Publication details
Czech secondary pre-service teachers’ conceptions of geography
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Geography in Higher Education |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03098265.2020.1712687 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2020.1712687 |
| Keywords | Geography education; subject conceptions; pre-service teachers; teacher education |
| Description | The status of geography as a separate school subject in Czechia is being increasingly questioned as pupils’ interest in it is declining. Pre-service teachers (i.e. teacher trainees at universities) are key players in recontextualizing geography education in the future. Therefore, understanding pre-service teachers’ conceptions of geography and its teaching are crucial. This article reports on the results of a survey of Czech secondary pre-service teachers’ conceptions regarding geography and its teaching. Our contribution to the literature extends existing knowledge by using a latent class analysis providing deep insight into the conceptions of geography and its teaching. The survey was conducted among a group of 114 secondary pre-service geography teachers studying at five universities in Czechia. A classification of conceptions of geography and its teaching developed by Simon Catling served as an analytical framework. The findings indicate that a majority of Czech pre-service geography teachers had a descriptive, information-oriented, and non-relational conception of geography and its teaching. The research results showed two homogenous groups of pre-service geography teachers: knowledge-oriented essentialists and learner-centred progressivists. This paper concludes by suggesting implications for pre-service geography teacher education. |
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