Drawing on the perspectives of six student teachers (including five geography specialists) and two teacher educators, four key components are identified as being crucial to enable those undertaking a geography-focused programme of Initial Teacher Education to thrive rather than simply survive. These include, (1) nurturing an enjoyment of…

Despite numerous efforts to improve geographical teacher training, student teachers often develop inert theoretical knowledge during their studies. Teachers' deeply rooted implicit orientations concerning geography classes, which are important for future classroom practice and professional learning at university, are a major reason for the theory…

Systems thinking is regarded as a key competence in the field of education for sustainable development (ESD), because it helps students to understand the complexity and dynamics of natural, social and economic systems. In our research group, we developed a competence model that distinguishes four dimensions of systems thinking in ESD. Based on…

Students training to become primary school teachers appear to have little awareness of the core concepts of geography (teaching). To ensure that future primary school teachers are able to develop their pupils' geographical awareness, a six weeks programme was developed. The characteristics of this programme -- named Consciously Teaching Geography…

This article discusses the process and findings of a study in which video annotation (VideoANT) and a learning management system (LMS) were implemented together in the microteaching lessons of fourth-year geography student teachers. The aim was to ensure adequate assessment of and feedback for each student, since these aspects are, in general, a…

This article describes the results of a study of a concept model for optimizing contact time between the Geography educator and the student teacher within a learner-centered teaching paradigm. A quasi-experimental time series approach was used in order to change aspects of the model as the research progressed. Changes to the model were made on the…

Presents a survey on the degree of training in geographic-information systems (GIS) given to prospective geography teachers. Reveals that only a handful of programs intentionally expose student teachers to GIS in a meaningful manner. Discusses implications for plans to integrate GIS into the curriculum. (DSK)