Student teachers’ ideas on (powerful) knowledge in geography education

Abstract

This article discusses the ideas of Dutch student teachers about what kind of geographical knowledge secondary students should learn. We take into account the backgrounds of student teachers by comparing three groups in different teacher-education programmes. Their ideas are analysed using Alaric Maude’s types of powerful geographical knowledge in the context of a F3 curriculum (explained by Maude in this journal in 2016). We observe a clear dominance of Maude’s type 2 knowledge and a lack of type 3 knowledge, which is more or less in line with the (national) curriculum. Maude’s (2016) types of knowledge are useful as a framework, but they also raise further questions. We conclude with a reflection on the PDK in Dutch geography education in particular, and the implications for teacher education in general.