CHANGES IN CARTOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION CONCEPTS: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM A COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP AMONG GEOGRAPHY TEACHERS

Abstract

For decades teachers working with basic education have promoted the integration of cartographic representations/maps in the teaching and learning of different subject matters, mainly in Geography. Also, for quite some time teachers have been suggesting that there are serious problems in both teaching and learning through maps. Therefore, we investigated whether the creation of a collaborative partnership in a process of continuing education can help geography teachers revisit their approach of cartographic representation in teaching maps. The proposed activity aimed at making conceptual changes in cartographic representations and hence contributing to improvements in the teaching experience. We observed that the conceptual definitions established by the group allowed teachers to feel more confident about the cartographic representations/maps. However, the problems encountered when working with the representations and concepts can be explained by the way teachers viewed the teaching, learning and knowledge processes.