This paper takes the form of a dialogue between its main UK based protagonist and three senior geography educationists based in the US. Tasked with debating the current conditions of geography education research and its possible future development, the exchange centers on the efficacy of research in the field and what continuing research efforts can hope to achieve. This is a long standing debate and the article attempts to suggest ways forward, looking outside as well as looking within the field itself.

This paper critically reflects on how transformative learning (TL) is described both conceptually and as a process in the literature in different fields and national contexts. We articulate a definition of TL and justify why geography education is an ideal vehicle for enabling it. This is followed by a series of case studies explaining how TL can be and is being implemented in the curriculum topic of climate change in different countries. The findings of the analysis of the case studies are used to make propositions for further development and enactment of TL in geography education. The insights provided by this paper may help to move the field forward by opening new avenues of research and providing opportunities for cultivating a stronger geography education voice in global discourses about the types of learning required in a time of socio-ecological crisis and rapid societal change. Furthermore, it may provide practical ideas for improving learning and enhancing teaching practices which curriculum developers, learning resource producers, and practitioners may find useful.

The Colloquium on Cartography for Children and Students was initiated in Brazil in 1995. Its tenth meeting was held in 2018 integrated with the first International Meeting on School Cartography and Spatial Thinking. The background, purpose and themes of this integrated conference are outlined, which focused on ‘the different languages in the contemporary world’ within cartography, geography and spatial thinking. The purpose was to share and promote research across all levels of education, foster new directions of study, encourage sharing and collaboration, stimulate debate, and generate publications. The variety of papers given at the conference provided this, illustrating work in cartographic representations, geographic reasoning and urban spaces, cartographic and spatial reasoning from the early years to high school, the potential of geospatial technologies and atlases, cartography and inclusion, and issues in teacher education. The quality of research was high. To develop this continuing work future directions are discussed for geographical, spatial and cartographic research for children and students, drawing on the International Declaration on Research in Geography Education and the Road Map for Large-Scale Improvement of K-12 Geography Education as key documents that offer relevant research questions. Researchers are encouraged to develop their national and international networks to support and extend their studies, and several research directions are suggested for both dimensions.

Understanding of fundamentals of computer science and abilities in programming are becoming more important components of the GIS practitioner's skillset. As the frontiers of GIS expand into areas of inquiry and modes of operation which require such domain capabilities, teaching and instruction in GIS must begin that shift as well. And while the knowledge, skills, and practices of the GIS practitioner have always been in flux, the range of potential topics from computer science and programming to integrate into GIS instruction is a major pedagogical challenge. This paper examines a range of syllabi from variant GIS programming courses to explore the landscape of programming coursework. Through content analysis, these syllabi reveal three general themes: courses built on learning scripting with Python, courses built on learning fundamentals of WebGIS, and courses built on learning fundamentals in geodatabase design and management. While each of these focus areas are impactful skills for GIS learners to explore, there is by no means any consistency or cohesion in how GIS programming courses operate, nor does there seem to be any general resources or approaches to unify course design. More work is necessary among GIS instructors to begin building evidence‐based practices in GIS programming instruction.

"Citation for John Harrington, Jr. 2019 Recipient of the George J Miller Award for Distinguished Service." Journal of Geography, 119(1), pp. 1–2

The purpose of this paper, prepared to present at the 2018 joint Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) and International Geographical Union (IGU) regional conference, is to suggest three strategies, framed as proposals, that geography and geography education can deploy to "save the world." The first proposal is to expand explicit instruction in spatial thinking to close gender-based achievement gaps. The second proposal is to apply research from the learning sciences to develop persuasive geography curricula and instructional materials. The third proposal focuses on ways social media and geospatial technologies can be employed in civic education, an idea termed "spatial citizenship." The paper suggests a re-envisioning of geography education with an enhanced focus on teaching for, in, and about a world that fully appreciates difference and acts on that appreciation.

Earth Science and Geography teacher preparation has developed to some degree along different lines, despite sharing many of the same issues, especially with regard to challenges in teacher education. The conference International Perspectives on Geography and Earth Science Teacher Education 2016 wanted to bring together educators from both sciences from around the world together to move the debate about these challenges forward. From the research presentations and the discussion during and after the conference, several issues emerged: (1) the importance of the two subjects not losing sight of each other; (2) the need to overcome language barriers; (3) the question of standards/objectives for geography teacher education (e.g. with regard to teachers' (P)CK); (4) media used in teacher education (including ways to improve them); (5) ways to improve learners' geography and earth science content knowledge; and (6) strategies to increase teachers' professionalism. We already suggest some specific steps teacher educators in the two fields can take to improve teacher education. Yet, it also became clear that more research and strengthening international collaborations are needed, as well as better communication of the results of these efforts to practitioners.

This chapter concludes the book and calls for further research on global understanding. First, there is a need for a detailed definition and operationalization of the concept of global understanding. This is necessary to develop robust research projects within and across regions and nations. Research in geography education, particularly as related to such a nebulous but important topic as global understanding, must be evidence-based; link to relevant theory; use appropriate and effective methods; provide a detailed, coherent chain of reasoning to link evidence to theory; describe procedures in sufficient detail to allow replication across cultural, economic, and social contexts; be generalizable in a range of settings and populations; and exhibit scholarship through dissemination, peer review, and public scrutiny. Second, it is essential to develop a focused, concerted, systematic framework to guide research, a research agenda for global understanding. Achieving consensus on a set of research questions may provide a starting place and an agenda and direction for geography education research on global understanding.

