Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

enrolled in geography courses at post-secondary and tertiary levels. At this criticaltime teachers of geography must have realised the truth in Walford’s (1998) words“the survival of the subject will be dependent on the enthusiasm and expertise ofthose who represent it in the classroom.” (p. 64)Despite the fact that the professional development of teachers is generally not theprimary aim of subject teachers’ associations, the latter can indirectly contributeto it. Definitions of professional development can be broad comprising all forms oflearning undertaken by teachers ranging from courses organised by higher educationinstitutions to private reading. The term can also be used in a narrower sense torefer to post-graduate degrees or in-service training. For the purpose of this paper,Day’s (1999) definition of professional development is to be used:“professional development consists of all natural learning experiences and thoseconscious and planned activities which are intended to be of direct or indirectbenefit to the individual, group or school and which contribute through these tothe quality of education in the classroom.” (p. 4)Within the context of this definition, activities organised by the GTA, that wereaimed at enhancing and refining the knowledge and skills of teachers related tospecific geographical issues may potentially contribute to the professional developmentof participating teachers. Since its setting up the GTA has been organisingthree main types of activities: it annually publishes a set of papers on geographyand geography education, it regularly organises talks on geographical themes and itorganises field trips to areas of geographical interest about six times a year. Throughthese activities, the GTA aims to keep teachers up-dated with latest research ingeography and geography education. It recognises that enthusiastic teachers canutilise the insights they gain through these activities to plan and deliver geographylessons that are more excitingand relevant to the needs of theirstudents. Ultimately the GTAhopes that the participation ofteachers in its activities results inan improvement in the teachingand learning of geography.Figure 1. Teachers’ perteptions of the GTA activities118Teachers’ perceptions of thecontribution of GTA to theirprofessional developmentWith the aim of investigatingteachers’ perceptions of theopportunities for professionaldevelopment that the GTA isoffering them, a questionnairewas distributed amongst geog-