Managing Change in the Teaching and Learning of Geography in South African FET Classrooms

Abstract

This paper examined the management of change in the teaching of geography from a teacher-centred to a learner-centred pedagogical approach in order to transform teaching to improve learners’ academic outcomes in Further Education and Training (FET) classrooms. Managing change for this paper means actively making changes to benefit geography education in schools and to provide possible solutions that may be introduced in geography education to improve the quality of teaching and learning specifically changing from traditional methods to more active learner-centred methods of teaching and learning in geography. Underpinned by the interpretive qualitative paradigm and the Transformational Learning Theory, using phenomenology as the mode of inquiry, this paper generated data through semi-structured interviews with three geography teachers and structured classroom observations in three geography classrooms. Data was analysed through thematic analysis. The paper responded to what strategies could be used to promote effective and active learner-centred teaching and learning of geography in FET classrooms. The findings revealed that teaching methods are needed to connect geography curriculum content to learners’ real lives. This meant that teachers needed to use learners’ experience and prior knowledge as the platform for teaching, where they only facilitated and guided learners to take charge of their knowledge construction. In light of the findings, the paper recommends collaborative teaching among teachers and the effective use of technology, teaching aids, and resources in the effective teaching of geography.