El docente y el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la geografía en la escuela primaria

Reflexiones sobre las contribuciones de la noción de actividad didáctica

Resumen

Abstract

 In France, for thirty years, research in the didactics of geography in elementary school has focused on a variety of research objects. A significant portion of the research concerns teachers (their representations of geography and relationships with schooling) and their teaching practices. Although these studies indicate the state of progress of the didactics of geography in elementary school, they shed little light on teachers as actor-subjects and their role in the teaching/learning process. In order to further explore this issue, which links together the action as it manifests in teaching practices with its author, in recent years we have conducted many research projects on the didactic activity that takes place inside and outside the classroom at the elementary level. This article addresses the theoretical and methodological issues with which researchers are faced when they try to describe the didactic activity of generalist teachers who teach geography in elementary school. A few results are presented and discussed. Finally, beyond the epistemic designs underlying our research, we consider that better understanding actual activity may contribute to the evolution of teacher training for the teaching of geography. Consequently, we suggest in the conclusion a number of avenues for improving teacher education.

Keywords: Didactics of geography, teaching activity, elementary school, generalist teachers.