Evaluating Lesson Methodology Among Pre-Service Geography Teachers: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study Based on a University Mentor’s Records

The integration of school-based practice remains central to preparing pre-service geography teachers (PSTs) for the classroom. This study examines how PSTs at the University of Niš (Serbia) applied teaching methods and classroom organization formats over a nine-year period, using the same evaluation instrument and research procedure with successive generations of PSTs, while also considering the role of university and school-based mentors within the teaching practicum. Based on university evaluators’ assessments, the findings indicate an overall intermediate level of methodological competence, with variation across individual components of teaching practice. The lowest scores were observed for the expository teaching method and the application of functional tasks, whereas higher scores were recorded for communication with students and the use of teaching resources. School-based mentors also played an important role in the teaching practicum by supervising PSTs’ school-based activities and providing feedback on their teaching. These findings highlight the need to further strengthen PSTs’ methodological competencies, particularly in more demanding areas of teaching practice, while also emphasizing the importance of structured mentoring and closer collaboration between university and school-based mentors.