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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol.7, No.6

Publication Date: June 25, 2020

DOI:10.14738/assrj.76.8194.

Nuwategeka, E., & Odama, S. (2020) Training of Geography Teachers for Secondary Schools at University in Uganda: An Analysis of Gulu

University Teacher Trainees’ Teaching Practice. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(6) 271-279.

Training of Geography Teachers for Secondary Schools at

University in Uganda: An Analysis of Gulu University

Teacher Trainees’ Teaching Practice

Expedito Nuwategeka

Lecturer, Gulu University, Faculty of Education and Humanities,

Department of Geography, Gulu, Uganda.

Stephen Odama

Lecturer, Gulu University, Faculty of Education and Humanities,

Department of Foundations of Education, Gulu, Uganda.

ABSTRACT

The changes in learner characteristics and the learning environment in

the twenty first century calls for adjustments in teacher training to meet

the needs of the contemporary learners. This study analyses training of

geography teachers at Gulu University with the view of assessing the

application of contemporary geography teaching methodologies for the

twenty first century learners. Time- series data were collected from

teacher trainees’ lesson plans used during school practice running for

three consecutive years of 2016, 2017, and 2018. Teaching methods as

well as types of instructional materials were extracted from eighty one

lessons taught by teacher trainees in thirty six schools in both rural and

urban Uganda. Using SPSS 16.0 software, data was analysed to generate

frequencies, counts and cross-tabulations. Findings reveal that question

and answer method was the most used while guided discovery was the

least used, followed by demonstration. Fieldwork and project methods

were not used at all. It was also found out that in 12% of all the lessons,

there was no use of instructional materials in the teaching/learning

process. The study recommends that the curriculum structure of future

geography teacher trainees be improved to factor in contemporary

teaching styles which use modern teaching equipment relevant to the

current generation of technology and learners, and the training of

lecturers who mentor geography teacher trainees at universities be

institutionalized.

Key words: teaching methods; geography; teacher trainees; instructional

materials.

INTRODUCTION

Teacher training practices require constant revision in order to produce teachers who are abreast

with current trends in pedagogy. As such, teacher training should always incorporate new and

emerging pedagogical techniques so that the newly trained teachers are able to apply the

techniques in actual teaching and learning environments. Contemporary teaching approaches focus

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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.76.8194 272

Nuwategeka, E., & Odama, S. (2020) Training of Geography Teachers for Secondary Schools at University in Uganda: An Analysis of Gulu University Teacher

Trainees’ Teaching Practice. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(6) 271-279.

on fostering students to construct new scientific knowledge as a process of inquiry rather than

having them act as passive learners memorizing stated scientific facts [1]. Teachers therefore have

to be informed of the changes in the methodology of delivering content to the learners in order to

achieve effective learning. Teacher training for secondary schools produces subject-specific

teachers; and one of the subjects which span secondary schools as well as university curricular is

geography.

Geography as defined by Kagoda [2] is a discipline which seeks to explain the character of places

and the distribution of features and events as they occur and change the surface of the Earth. This

means geography is a dynamic, not a static subject; and therefore, its teaching methodologies keep

changing as well. By its nature, geography can be categorized among both the natural as well as the

social sciences. This view is reinforced by [2] that geography is an interdisciplinary subject which

is practical in nature and requires use of strategies that give the learner hands-on experiences. This

unique classification of the subject ensures that the teaching methods for the subject draw from the

sciences and the arts methodologies.

The quality of the teacher and his/her work with students in teaching geography does not only

depend on a good knowledge of the mere profession, but also on the quality use of the best

achievements of modern pedagogical science [3]. Good knowledge of the psychological aspects of

working with students, in addition to qualifications of a geography teacher, most certainly implies

his/her methodological competence.

Methodological competence of geography teachers are rooted in their training in the teacher

training colleges and universities. To this end, inculcating the contemporary methodologies among

the teacher trainees is an end in ensuring the learners at secondary school levels acquire

geographical knowledge to solve contemporary environmental and development problems.

