| dc.description.abstract | This research investigated how three senior high school Geography teachers tackled the issues and challenges of teaching literacy-based Geography in Taiwan. Literacy-based Learning was a national curricuar innovation (also known as the 108 Curricula) implemented by the Ministry of Education of Taiwan in August 2019. It aimed at empowering each child for lifelong learning. With the new curricula, Geography teachers were required to teach how geographers think and do as opposed to content mastery. Although the 108 Curricula suited 21st century global challenges, it was a major hurdle for most Geography teachers.
I asked three research questions to guide my research regarding how senior high school Geography teachers cope with the demands and challenges from the 108 Curricula. First, what are the factors that shape the teaching of Geography in senior high schools? Second, how are literacy-based Geography taught by an experienced and dedicated Geography teacher and what are the key factors contributing to literacy-based Geography in her classrooms? Third, what are the factors contributing to the challenges and difficulties of teaching literacy-based Geography?
Using a qualitative case study approach, I purposefully selected two senior and one junior Geography teachers to participate in this study. Data include classroom observation, field notes, in-depth interviews, lesson plans and other teaching materials from three teachers. Data are analyzed with an open-coding approach in order to capture emerging themes related to the three research questions. I concluded the following findings.
A Geography classroom in Taiwanese public high schools was shaped by the following intertwined factors: teacher’s belief about teaching and learning, MOE’s curricular plan and school time tables, students’ exam outcomes, parents’ beliefs on learning.
In establishing a literacy-based Geography classroom, the dedicated teacher believed that the outcome of teaching was not students’ exam results, but students’ ability to solve problems using Geography knowledge. She organized student-centric discussions that led to clarification of ideas and knowledge production. She perceived students as critical knowledge consumers and producers, while teachers were learning community organizers and facilitators. She worked with other teachers as a community of teaching and learning practices.
Factors that made literacy-based Geography a challenge included the lack of professional development and administrative support within and beyond schools, a dominant learning culture that defined learning and teaching excellence based on students’ exam results, and the tedious daily routines that made teaching professional development an extra burden.
This research enabled senior school teachers, school administrators, education researchers, and policy makers to formulate an in-depth understanding of literacy-based Geography taught by dedicated, senior, and novice teachers. It is worth noting that the three participant teachers do not represent all senior high school Geography teachers in Taiwan.
| en_US |