reflexivity and enable indigenous self-determination over knowledge. Ultimately, the paper underscored that indigenous knowledge integration must move beyond tokenism towards fundamentally transforming education systems through ethical, empowering processes grounded in partnerships with indigenous communities. This is vital for nurturing students able to navigate the world through plural epistemologies and enacting both social justice and decolonial futures.

Cuerpo-territorio is a method stemming from Latin American geography, which recognizes the centrality of situated and embodied experiences as a form of knowing. We engaged with this method in the classroom to understand how students through their embodied and situated experiences had absorbed a post-development geographic course content and how these notions had remained with them. Given that emotions, particularly when elicited by images play a major role in consolidating knowledge, we asked students to explore their embodied feelings related to the course content by reflecting and representing them in a visual form on a poster. Through this paper, we aim to contribute to the debate on the importance of applying decolonial strategies in the classroom by widening the methodological toolbox of our geography colleagues. We find that, given the diversity of the students' population, working with a boundary object such as the posters helped students to relate to each other via the course content. Finally, reflecting and assimilating the course content through cuerpo -territorio, we argue, was conducive to consolidating learning outcomes, while students experienced knowledge co-creation with their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on what we learnt about teaching geography during the COVID-19 pandemic. We interrogate how we, as geography educators working in different contexts, navigated the novel teaching spaces created during the pandemic using two key registers; courageous and compassionate pedagogies. Our premise is that understanding in more nuanced form the approaches we took to creating courageous and compassionate education during the pandemic may help geography educators to thrive when delivering future-facing education. Our approach was to write and share vignettes of our pandemic teaching upon which we (asynchronously) collectively reflected; creating emergent themes described in this paper. This approach to structured peer learning derives from our commitment to education as a collective endeavour. We argue that the disruption caused by the early pandemic required geography educators to focus attention explicitly on areas previously taken as given. Geography educators slowed down by: (1) recognising educator and student embodiment in a novel context; (2) prioritising listening, acknowledging and sharing with students; and (3) paying attention to and respecting difference amongst learners and colleagues. We propose that consciously adopting these approaches will support geography educators and their students in rapidly changing circumstances across educational, employment and climate contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid the shift to virtual teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators across disciplines were faced with developing new teaching strategies for active learning and significant learning experiences. This paper discusses findings from a case study of integrating ArcGIS Online and StoryMaps for assignments and semester projects in systematic geography courses – health, population, and urban geography. The study assesses the process of incorporating the use of this technology into these upper-division undergraduate courses, with a mix of both geography and non-geography majors, and student perspectives on their learning of and engagement with this technology. With broader applications to different course, discipline, and education contexts, findings suggest increased student engagement, enhanced understanding of course topics and their practical applications, and an appreciation for the opportunity to learn within and work with geospatial technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes two contributions to knowledge. First, it broadens geographies of education's focal reach by concentrating attention on the consumption of supplementary education. Supplementary education markets are booming as parents seek to ensure their children have the qualifications required to succeed in knowledge economies. The paper elucidates how consumption of such commercially provided tuition—which is delivered outside of school boundaries but designed to improve performance in school—is shaped by place‐specific, classed and racialised parenting cultures. This shines an important light on shadow education market mechanics that have hitherto been hidden from geographical view, and foregrounds the significant role parenting cultures play in shaping children's educational experiences. Future research in geographies of education must attend to these parenting cultures, as interactions between the home and diverse formal, informal, alternative and supplementary education settings play an increasingly crucial role in confronting and reproducing educational inequality. Second, the paper advances the conceptual contribution of geographies of education to interdisciplinary debates about parents and education. It demonstrates that multi‐scalar geographical research makes a unique contribution to interdisciplinary theorisations of home–school links, including those utilising Bourdieu's notion of cultural reproduction, and Lareau's model of concerted cultivation. Specifically, multi‐scalar analysis demonstrates that: (i) place‐sensitive research is vital as it contextualises parenting cultures, reattaching analyses of parental habitus and capital to the field, highlighting how intersecting