"Geography--a portrait of current practice" in Scottish secondary schools is one of a developing series of publications by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), designed to reflect current good practice in subjects and aspects of Scottish education and identify areas for further improvement. The portrait series is a new…

The Center for Global Geography Education (CGGE) is a set of online modules exploring geographic issues, which allow collaborative analysis and discussion between international teams of undergraduates. Using data from trials held in 10 countries, the modules' effectiveness in improving student understanding of geographic concepts and appreciation…

Postgraduate education in geography, especially at the Master's level, is undergoing significant changes in the developed world. There is an expansion of vocationally oriented degree programmes, increasing recruitment of international students, integration of workplace skills, and the engagement of non-traditional postgraduate students as…

"Dora the Explorer" is a twenty-three-minute television program for preschoolers viewed by millions every day in many countries. These programs are also marketed as videotapes and DVDs. This seven-year-old Latina, bilingual cartoon character teaches many things by interacting with the young viewers. On every program Dora and friends have to go…

The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) is doing much to promote the teaching of geography in schools. Since its establishment in 1968 to provide a common curriculum and university entrance credential for children of a geographically mobile international community, it has evolved and now includes schools in national systems all over the…

A twelve-question framework for teaching, learning, and assessing environmental issues was created through analysis of environmental textbooks and interviews with professors and researchers who specialize in the environment. Concepts in the framework include: causes, scale, spatial distribution, longevity, consequences, risks, economic…

This paper presents an analysis of the current situation of Spanish geography in higher education. The authors show that Spanish geography has undergone a profound transformation in the new democratic era, resulting in a thriving community struggling to find its place amongst other disciplines. To assess the current health of the discipline in…

This article discusses the current state of the geography discipline in higher education institutions in Australia. Geography in Australia is vulnerable--and perhaps more so than in many of the other countries covered in this special issue. Reasons for this are discussed. Amidst description of a series of struggles, this article also seeks to…

Results from the Volcanic Concept Survey (VCS) indicated that many undergraduates do not fully understand volcanic systems and plate tectonics. During the 2006 academic year, a ten-item conceptual survey was distributed to undergraduate students enrolled in Earth science courses at five U.S. colleges and universities. A trained team of graders…

The aim of this study is to determine the levels of concern of Turkish geography student teachers towards the teaching profession. The study was conducted with 293 geography student teachers who are enrolled in the last class of the Geography Student Teachers Program of the Faculties of Education and enrolled in a Non-Thesis Master's Degree…

Spatial literacy is a new frontier in K-12 education. This article describes a place-based introductory GIS/GPS middle school curriculum unit in which students used measuring tools, GPS units, and My World GIS software to collect physical and spatial data of trees to create a schoolyard tree inventory. Maine students completed "memory…

The cornerstone of sound social studies pedagogy is the ability of teachers to use materials that spur students to think critically, reflect honestly, and to participate purposefully and passionately. This article illustrates how elementary teachers can use select children's literature that prompts students to think critically about their…

The extensive literature on classroom-based second language learning makes little attempt to situate the classroom itself in social and multilingual sociolinguistic space, in the complex and iterative networks of encounters and interactions that make up daily life. Daily life is routinely evoked and "brought into" the classroom as a…

School geography teaching has been a less popular career option for graduates recently. This paper reports on a programme designed to put undergraduate geographers into secondary schools to observe teachers and assist in teaching, with a view to encouraging them to consider secondary school teaching as a career. The organization and syllabus of…

Mathematics is often taught covertly as a "service" subject in geography departments, but can often be a cause of fear for students who may not have studied the subject post-GCSE. Negative attitudes are common and many students show signs of maths anxiety. This paper details how students' attitudes were changed by a new foundation mathematics…