Turkish geography trainee teachers' perceptions of geography

This study examines Turkish geography trainee teachers' perceptions of geography as a discipline and perceptions of the aim of geographical education. This study pursues the ideas of Catling (2004) Catling, S. 2004. An understanding of geography: The perspectives of English primary trainee teachers. Geo Journal, 60(2): 149–158. [Google Scholar] and uses his classification. The sample in the research consists of 136 geography trainees at six different universities in Turkey. The questionnaire with two open-ended questions was conducted with geography trainee teachers and coding was preferred according to Catling's categories. The most commonly held perceptions among the geography trainees were “interactionist” and “earthist” perceptions of geography as a discipline. However, the “environmentalist” view was the dominant among trainees concerning purposes of teaching geography. Other results are presented in detail in the study.