global, national and local processes shape parents' educational practices; (ii) previously overlooked racial differences in concerted cultivation must be analysed without being naturalised, by exploring how racialised dispositions towards education are shaped in/across place, and reproduced through global/local racialised social capital; and (iii) inter‐class differences that have dominated parenting debates remain important, but attention to inter‐class similarity and intra‐class variation, as it emerges through intersections with race and in place, is equally vital. This paper focuses geographical attention on the booming supplementary education market: it elucidates how consumption of commercially provided tuition—which is delivered outside of school boundaries but designed to improve performance in school—is shaped by place‐specific, classed and racialised parenting cultures. The paper argues that geographical research can make a unique contribution to interdisciplinary debates about parents' impact on education, as it: (i) elucidates how intersecting global, national and local processes shape parents' educational practices; (ii) illuminates how parents' racialised dispositions are shaped in place and reproduced though global/local racialised social capital; and (iii) foregrounds inter‐ and intra‐class specificities in parenting cultures while attending to class's intersection with race and emergence in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has its origins in the EU Comenius funded GeoCapabilities project. From its outset, the project developed and researched the notion of powerful disciplinary knowledge (PDK) as an underlying principle of curriculum making in the context of secondary school geography teaching. The work, led from the UCL Institute of Education and involving school teachers, teacher educators and other stakeholders across eight mainly European jurisdictions, was framed by Young and Muller's 'three educational scenarios' (Young & Muller, European Journal of Education, 45, 2010 and 11). The three futures heuristic is discussed as a means to distinguish qualities of curriculum thought. Future 3 scenarios, which posit teachers as curriculum makers with responsibility to engage in essential 'knowledge work', provide a principled platform on which to develop ambitious educational classroom encounters. Knowledge working with PDK and (as we go on to argue) other powerful ways of knowing the world, is seen as a bridge between social realist epistemological principles and practical classroom content selections. This opens the possibility of responding to Deng's (Journal of Curriculum Studies, 54, 2022) call for developing practical theories of content with teachers. Although the authors are geographers in education drawing on different international perspectives and traditions, the paper addresses matters of interest applicable to a variety of specialist subject domains across the secondary school curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrated status of Social Studies in the Norwegian Curriculum for Knowledge Promotion in Primary and Secondary Education and Training 2020 reflects an international educational trend pertaining to a movement from knowledge and traditional disciplinary thinking to generic skills, competence and boundary crossing. This article addresses the changed organisation of geography as a subject within Social Studies in the national curriculum framework. Through a thematic analysis of how geographical knowledge is classified and represented in the curriculum, this article discusses opportunities and limitations in the curriculum when it comes to developing students' powerful geographical knowledge. The analysis shows that geographical knowledge is organised in an attempt to reduce content boundaries. Found across the curriculum, geographical knowledge includes geographical scale, geographic conditions and human–nature interconnections. However, geographical knowledge is represented through an understanding of space as absolute and fixed rather than relational and dynamic, as well as through a technical and mainly individual understanding of scale. We conclude that boundary crossing related to sustainability and citizenship as interdisciplinary topics opens opportunities for powerful geographical knowledge, although this potential is limited by the weak classification of geography in the curriculum for Social Studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractGeographical thinking is often regarded as one of the most crucial outcomes of geography education. Nevertheless, with the growing variety of definitions and conceptualizations surrounding geographical thinking, the entire concept is becoming increasingly intricate and abstract, gradually acquiring a degree of internal shallowness. To address this complexity and enhance the clarity regarding these diverse definitions and conceptualizations, a systematic review was conducted. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a final selection of 50 records including empirical articles, books and book chapters, were analyzed. The main findings reveal insights on temporal development, spatial distribution, and possible classifications of geographical-thinking definitions and conceptualizations. The article concludes with a discussion of possible implications for educational practice and related recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractGeographical Olympiads are disciplinary competitions that can be a tool for assessing geographical knowledge and skills in different countries of the world. This article aims to analyse the results of the national and international geography Olympiads and to identify their conditionality and interrelationship. The secondary aim is to find out whether the Czech Geography Olympiad (GO) selects contestants who can