School geography: what interests students, what interests teacher?

Abstract

There is evidence indicating that students are rarely asked about what they want to learn, but when they are asked, the students readily identify topics of personal relevance with a hands-on component. They want topics that are curiosity-based and not knowledge based. This paper draws on data that gave voice to 199 students studying geography and their teachers. A short survey explored students’ interest in a variety of topics commonly found in geography curriculum documents. Interviews were used to increase reliability and validity. The analysis of the survey followed a Whole Group Mean Score and allowed for the generation of a ranked order of topics from which zones of High Interest, Low Interest, and Ambivalence were determined. The central issue that this paper addresses is that there is a misalignment in the topics that students find of interest to learn about, and those that their teachers find of interest to teach about. It is postulated that a better fit between curriculum and students’ interests could lead to improved cognitive and affective geographical learning outcomes, as well as an increase in geography enrolments.

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