Unpacking Geography Teachers' Pedagogical Reasoning and Action While Teaching Sustainable Development in AP Human Geography
Sustainable development (SD) encompasses environmental, social, and economic wellbeing for current and future generations. Despite geography's long tradition of studying human-environment relationships, geography educators have criticized the geographical community for being slow to take a leading role in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), stressing the importance of researching how educators effectively teach SD with teaching methods that align with geography curriculum. To fill this research gap, this research aims to explore the nature and characteristics of high school geography teachers’ pedagogical profession by unpacking how Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) teachers expand their knowledge base and reason pedagogically when incorporating ESD, shedding light on the complexities of ESD in secondary geography education. Pedagogical reasoning and action (PR&A) represent teachers’ instructional decision-making processes of using a knowledge base through six activities: comprehension, transformation, instruction, evaluation, reflection, and new comprehension. In this research, PR&A was used as a theoretical framework to illuminate the development of geography teachers’ professional knowledge and teaching practices while teaching SD. To address the research goal, a multiple case study approach was employed, involving seven experienced APHG teachers. A professional development (PD) program, named Teaching Sustainable Development in Geography (TSDIG), was developed for APHG teachers introducing examples of content and instructional strategies for teaching SD in geography curricula. Data collection encompassed orientation webinars, TSDIG seminars, lesson implementations, classroom observations, and interviews. Thematic and cross-case analysis were utilized to analyze the data. The findings reveal the intricate PR&A processes of geography teachers when integrating ESD. These processes encompassed transformations in teachers' knowledge base and their teaching practices. The study highlights the distinct knowledge base components of APHG teachers for effective ESD integration, throughout the six PR&A procedures. Furthermore, this research elucidates the pedagogical rationales of experienced geography teachers behind their teaching decisions and actions when effectively instructing SD topics. It also explores the strategies they employ to address instructional challenges encountered in the classroom.
geography education, education for sustainable development, ESD, teacher education, knowledge base, pedagogical reasoning and action, teaching profession, advanced placement human geography, APHG
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