Integraal waterbeheer in het nieuwe eindexamenprogramma aardrijkskunde

Abstract

This master thesis focuses on the pedagogical content knowledge of geography teachers in senior general education (HAVO) and the upper grades of pre-university secondary education (VWO) in the Netherlands with regard to the teaching of integrated water management and integrated thinking. How they developed this pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as a result of a change in the final examination program of borth HAVO and VWO is also investigated. Research was carried out by means of a literature study into the concept of PCK as well as empirical research to uncover the PCK of teachers, for which six experienced teachers were interviewed who teach in upper secondary education. The results show that teachers to a greater or lesser extent have an incomplete or incorrect picture of the concepts of integrated water management and integrated thinking. The content knowledge of teachers about integrated water management and integrated thinking is limited, and this influences the way they teach about this subject. The teachers rely heavily on their general didactic knowledge to teach this subject, combined with knowledge they acquire through their students’ textbooks, from the internet or from government agencies. Teachers mainly focus on interconnections and interrelationships when teaching about integrated water management and integrated thinking, but neglect to pay attention to other components that are relevant to the concepts. Since the introduction of the topic of integrated water management in the geography curriculum, teachers seem to have had little development about this concept. The way in which the teachers have developed the way they teach about this subject as a result of the change in the final examination program is diverse, but is based more on formal training such as courses, training courses and professional literature rather than on their practical experience.