期刊名称：Review of International Geographical Education Online
电子版ISSN：2146-0353
出版年度：2015
卷号：5
期号：2
出版社：Review of International Geographical Education Online
摘要：Recent curriculum introductions and revisions on a global scale have highlighted the importan ce of primary teachers' content knowledge in geography and the lack of research in this area (Catling, 2014). This has become a particular focus in Australia with the introduction of the Australian Curriculum: Geography in 2013 and the requirement for geo graphy to be taught as a discrete subject in primary schools. The current study focuses on content common to both the Australian Curriculum: Geography and Science. The study reported in this paper adopts a mixed methods approach to explore the adequacy of pre - service primary teachers' accuracy and depth of knowledge about weather and climate. The results suggest that pre - service primary teachers hold a range of alternative conceptions about weather and climate processes and that they lack the depth of kn owledge required to adequately prepare students for their studies in secondary science and geography. Implications for classroom practice and for future research are discussed
关键词：Australian curriculum; alternative conceptions; content knowledge; c ; onfidence; ; ; ; ; Conceptual ; ; change; geography; weather and climate ; ; ; var currentpos;timer; function initialize() { timer=setInterval("scrollwindow()";10);} function sc(){clearInterval(timer); }function scrollwindow() { currentpos=document.body.scrollTop; window.scroll(0;++currentpos); if (currentpos != document.body.scrollTop) sc();} document.onmousedown=scdocument.ondblclick=initialize LANE; R. / Primary Geography in Australia: Pre-Service Primary Teachers' Understandings… ; ; ; ; 200 ; primary schools; it is likely that geography will be taught by the regular classroom ; teacher with a time allocation between 18 and 50 hours per year depending on the age of ; the cohort (Bourke & Lidstone; 2015). ; The curriculum has a defined structure at each year level with content divided into ; two "strands" – geographical knowledge and understanding and geographical inquiry ; and skills. These strands are interrelated and designed to be taught together in "ways ; that are appropriate to specific local contexts" (ACARA; 2013; p. 17). At each year ; level the curriculum includes level descriptors; content descriptors; and achievement ; standards. The achievement standards explain the expected learning outcomes at each ; year level; including depth of conceptual understanding demonstrated; the sophistication ; of skill development and application of knowledge and skills in a range of contexts. ; The Australian Curriculum: Geography aims to ensure that children develop: a sense ; of wonder; curiosity and respect about places; people; cultures and environments ; throughout the world; a deep geographical knowledge of their own locality; Australia; ; the Asia region and the world; the ability to think geographically; using geographical ; concepts; the capacity to be competent; critical and creative users of geographical ; inquiry methods and skills and as informed; responsible and active citizens who can ; contribute to the development of an environmentally and economically sustainable; and ; socially just world (ACARA; 2013; p. 2). ; Links with Other Key Learning Areas (KLAs) ; While geography is now a discrete discipline in the Australian curriculum; primary ; teachers are encouraged to integrate key learning areas (KLAs) where appropriate. ; Appendix 1; for example; shows how an understanding of weather and climate is built ; progressively in both the science and geography curriculum from Foundation to Year 7. ; In the Foundation year students begin by identifying and describing the weather and ; climate of their local area. Years 3-6 introduce a number of foundational concepts ; including phase change and the causes of rain and wind. Finally in Year 7 students ; integrate their understandings in a holistic study of atmospheric or hydrological hazards ; (including tropical cyclones). Given the links between the science and geography ; content it is logical for primary teachers to integrate these learning areas during ; instruction. ; The requirement to integrate knowledge across KLAs presents a number of ; challenges for primary teachers in terms of their content knowledge. Primary teachers in ; Australian schools need to teach across a number of KLAs including English; ; mathematics; science; social sciences; creative arts; personal development and health. ; They are not; however; required to have completed tertiary studies across all of these ; areas. For accreditation as a primary school teacher; the Australian Institute for ; Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) requires graduates to have the equivalent of ; one year of full-time studies relevant to one or more learning areas of the primary ; school curriculum. This means that many Australian primary teachers may not have ; completed any formal studies in the social sciences; let alone geography (AITSL; 2011). ; The introduction of geography as a distinctive subject within the curriculum therefore ; raises important questions about how well prepared primary teachers are to teach this
