Australian primary in-service teachers’ conceptions of geography
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: This paper reports on the second part of a two pronged qualitative investigation that examines the ways in which Australian primary teachers conceptualise geography and geography teaching. In the first part of the project, 47 pre-service primary teachers were surveyed. In this paper, I draw on interviews with six in-service primary teachers to explore their experiences, conceptions and perceptions of geography. The findings indicate a noticeable difference between the conceptions of geography held by experienced teachers and those of early career, in-service teachers. Similar to the pre-service teachers studied in part one of this study, the early career teachers had a narrow, information-oriented conception of geography and geography education. Conversely, the experienced teachers portrayed more complex, relational and process-oriented perspectives. The paper concludes by exploring some of the implications for the implementation of the new National geography curriculum in Australia.
Author: Lou Preston
Institution: Deakin University
Language: English
Subfield: Geography, Planning and Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4240179014