succeed in the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo). The fulfilment of these two aims can be an incentive for other national geography competitions to reflect and discuss on their structure in relation to iGeo. To achieve the aims, data from the national and international geography Olympiad from 2015 to 2022 were analysed quantitatively. The results indicate that the iGeo has a higher internal consistency and correlation among its parts than the GO, which tests some knowledge and skills that are not required in the iGeo. The results show that the concept of assessment is somewhat different in the two monitored competitions, which may mean a less than ideal selection of contestants for the international round of the competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Research Handbook on the Belt and Road Initiative, edited by Joseph Chinyong Liow, Hong Liu, and Gong Xue, provides a comprehensive examination of China's multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The collection features 37 chapters written by 45 contributors with diverse disciplinary backgrounds, covering countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa. The book explores the intersection of BRI infrastructure projects with local political economies and global power dynamics, highlighting the opportunities, risks, and challenges associated with the initiative. It also examines the unique characteristics of the BRI, such as its integration of Chinese and Western development paradigms. The collection offers valuable empirical evidence and frameworks for analysis, making it a useful resource for researchers, policymakers, and professionals interested in the BRI. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a book review of "Advanced Introduction to Marxism and Human Geography" by Kevin R. Cox. The book provides an overview of Marx's "Capital" and explores its relevance to human geography. It is divided into two parts, with the first introducing key concepts from Marx's work and the second discussing the application of Marx's ideas to geography. The book is aimed at graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and researchers familiarizing themselves with the field. While the book has strengths in its clear explanations and connections to present-day examples, it also has drawbacks, such as the lack of detailed references and the author's occasional subjective statements. Overall, the book can serve as a helpful introduction and commentary on the topic for geography students. [Extracted from the article]

The naming of places on university campuses plays an important role in shaping the cultural landscapes and geographies of higher education institutions. In recent years, there have been contentious debates over place renaming at colleges and universities in North America and around the world, which has drawn increasing attention to the politics of toponymic practices in higher education contexts. The decision-making process involved in place naming on a university's campus is generally informed by the institution's naming policy and implemented by a university naming committee, yet there is very little scholarship on university naming policy frameworks, procedures, and practices. In this article, we provide a systematic and comparative analysis of university naming policies in Canada and the United States. Drawing on data from more than 2,000 colleges and universities across North America, we assess the level of representation that faculty and students have on university naming committees, institutional commitments to public engagement in the naming process, the value of diversity, and restrictions on corporate naming rights agreements. We conclude that colleges and universities should develop more inclusive and equitable naming policy frameworks to ensure that campus namescapes live up to the ideals of higher education institutions in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides new evidence on the geography of literacy rates in pre-unitary Italy. I provide direct estimates based on a novel and balanced random sample of marriage certificates in 1815. The new figures are disaggregated by gender, area, and skill levels, and are compared to the relevant alternative estimates available. Literacy rates are generally low, and North versus South difference in 1815 literacy was as low as 13.7 percentage points, with the Southern literacy rate of about 50% that of Northern Italy. The North–South gap is much smaller for women than for men, and the average female literacy rate across Italy is a lower 9%. Literacy rates in Central Italy were almost identical to that of Southern Italy, arguably because the schooling systems of Central and Southern Italy were more elitist than the Northern Italian one. This evidence suggests that, although partially present also before 1815, the wide magnitude of North–South gaps in literacy which characterized the country on the eve of the political unification (1861) originated after the Napoleonic period. Primary school centralization reforms might have helped women to rapidly improve literacy rates, leading to a first, regionally unequal, 'Silent Revolution' (Cappelli and Vasta in Cliometrica 15:1–27, 2020a). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a reply to comments on a lecture titled "Market Power and Wage Inequality." The authors' goals are to provide a methodological framework that incorporates both goods market power and labor market power in a general equilibrium setting, and to propose an empirical strategy for estimating key structural parameters and a joint distribution of establishment-level productivity. Their model shows that market power and wage inequality are determined simultaneously by market structure, establishment-level productivity, and substitutability parameters. The authors find that changes in market structure account for a significant portion of the rise in the skill premium and between-establishment inequality. They acknowledge the limitations of their assumptions and suggest future work to explore the impact of non-overlapping markets and other sources of market power. The authors also discuss the role of globalization and the need to carefully disentangle the sources of firms' market power. They conclude by emphasizing the importance of understanding the implications of market power for wage inequality and the potential policy implications. [Extracted from the article]

