Abstract
This chapter introduces a methodological framework for qualitative geographical education research for international contexts. I use this framework to explore the status quo and opportunities of Education for Sustainable Development through fieldwork, document analyses and an intervention study in India. I argue that geographical education research needs to be embedded in its socio-cultural context by considering how power relations and cultural norms reflected in educational systems shape pedagogic practice. Against this background, I discuss the applied research methods of participant and classroom observations, qualitative interviews, focus group discussions, action research, and questionnaires and I critically reflected in their application to geographical education research. The process of selecting and accessing schools for extensive fieldwork is described. Finally, I reflect on the role and the perspective of the researcher against the setting of the cultural context.
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Notes
- 1.
Khasi is an indigenous matrilineal ethnic group of Meghalaya and Assam in northeastern India.
- 2.
Although usually not the native language, English is used as medium of instruction. First introduced during colonialism under the British Empire, English plays a central role in education and business.
- 3.
Code-switching was mentioned in teacher interviews and observed in classrooms in March 2012.
- 4.
The class background stated for each school is not verified by socio-economic data, but based on the statements of principals and teachers, as well as other educational stakeholders who were familiar with these schools. The heterogenity of middle classes in opposition to simple and idealized images of the new middle class in India was studied in detail by Fernandes (2006).
- 5.
CBSE board exams are for the weaker students of the school, according to a teacher of the school.
- 6.
Sequences for transcription were introductory and concluding lesson sections, scenes of increasing density of interaction or changing interaction and position patterns (e.g., discontinuities in teacher–student communication, change of teaching methods).
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Leder, S. (2018). A Framework for Qualitative Geographical Education Research. In: Transformative Pedagogic Practice. Education for Sustainability. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2369-0_5
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