Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

development experience. Whilst Craft (2000) acknowledges the different levels ofimpact of professional development identified by Joyce and Showers (1988), sheargues that an improvement in pupils’ learning should ultimately be the goal ofteachers’ professional development. The findings of this survey indicate that theGTA activities are not merely serving to raise their awareness and updating theirglobal knowledge but also to plan lessons that include up-to-date information andexamples and fieldtrips to new sites. Whilst the influence of these on pupils’ learningwas beyond the scope of this study, it might safely be assumed that an improvementin pupils’ learning is more likely to be registered in classes where teachers bringgeography at the research frontiers closer to their students. Thus it might be arguedthat GTA activities are achieving the maximum level of impact identified by Joyceand Showers (1988), that is application, and Craft’s (2000) ultimate goal of professionaldevelopment, that is an improvement in pupils’ learning.Adey (2004), whilst criticising traditional professional development courses forteachers for their lack of teacher involvement and passive lecturing-style, claims thatprofessional development of teachers can be effectively achieved by giving teachersthe time and means to learn from one another. This feature is probably one of thestrengths of GTA activities, in bringing teachers of geography from different levelsof the educational system together, teachers are given the opportunity to exchangeideas on curriculum matters and to discuss issues that are at the heart of their dayto day practice.Adey’s (2004) strong belief in teacher-to-teacher learning indicates the directionthat future GTA activities could follow in order to enhance its contributionto teachers’ professional development. The GTA should further capitalise on thestrengths of all its member teachers by encouraging participation in collaborativeprojects both between teachers within the same educational setting and betweenteachers from different levels of schooling. GTA could also play an important rolein encouraging and, perhaps, facilitating the participation of Maltese teachersof geography in European and international projects and research work thusexposing its members to developments in geography and geography education inother countries.ConclusionThe results of this survey indicate that geography teachers’ associations can havean important role in the professional development of their members, despite this notbeing their primary objective. Through their activities teachers’ associations canmake geography at the research frontiers more accessible to teachers of geography.Through their expertise in pedagogy teachers can transform the latest geographyto meet the learning needs of their students and the requirements of the curriculum– a process that benefits the individual teacher, the status of geography in schoolsand the quality of geography education.120