AbstractThe purpose of this research is to develop the use of Virtual Reality (VR) and fieldwork with teenagers in two compulsory schools in the capital city area of Iceland. The study aims to understand how teenagers succeed in an enquiry driven work combining simple digital tools, such as mobile phones, when making 360° photos, analysing opportunities and challenges in their local school environment. The student task was structurally integrated curriculum work that stimulates both cognitive and affective development emphasising the role of the student was to construct the knowledge of own place and the role of the teacher being a facilitator or the coach of the learning process students experience. Research data consists of student presentations of their selected sites in their local school environment, teachers’ notes during the execution phase of the project, including a reflection class with students, researcher notes from meetings with the teachers, and student on-line survey answered by individuals in both schools. Findings indicate that explicit attention to the learning goals of the task including the use of VR, and regular training of doing local fieldwork, are needed. These two seem necessary approaches in future training for students if they are to effectively navigate, contribute to and participate in using VR as a potentially transformative educational tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents two experiences of innovation in primary and secondary education, with the aim of discussing the importance of fieldwork or study visits in the teaching of Geography and History. The innovation consists of incorporating the fieldwork technique in different educational contexts with the aim of allowing students to understand, from a critical perspective, the local reality and act towards its transformation based on problematizing the surroundings, with the aim of building and developing democratic education and citizenship training. The experiments were carried out in different projects, in Brazil and Chile. To cover the presentation of experiences, we first address spatial thinking in the curriculum and fieldwork as a methodological strategy in Geography and History. The specific practices and curricula of each of the schools are presented below. Finally, in the final considerations, we point out the similarities and differences between practices and the importance of initial teacher training and school organization so that Fieldwork, as a methodological tool, can be carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article based on a best practice example out of the geography education will be explained how factual end ethical complexity is to focus on while considering a land use conflict in context of sustainable agriculture and how this double thought complexity can be dealt with in geography education generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we reflect on our experiences teaching human geography across two modules that pedagogically centre student reflexivity through content that has potential to be dis-comforting. Drawing upon student experiences on two final year option modules, relating to social and spatial exclusion and "race", ethnicity and multiculture, we reflect on how learning experiences on these modules "stay with" students in ways that are potentially transformative. The paper draws upon our own reflections as teachers, alongside anonymous student work and crucially the student voice, through a questionnaire distributed to previous graduates. Foregrounding the student voice is a key contribution here, whereby we assess student relationships with taught content beyond their studies. Bringing this data together, we draw upon border pedagogy to suggest that discomfort is integral to a transformative approach, but how scaffolding is necessary to enable such learning experiences. We also acknowledge, though, that such learning experiences are not experienced equally and there are limits to such approaches, particularly within contemporary higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Web GIS has been supposed as a useful tool in improving the spatial thinking abilities of students, most existing empirical studies were seldom undertaken in an educational programme providing rather limited geo-technological training to students. This study focuses on tutorial sessions of a tourism geography course in a Singaporean university, in which students usually engaged with very few GIS and other geospatial technologies. Combining a standardised assessment, that is Spatial Thinking Abilities Test, and semi-structured interviews, the study suggests that the implementation of Web GIS, collaborating with students' major background and pre-existing GIS experience, efficiently enhanced their performance in spatial thinking abilities test; moreover, the exposure to GIS practices during tutorial sessions also stimulated students' interest in using GIS and enhanced self-efficacy, which further equipped students with stronger motivation to continue learning geography. The paper contributes to existing debates around (Web) GIS as a pedagogical tool through incorporating qualitative interview materials into the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]