Teaching methods in geography may not be necessarily new as pointed out by [4], instead, the use

of technology in the classroom has simply given education a new lease of life allowing us to

approach old ideas in new ways. Such technology may include, for example, use of computers in

teaching, social media, and blogs. Audio-visual aids are some of the instructional devices which are

used in the classroom to encourage learning and make it easier and motivating. Other material like

models, charts, film strips, projectors, radio, television, maps, artifacts or props are as well cited as

examples that may aid the teaching/learning process [5]. Relatedly, modern techniques

recommended for geography teachers are problem-solving, small group discussion, project

participation and cooperative learning like field work, role plays, game, and music [6]. This

therefore calls for new approaches in teaching and learning; like blended learning, problem-based

learning, which a twenty first century geography teacher must be equipped with.

In Uganda, since there is little or no additional training to teachers after leaving universities and

other teacher training colleges [6], it is imperative that teacher trainees get exposed to all the

pedagogical skills while still under instruction in teacher training institutions. As such, geography

teaching methods used by teacher trainees may be a proxy for evaluating the application of new

teaching methods at secondary schools. Gulu University is one of the several teacher-training

institutions in Uganda. This study focuses on the training of geography teachers for the secondary

schools. The training at the University is a three years programme involving training students in

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.7, Issue 6, June-2020

geography pedagogical skills. At the end of the second and third years during the training, trainees

are placed in secondary schools to practice the acquired skills under the supervision of different

mentors. The practicum is, among other things, aimed at ensuring the new and emerging teaching

techniques are implemented in the real classroom situation; and ultimately on the job when they

complete the training. The objective of the study was to analyse the teaching methods and

instructional materials employed by teacher trainees, and assess how the methods compare with

the current global trends in geography teaching at secondary schools.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Secondary data sources, particularly review of documents was the primary method of data

collection. Teacher trainees’ lesson preparation books for geography used while on placement in

secondary schools were reviewed. This method was chosen because during the school practice

activity, students always summon all the teaching methods they have been trained in due to the fact

that they are always expecting a mentor to supervise their classes. The supervision is always scored;

and therefore, the student teachers naturally use a variety of teaching methods with different

learning environments so that they increase their chances of scoring highly. Secondly, the teacher

trainees’ lesson preparation books can be used as a proxy to evaluate the lecturers on the variety

of teaching methods they expose their trainees to since the school practice environment is the one

that facilitates the observation of these methods.

Consequently, 81 geography lessons spread over a training period of three years starting 2016 to

2018 were reviewed. Statistical methods to determine the frequencies of the teaching methods in

each of the year were computed using SPSS 16.0 software. This was aimed at identifying the types

of teaching methods used, and the frequency with which it was used. A time series analysis of the

methods was done to determine if there were changes in the methods over the period of three

training years (as a proxy of exposing students to new emerging methodologies, and dropping the

old irrelevant methodologies).

Apart from the teaching methods, the study also documented the types and frequency of

instructional materials used in all the 81 lessons. This was because for effective learning to happen,

teaching/learning aids must be used to enhance the methods.

There was a mix in the category of secondary schools sampled where the students conducted their

practice to include both rural and urban schools, government-aided versus private schools. This

was aimed at controlling the issue of resources (material and financial) to fund the implementation

of the different teaching methods.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Teaching methods used by teacher trainees

Results from the study indicate that on average, teacher trainees used very few methods for

teaching geography. Across all the three years of 2016, 2017, and 2018, eight methods were used

to teach geography. In each of the years, all eight were used; meaning there is a constant re- application of the methods without applying any new ones or discarding the irrelevant ones. A

geography teacher is supposed to use a variety of teaching strategies to make geography fun,

interesting, motivating, leading to effective learning [2]. Figure 1 summarizes the teaching methods

that were used by teacher trainees.