Implementation of a new teaching material in the discipline of geography in primary school: how has the LS enabled teachers to develop new professional knowledge ?

Abstract

The new French-speaking curriculum of Switzerland has changed the approach of some school disciplines, in particular in the field of human sciences and geography. As part of the implementation of this new curriculum, new teaching methods and official teaching materiel have been developed. The objective of the paper is to understand the impact of a LS approach on the appropriation of a new teaching method in the field of geography education. The LS approach facilitates the implementation of curriculum changes (Lewis & Takahashi, 2013). It allows teachers to understand the reforms undertaken and helps them to develop subject-matter knowledge (Fernandez, 20005). This approach provided a collaborative scaffold for understanding the complexity and developing new " pedagogic literacy" (Cajkler & Wood, 2016) by providing a place where teachers can "secondarise" their pedagogical practices (Breithaupt & Pache, 2017). The results show that experienced and non-experienced teachers both enter into the investigation process, adopt the geographical questioning recommended by the curriculum and become more familiar with the new approaches.