Portraying the developing PCK of Dutch pre-service geography teachers

Figures & data

Figure 1. Research design.

Table 1. Geography perspectives (Knecht et al., 2020).

Perspective	Purpose of geography/geography teaching
Globalist	To orient oneself in the world. To get to know the world. To develop general knowledge of the world.
Earthist	To understand the phenomena and processes that occur on Earth; how things work; how the Earth works.
Interactionist	To reveal relationships and interdependence between humans and nature/the environment
Placeist	To get to know different places and activities of the people who live there
Environmentalist	To warn about environmental crises. To pursue sustainability. To seek solutions for environmental crises.
Localist	To orient oneself in one’s immediate surroundings
Locationalist	To determine the location. To know where the place is located and what is found in the particular location/region.
Map-lover	To analyse, interpret, and create maps
Synthesizer	To interconnect subject matter and perspectives on different disciplines within geography and beyond
Facilitator	To develop practical or generic knowledge and abilities through geography.

Figure 2. Teacher orientations expressed as geography perspectives. The scores represent the average values of the ranking assignment (score 3 for Rank 1, 2 for Rank 2, and 1 for Rank 3).

Table 2. Summary of results regarding PCK-on action.

	Natural hazards (n = 25)	Plate tectonics (n = 19)	Migration (n = 26)
Teaching Orientations	Interactionist  Globalist Environmentalist	Earthist Globalist	Facilitator Globalist
Curriculum Knowledge	Knowledge goals	Knowledge goals	Knowledge goals Skill goals Attitude goals
Student Understanding	Prior knowledge and skills Engaging students	Prior knowledge and skills Engaging students	Student diversity Student attitudes
Instructional Strategies	Lecture Use of visualisations Inquiry Based-Learning Current Events	Lecture Use of visualisations Drawings Simulations	General Class Discussion Use of visualisations

Table 3. PCK-portraits with descriptions of PCK-elements for two pre-service geography teachers. This portrait is based on both PCK- on action and PCK-in action.

	Teacher Plates 3	Teacher Migration 3
Teaching Orientations	Teacher identity: geography teacher Geography perspectives: Globalist Placeist Interactionist Geographical relevance: “they read on the news about earth quakes and volcanic eruptions, they see pictures of Hawaii and Iceland. All current events which are actually related to plate tectonics.”	Teacher identity: pedagogue Geography perspectives: Globalist Facilitator Earthist Geographical relevance: “they will be able to explain things they can see in their own surroundings.”
Curriculum Knowledge	Uses: text books, national curriculum, school curriculum. Geographical content: “that the earth crust is actually a jigsaw, with pieces moving around and what the effects and consequences of these movements are.”	Uses: national curriculum, sequence of topics, text books, and own interest. Geographical content: “why people migrate. What the consequences of migration for a country are.”
Knowledge of student’s under­-standing	Takes into account: prior knowledge, attitudes and student engagement. Through: presenting learning goals, connect to current events, use of visualisations, and everyday language. “There are a lot of misconceptions with students.” “Students first have to understand how earth is build up and how it works, and only then can you start with plates and plate movement. (…) For students it can sometimes be overwhelming.” “when I teach this topic to a lower grade, it will be totally different.”	Takes into account: student engagement and different backgrounds. Through: presenting learning goals, repeating lessons, everyday language, and active learning. “I often use the knowledge of students, for example a student who migrated and wants to share the story.” “in lower grades I use easier language.”
Knowledge of assessment	Assesses knowledge and skills in written tests. And formative evaluation occasionally: “asking a lot of questions during the lesson” and use of exit tickets with check questions.	Through written tests, mostly developed by experienced colleagues. And formative evaluation rarely: “by checking lesson goals at the end of the lesson. By asking questions about the topic.”
Knowledge of instructional strategies	Uses presentation, general class discussion. Appears to have a lot of variation in lessons. With the plate tectonics topic: “I always handle this topic extra slowly.” “I show lots of pictures and let students talk about them to foster their thinking. I use video’s with questions (…) then they have to focus well and think at the same time.” And use of experiments, in which students are actively engaged and can “see with their own eyes what the difference is between an oceanic and continental plate.”	Mainly use of presentation, next to other strategies. With the migration topic: presentation, “movies on migrants who came to the Netherlands,” using lots of pictures and “let students think about the topic”
Visualisation^2

Knecht, P., Spurná, M., & Svobodová, H. (2020). Czech secondary pre-service teachers’ conceptions of geography. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 44(3), 458–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2020.1712687

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