ERIC Number: EJ1021328
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0300-4279
EISSN: N/A
Enquiring into Primary Teachers' Geographical Knowledge
Catling, Simon; Morley, Emma
Education 3-13, v41 n4 spec iss p425-442 2013
Subject knowledge is an important component of primary teachers' repertoire, though it has not been studied widely beyond their understandings of aspects of science and mathematics. Evaluations of the quality of teachers' geographical knowledge for teaching primary geography indicate a disparity between high quality teachers and less strong teachers. Good or weaker geography subject knowledge influences primary teachers' capacity to plan well for and intervene effectively in children's learning. This small-scale interview-based enquiry explores several teachers' senses of geography subject knowledge. They are enthusiasts for geography and are identified as expert teachers of the subject in their classes and schools. Five themes emerge as very tentative findings from their reflections: the subject's breadth, knowledge about the world, a living subject, an accessible subject for children and need for geography to be visible in the curriculum. There are indications that these primary teachers have a sense of geographical knowledge as informational knowledge, conceptual knowledge and geographical thinking. However, there were limits to these teachers' clear articulations of their understandings. Questions emerge about the nature and value of subject knowledge in relation to pedagogical content knowledge for primary teachers.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Elementary School Teachers, Geography, Interviews, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Teacher Evaluation, National Curriculum, Teacher Attitudes, Self Concept, Knowledge Level, Semi Structured Interviews
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A