We must develop thinkers, not crammers and fact experts

(Press-News.org) Hilde Storrøsæter is worried about the teaching of geography in schools.

Geography as a school subject is under pressure. There aren't enough qualified teachers and it loses out to other subjects in school. In many countries, important aspects are left out of the geography curricula. 

"Alarm bells should be ringing, both in the field and among teachers in schools. The development we are seeing in geography as a subject is critical. This failure affects the students' ability to understand how things are connected in a troubled and confusing world," she said.

Storrøsæter is a geographer and assistant professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's Department of Teacher Education. She works with teacher education, and addresses issues that are important for the justification and selection of subject matter, teaching and learning in the subject.

Thinking geographically Along with colleagues in nine countries, Storrøsæter has analysed the national curricula for geography in upper secondary school. They have examined what the plans say about what is taught and how it is to be taught.

Despite the fact that the concept of "geographical thinking" is the foundation of geography, none of the nine countries' curricula have described it clearly.

"Geographical thinking is a way of understanding and interpreting the world through geographical knowledge," Storrøsæter said.

Thinking "geographically" means  understanding challenges such as climate change, globalization and resource management. And about seeing connections between places, people, the environment and development.

Critical deficiencies found Another important concept is place.  Researchers call this a fundamental core concept in geographic thinking. Surprisingly; In the subject curricula, this is hardly emphasized.

"We see these as critical shortcomings," says Storrøsæter.

The study "An international perspective on geography curricula: paving a way forward for geographical thinking" was published in International Geographical and Environmental Education on 6 June 2025.

The nine countries studied are Australia, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Norway, Slovakia, South Africa and the United States.

Sustainability, nature loss and choice "Geography is the only school subject that connects topics within nature and society. It builds a bridge between us humans and the world we have created and live in," Storrøsæter said.

The tension between nature and society is becoming more and more prevalent around us. It's particularly visible in issues of sustainability and development, the loss of nature in favour of roads, or choices that took everyone by surprise: the UK's Brexit from the EU, and Donald Trump's first victory in the US presidential election.

"People vote differently based on where they live. They may live in places that have exploited their environment and their resources. When society then develops in a different direction, many are filled with a great sense of loss. This, in turn, has an impact on how people vote in elections," she said.

Missing the big picture The study also addresses ways of thinking, such as creative and future-oriented thinking, and about how we think. This is almost completely absent from several countries' curricula. The consequence of this may be that teaching geography only becomes relevant to the classroom and not to life outside school.

"If we remove the thinking, we are left with the facts. Then we lose the whole," she said.

Buying water in a plastic bottle If students are to be able to assess the consequences of their own choices, such as what they eat, how they travel, or where they live, they need to master forward-looking and geographical thinking. Being able to analyse a world situation, or a local situation such as oil exploration off Lofoten, equips pupils for the world they are growing up in and will inherit.

"It's about connecting one's own actions to global contexts, and imagining different futures. Take plastic pollution. What do you actually pay for when you buy bottled water? After all, clean water is free, so what you're really paying for is the production of plastic bottles," Storrøsæter said.

The teachers' toolbox The subject curricula constitute the somewhat slim toolbox that teachers bring with them into the classrooms. There, they are meant to ensure that the young people practice their ability to think, understand, interpret and cope with challenges in everyday life - now and in the future. Many of the tools to make this happen have to be created by the teachers  themselves.

Teachers often talk about complicated relationships, such as climate change.

"To understand climate change, pupils must be able to see the connection between local floods and global emission patterns. This does not only require knowledge of weather and climate. It requires the ability to see the big picture and chains of causes that cut across countries and scales," Storrøsæter said. She herself has 9 years of experience as a teacher in Norwegian upper secondary schools.

Locked in France, wide open in Norway The study is the first of its kind, and was put into practice because geography is under pressure in many countries.

The researchers hope to contribute to more precise curricula, better education policies, and better support for teachers. The analysis emphasizes whether learning objectives are mentioned in the subject curricula and does not say anything about the extent to which they are included.

Comparison was not a goal, but some differences became clear. France's curriculum is concrete and inflexible. There, the subject is composed of geography and history, with many more history teachers than geography teachers teaching the subject. Norway and Denmark have very open and interpretable goals.

Missing critical thinking No country scores high on everything, but Norway generally comes out well. The important creative and future-oriented thinking and metacognitive thinking that is about how we think is completely absent in Denmark and France.

Some of this may be due to the fact that in Denmark, geography is a science subject, while in France it is taught together with history. Metacognitive thinking is also not mentioned in South Africa and the United States' curricula. Australia lacks clearly stated curriculum goals on 7 out of 8 points that deal with ways of thinking, China lacks 5 out of 8, and the Czech Republic 6 out of 8.

"The plan gives room, but not direction" In Norway, the plan provides a lot of room, but little direction, Storrøsæter said. Geography is a social science in Norway, and  the country lacsk teachers. Pupils can go through their entire school education without encountering a single teacher with special expertise in geography.

The subject has been cut down to 90 minutes a week in upper secondary school. New students present with increasingly weaker prior knowledge. Those who educate geography teachers see that the subject is becoming less and less important.

"When the teachers who are going to interpret the open Norwegian curriculum do not have enough academic ballast, the teaching is further weakened,"  Storrøsæter said.

Not just crammers Are you worried on behalf of your own profession?

"Yes, but also hopeful. I'm concerned because teacher shortages, lack of requirements for the teacher's competence and weak subject curricula result in low quality of pupils' learning. Hopeful because the research and focus on geographical thinking is getting bigger, and I feel it can be used to improve students' learning, teacher education and curriculum development," she said.

"It is certainly not a goal that all countries should end up with the same curricula," Storrøsæter added.

"But we should have some common ambitions. Such as connecting geography to major topics such as sustainability, community development and citizenship. To develop thinkers, not just fact-checkers and crammers," she added.

Reference: Tomáš  Bendl, Hilde Storrøsæter, Lene Møller Madsen, David Trokšiar, Raphaële de la Martinière, Shanshan Liu, Sizakele Serame, Jerry T. Mitchell, Péter Bagoly-Simó, Yushan Duan, Gillian Kidman: «An international perspective on geography curricula: paving a way forward for geographical thinking» Geographical and Environmental Education https://doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2025.2513535

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