This paper argues that spatial thinking can effect positive change in individuals and society. Spatial thinking plays a role in shaping young people’s capacities to learn and to function in society and thus is valuable enough that it should be explicitly taught to learners beginning at very young ages. Spatial thinking, supported by maps and geospatial technologies as appropriate, can be used to create active, participatory, and emancipated youth engaged in spatial citizenship. Modern society will benefit from a spatially literate population with an enhanced understanding of the world as seen through the key concepts of geography: space, place, scale, power, and human-environment relationships. Critical geography education must have the goal of teaching for a better, more just world.

This chapter examines the roles spatial and geospatial thinking and geospatial technologies may play in citizenship education in the United States in the first decades of the 21st century, a time of uncertainty, disruption, and rapid change. Geospatial technologies not only influence our ways of thinking but also affect the relationships people have with each other and with the world in which they live. Geography has historically played a small but important role in citizenship education in the United States. The notion of citizenship has been important in the United States throughout its history. The geography has played a role in serving visions of citizenship education in the United States and is now involved in developing personally responsible citizens through service learning. As interest in citizenship has grown, concern about young Americans' understanding of core ideas and principles related to civics has arisen.

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the ways that geography has participated in the past in citizenship education. It discusses conceptual understanding of citizenship rather than on operational or procedural classifications and regulations related to obtaining citizenship. It focuses on institutional and developmental issues related to citizenship education. The book discusses the important link between teacher education and spatial citizenship. All events take place in space— Earth space—and the relations among people, places, and environments are spatial. The book also examines how citizenship education can be fostered in our current hyper-connected, Internet-focused world through geospatial technologies and social media. It explores the use of a range of geospatial technologies and provides a rich guide to how to use such technologies in school settings.

CyberGIS is an interdisciplinary field that merges components of cyber‐infrastructure, geographic information science, and spatial analysis. This fusion combines the technical capabilities of advanced cyber‐infrastructure with the spatial analysis capabilities of GIS. How expert GIS practitioners perceive, use, and value the various components of CyberGIS is unknown, making student preparation for CyberGIS competency difficult. To address this gap, we reviewed the CyberGIS literature to develop a set of 37 key CyberGIS concepts. Then, we used Q‐methodology to interview 20 expert GIS users to understand the components of CyberGIS they viewed as most applicable to their GIS practice. Three distinct conceptions of CyberGIS expertise emerged: the spatial analyst, the domain‐specific problem solver, and the CyberGIS‐enabled computer scientist. The CyberGIS‐enabled computer scientist emphasized the underlying technologies which allow spatial analysts to discover and implement advanced methods and processes in GIS, which are then utilized by problem solvers to address domain‐focused issues. These three contrasting perceptions of CyberGIS expertise raise questions about the nature of curriculum and instruction appropriate to develop competent CyberGIS practitioners. With the identified variety of expert practices concerning CyberGIS, confusing practices and contrasting visions of the nature of CyberGIS reveal a need for instructional organization.

O'Neill ask the question, "Does history matter in education research?"They proceed to answer as yes and to provide a brief summary of the articles selected for this special issue focusing on, "…cutting-edge, visionary research on critical education issues that substantively moves the field…into the next 100 years" (p.6S).As a geographer, when I read these articles and accompanying commentaries, I thought that actually, geography matters as well.McCarty et al. cluster the submissions into four categories based on themes.The first "suite" of articles examines race, ethnicity and schooling experiences, all of which have distinct spatial patterns

This article examines Advanced Placement Human Geography (AP HG) in the context of its place in efforts to reform geography education. It presents a critical analysis of the AP program and its curriculum, asserting that it represents powerful knowledge as conceptualized by Young. It concludes with a call for research in AP HG aligned with recommendations to focus geography education research. Geographers in higher education are encouraged to embrace AP HG as a mechanism to recruit students and majors.

Geographic information systems (GIS) are fundamental information technologies. The capabilities and applications of GIS continue to rapidly expand, requiring practitioners to have new skills and competencies, especially in computer science. There is little research, however, about how best to prepare the next generation of GIScientists with adequate computer science skills. This article explores how U.S. geography departments are introducing and developing computer science and programming skills in their geography and GIS degree programs. We review the degree requirements in fifty-five geography departments and discover that forty-four of them offer some kind of GIS programming course. Of the 210 separate degree options identified, however, only 22 require one of these courses for a degree. There is little consistency or emphasis on computer science and programming skills in geography or GIS degrees, despite the immense importance of these components in geography and GIS careers. We propose future research along distinct investigative tracks to build a research-based understanding of the educational interactions among GIS, computer science, programming, and geography.

I wish to thank Rebecca Theobald for the invitation to contribute to this issue of The Geography Teacher (TGT), her second as editor. As a member of the National Council for Geographic Education (N...