Curricular Changes in Geography Education - Meeting Social and Societal Challenges of Tomorrow

This book highlights the way in which geography curricula are conceived, (re)-organised and implemented at different levels (local, regional, national, international) and how to respond concretely to these challenges. It also examines the obstacles, barriers and continuities that keep some parts of geography curricula in a century-old tradition.
In this book, the term curriculum is used in its Anglo-Saxon conception, which differs from its European use, which is limited to study plans. The term curriculum used in this book, refers to the prescribed curriculum, sometimes called formal, and also to the taught or real curriculum as well as the learned curriculum. To these three curricular forms, a fourth is added, called the hidden curriculum. This includes what is implicit for the actors (teachers, pupils, the school institution) and what is, voluntarily or not, ignored or concealed.
The contributions to this book examine each type of these four curricula and their interactions. It discusses how the passage from one curriculum level to another is not linear and implies recompositions, ruptures as well as continuities. The book also touches on the circulation between the different curricular levels and how that raises the question of the articulation between policy(ies) and practice.

List of contents

Chapter 1. Introduction Reimagining Curriculum: Geography s Response to Evolving Challenges.-Part I: Contemporary issues and challenges in geography education.- Chapter 2. Post-Growth from the Perspectives of Young People in Germany in the Context of Education for Sustainable Development.- Chapter 3. Critical Reflections on Smart Mobility Raising the Awareness of Geography Educators for the Social Implications of a Digital Mobility Transition.- Chapter 4. Unveiling Environmental Complexity: Empowering High School Students through Technology-Supported Simulations.- Chapter 5. Arguments in geography classes investigating elementary school students' reasoning.- Part II: Tools and Learning Approaches.- Chapter 6. The transformative potential of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in cultivating spatial awareness and active learning among primary school students.- Chapter 7. A historical analysis of multisensory developments in geography education and their implications for cultivating experiential learning.- Chapter 8. The use of webcams to analyze globalized landscapes, illustrating how students can critically engage with societal challenges through virtual exploration.- Chapter 9. The integration of planetary sciences into geography education, showcasing how socioscientific issues can bridge Earth and space studies to address global and cosmic challenges.-Part III: New subjects to learn.- Chapter 10. Training Teachers to Teach Geopolitics Subjects: A Comparative Study of Israel and Germany.- Chapter 11. Teaching the Concept of Territory in a Bachelor of Technology in France: Adjustments to Deal with a Bureaucratic Reform.- Chapter 12. A new curriculum for teaching and learning geography in French elementary school. Some reflections and critical notes.- Chapter 13. Geography teaching in prevention and protection against natural disasters in Serbia.

About the author

Magali Hardouin is a Senior Lecturer (HDR) at UBO-INSPE de Bretagne, France. She teaches in both initial and continuing teacher education within the MEEF Master's programs (first and second degrees), focusing on the following areas: geography, epistemology and didactics of geography, and research methodology. She also provides training in spatial planning and in educational, teaching and learning environments. She conducts her research within the UMR ESO (Spaces and Societies) and the CREAD.
Her research is structured around three strongly interconnected scientific axes, which she mobilizes from a systemic, interdisciplinary and multiscalar perspective to analyze contemporary educational inequalities:
(1) Curriculum content, social relations and inequalities: a sociological and didactic approach to the transmission of geographical knowledge;
(2) Education, territories and socio-spatial inequalities: educational dynamics and governance of school systems;
(3) Planning of educational spaces and spatial justice: school spatialities, empowering environments, and evolving school forms.
Caroline Leininger-Frézal is a full professor at the Université Paris Cité, specialising in the didactics of geography and citizenship education. Her research explores how geography is taught and learned, with a particular focus on experiential learning, critical thinking and environmental education. She investigates innovative teaching methods such as virtual field trips and the integration of contemporary issues such as migration and sustainability into the curriculum. Professor Leininger-Frézal also supervises doctoral students and coordinates the Master's programme in the Didactics of Science (History- Geography Track), where she supports the professional development of in-service teachers. She is recognised for her contributions to curriculum design and teacher training in geography. She is currently President of the National Commission of French Geographers (CNFG), a French scientific society of geographers.

Summary

This book highlights the way in which geography curricula are conceived, (re)-organised and implemented at different levels (local, regional, national, international) and how to respond concretely to these challenges. It also examines the obstacles, barriers and continuities that keep some parts of geography curricula in a century-old tradition.
In this book, the term curriculum is used in its Anglo-Saxon conception, which differs from its European use, which is limited to study plans. The term curriculum used in this book, refers to the prescribed curriculum, sometimes called formal, and also to the taught or real curriculum as well as the learned curriculum. To these three curricular forms, a fourth is added, called the hidden curriculum. This includes what is implicit for the actors (teachers, pupils, the school institution) and what is, voluntarily or not, ignored or concealed.
The contributions to this book examine each type of these four curricula and their interactions. It discusses how the passage from one curriculum level to another is not linear and implies recompositions, ruptures as well as continuities. The book also touches on the circulation between the different curricular levels and how that raises the question of the articulation between policy(ies) and practice.

Product details

• Assisted by: Magali Hardouin (Editor), Leininger-Frézal (Editor), Caroline Leininger-Frézal (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 03.09.2025
• EAN: 9783031965500
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3196550-0
• No. of pages: 194
• Illustrations: XII, 194 p. 30 illus., 14 illus. in color.
• Series: International Perspectives on Geographical Education
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > Adult education; Curricula: Planung und Entwicklung, Humangeographie, Naturwissenschaften, allgemein, Science Education, Curriculum Studies, Human Geography, Hidden Curriculum, Types of geography curriculum and their interactions, Geography curricula, Present and future educational challenges