There is an increasing urgency, driven by global geopolitical, ecological and climate crises, for geography teachers to use their subject expertise as agents of change to empower children and young people with the knowledge and skills needed to think geographically and better understand our complex and rapidly changing world. This paper brings our…

This paper examines how resilience is defined and understood in the context of geography education, and how geography curricula can contribute to developing resilience in individuals and societies. Although resilience has been studied widely in fields like ecology and psychology, its role in education needs further attention. This study…

Learner-centered instruction fosters 21st-century skills and must be implemented in geography classrooms. In this South African case study, most teachers predominantly implemented teacher-centered instruction. The analysis of the results established a moderate but highly significant relationship between geography teachers' years of teaching and…

This study explores pre-service geography teachers' assessment of the impact of hard and soft scaffolds used in problem-based learning on their own learning. Respondents had to complete a "Scaffolds in geography problem-based learning" instrument after the problem-based learning intervention. The respondents could also elaborate on the…

This paper critically reflects on how transformative learning (TL) is described both conceptually and as a process in the literature in different fields and national contexts. We articulate a definition of TL and justify why geography education is an ideal vehicle for enabling it. This is followed by a series of case studies explaining how TL can…

This paper explored the experiences of geography subject advisors (GSAs) in the implementation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in South African schools. This was done to determine how they assist in the implementation of GIS. National senior certificate diagnostic reports for matric results indicate every year that learners are performing…

Geographical thinking is a cornerstone of modern geography education. Despite its universal value, no large-scale international study has systematically examined its integration into diverse curricular documents. This study investigates how geographical thinking is embedded in the curricula of nine countries, focusing on content and procedural…

This article examines geography teachers', parents' and learners' understanding and experiences of the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the teaching of that subject. The study was guided by the TPACK-SAMR model, which proved to be a reliable tool for measuring the extent of ICT integration. The purposive sampling…

This paper reflects on what we learnt about teaching geography during the COVID-19 pandemic. We interrogate how we, as geography educators working in different contexts, navigated the novel teaching spaces created during the pandemic using two key registers; courageous and compassionate pedagogies. Our premise is that understanding in more nuanced…

In this article I provide an account of my use (in a particular context) of a 'post qualitative inquiry' approach, with my recognition that ways of approaching issues to be explored with participants, and the method of exploration, carry social and ecological consequences. The research was initiated in a school in South Africa with a sample of ten…

Like all school textbooks, geography textbooks are authored. Almost all textbook research in and beyond geography has neglected their authors. This questionnaire-based multinational research project investigated the perceptions of 71 primary and secondary school geography textbook authors from seven countries in five continents. Though not…

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a cross-curricular approach that needs to be accommodated in all subjects in the training of students as recommended by UNESCO. This South African case study of preservice geography students is presented for the purpose of understanding how they experienced systems thinking and a cooperative teaching…

This paper reflects on recent teaching and learning practices in two undergraduate human geography modules at the University of the Western Cape: GES111 "Introduction to Human Geography" and GES225 Space, Place and Mobility in Southern Africa. Content in both modules focuses on mobilities theory and its application toward understanding…

In this paper, we report on an intervention across continents and disciplines that brought together differently positioned students in South Africa and the USA. A collaboration between our classes--an introductory Geographic Information Systems (GIS) class in South Africa and a composition class in the United States--was facilitated and…

From a cognitivist theory stance, domain-specific subject knowledge is necessary for deep learning and cognitive advance. What opportunities for deep learning and cognitive advance are provided in geography classrooms? This analysis of teaching in geography classrooms is framed by the concepts of deep learning, pedagogic discourse, and a…