Inclusion of GIS in student teacher training and its significance in higher education in southern African countries

Abstract

Studies have been carried out on the use of geographical information systems (GIS) in teacher training, especially in the developed countries. In southern African countries, nevertheless, the scenario is different because GIS education appears to be a rather new field of study. This study therefore used systematic review to collect data. This method assists in finding and understanding the outcomes of other research conducted within the same field of study. The results reveal that only three countries (South Africa, Botswana and Malawi) teach GIS at their teacher-training universities and secondary schools. In Lesotho, GIS are only taught in secondary schools. In other countries, such as Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe, GIS are not taught at all at teacher-training universities and secondary schools but only at universities or departments that do not train teachers. There is no inclusion of GIS at the universities in Angola, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. Countries that use GIS have demonstrated that the course helps with decision-making, critical thinking and inquiry-based and learner-centred learning, which have the ability to improve the quality of education. Educators and policy-makers are encouraged to reinforce the inclusion of GIS and use of relevant pedagogical skills in teacher-training universities.

Keywords:

• Southern Africa
• geography
• geographical information systems (GIS)
• technology
• motivation tool

Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Fanuel Kapute of Mzuzu University, Malawi, for kindly accepting to proofread this work. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers who helped us to polish our manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.