J-READING Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography

Geographical Education in an Increasingly Complex World: What, How, and Why

2026-05-11T09:22:25+00:00

This article examines the interplay between geographical research, teaching and societal change, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for geography education in a rapidly evolving and complex world. It discusses the integration of research-based knowledge into teaching practice, the relevance of Public and Participatory Geography and the framework of What, How and Why for curriculum design. Drawing on both international literature and the Italian tradition of geography education, the article emphasizes the potential of geography to foster critical thinking, environmental awareness and active citizenship among students.

Critical Thinking in Turkish High School Geography Curriculum: A Component-Based Analysis

2026-04-05T23:17:14+00:00

This study examines the 2024 Turkish high school geography curriculum in terms of how critical thinking is embedded across its aims, learning areas, learning outcomes, disciplinary skills, and assessment guidance. Adopting a qualitative design, the study uses document analysis and directed content analysis based on six dimensions of critical thinking: inquiry, use of evidence, comparison, cause-effect reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. Findings show that critical thinking is not presented as a single declarative goal but is distributed through process-oriented verbs and curriculum structures. Across grade levels, use of evidence and cause-effect reasoning are the most visible dimensions, whereas decision making is the least represented. Inquiry and comparison become more pronounced in the upper grades, while problem solving and decision making are concentrated especially in the unit on disasters and sustainable environment. The curriculum therefore provides a strong basis for data-based reasoning, geographical interpretation, and multi-perspective thinking; however, the classroom enactment of critical thinking still depends heavily on teachers' task design and assessment literacy. The study concludes that the curriculum would be strengthened by more explicit performance indicators, model tasks, and rubric-supported assessment tools aligned with critical-thinking outcomes.

How Map Type Shapes Student Questioning: Evidence from Choropleth and Dasymetric Population Density Maps

2026-03-30T16:33:30+00:00

Although maps are widely used in geography education, there is limited knowledge about how different types of maps influence students’ engagement with spatial information. This issue is particularly relevant in secondary education, where students are still developing both map skills and the ability to formulate questions. This study addresses the gap by examining student-generated questions about two maps of world population density represented using different cartographic methods: a choropleth map and a dasymetric map. The analysis is based on 869 questions produced by 176 students in grades 6–9 of two lower-secondary schools. It investigates whether map type and students’ age are related to the number of questions students ask, as well as to their content focus and cognitive demand. The results show that students generated significantly more questions for the choropleth map and that this map was also preferred by most of them. The number of questions generally increased with age/grade level. Older students more often focused on the thematic content of the maps, whereas younger students attended more to visual and representational aspects. Although most questions remained at lower cognitive levels, the dasymetric map and older students were associated with a slightly higher proportion of questions requiring more cognitively demanding processes. The study shows that map type influences not only students’ work with thematic maps but also the character of their questioning.

Encouraging Finnish early childhood education student teachers to sense their everyday environments through photo-walks

2026-03-09T14:22:00+00:00

This article addresses the persistent challenge in early childhood teacher education of moving beyond nature–human dualisms toward more relational, posthumanistic understandings of the environment. To examine how such thinking can be fostered, the study investigates a photo‑walk assignment completed by 104 Finnish early childhood education student teachers, who produced 55 essays and accompanying photographs reflecting on their immediate surroundings. Using reflexive thematic analysis, the study explores how the student teachers interpreted their photo‑walk experiences, which environmental education themes they drew upon and what conceptual or practical difficulties emerged. The findings show that when student teachers meaningfully engaged with the task, they identified nonhuman traces, material and sensory invitations and metaphoric re‑worldings that decentred human agency. The essays also highlighted inquiry‑based exploration, multispecies relations, sensory and seasonal awareness and the pedagogical potential of everyday urban environments. However, the analysis also revealed conceptual misunderstandings of posthumanism, a tendency toward aestheticised landscape photography and challenges in operationalising relational noticing. The study concludes that photo‑walks can support the development of environmental sensitivity and more‑than‑human awareness, but explicit pedagogical scaffolding is needed. These insights offer practical implications for designing learning activities that strengthen relational, multisensory and place‑based approaches in early childhood education.