Discovering and exploring conceptions of geography teaching: a teacher education starter pack

Abstract

Initial teacher education, among other things, significantly influences what conceptions of geography teaching build the steppingstones at the beginning of pre-service teachers’ careers. Using a questionnaire, we conducted a survey on Czech pre-service geography teachers’ conceptions of geography teaching (n = 183). Our findings indicate that the Interactionist conception was prevalent, representing the exploration of interconnections and relations between humans and the environment. Pre-service teachers also emphasized the importance of the Localist conception that builds on exploring geographies of the local neighborhood. A path analysis revealed that the pre-service teachers’ conceptions were not much interconnected, often existing as independent, isolated entities. Our results attempt to provide implications for shaping the professional geography knowledge landscape of future geography teachers through a complex “starter pack” – a balanced representation of a range of conceptions of geography teaching in initial teacher education.