A Road Map to Empower Geography Education for Global Understanding

Abstract

This chapter concludes the book and calls for further research on global understanding. First, there is a need for a detailed definition and operationalization of the concept of global understanding. This is necessary to develop robust research projects within and across regions and nations. Research in geography education, particularly as related to such a nebulous but important topic as global understanding, must be evidence-based; link to relevant theory; use appropriate and effective methods; provide a detailed, coherent chain of reasoning to link evidence to theory; describe procedures in sufficient detail to allow replication across cultural, economic, and social contexts; be generalizable in a range of settings and populations; and exhibit scholarship through dissemination, peer review, and public scrutiny. Second, it is essential to develop a focused, concerted, systematic framework to guide research, a research agenda for global understanding. Achieving consensus on a set of research questions may provide a starting place and an agenda and direction for geography education research on global understanding.