TXST leads initiative for improving geography curriculums across the United States

“Geography is different now from when I was a geography major,” said Boehm, director of the Grosvenor Center and co-director of the National Center for Research in Geography Education. “There are hundreds of professions that geographers can fit right into, and they have skills, the right skills, to do so.”

Boehm became chairman of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies in 1977 when it was made up of a mere six people. Even then, he successfully led the way in creating an applied geography program to make geography more practical and to allow graduates to gain the necessary skills for the job market. Boehm and the geography faculty helped to establish the first Ph.D. programs at TXST at a time when there were “very few campuses across the country where geography had taken the lead.”

He further explained the need for Powerful Geography’s expansion by saying, “We are one of the most diverse countries in the world and yet, we ask every child in the classroom to learn the same content and skills in the same way, with no consideration of their desires, aspirations or life goals. Let’s teach and learn a meaningful type of geography.”

Powerful Geography not only addresses the curriculum but also how geography teachers should be educated so that they can empower students. Boehm surveyed over 1,100 teachers and discovered that more than 93% of them took three hours or less of a geography class in their undergraduate degrees. This highlights how most teachers in Texas have an inadequate background in geography. And, in reality, a percentage of TXST’s freshman geography students want to be teachers.

The goal of Powerful Geography is to bridge this gap in geographic education by providing resources and highly specialized training, and TXST has taken the lead.

“It begins with paying attention to students' aspirations, goals in life, and molding geography to fit these aspirations,” he said. “Once a teacher knows these things about a student, the teacher can be creative by integrating geographic content and skills that are relevant to the student. This content is necessary to improve societal issues such as climate change, energy, migration, tourism, transportation, environmental hazards, infrastructure rebuilding, and the military.”

Zadrozny is a senior research associate of the Grosvenor Center. Her research analyzes alignment among national and state geography standards. She recently surveyed over 500 geography students in K-12 education to find out their interests and how geography teachers can engage them in meaningful lessons.

“What we learned from the data is that a lot of students are interested in the creative path, which includes sports, arts, and entertainment, as compared to jobs where students have little interest, such as manufacturing, production, or trade,” Zadrozny said. “Powerful Geography gives teachers more freedom to teach the geography content aligned with the student’s interests.”

The survey also shows that geography plays a role in the career-specific interest of students. Students in Wichita Falls were more interested in agriculture and ranching (under the nature career path) than any other group of students. Students in San Antonio had a high interest in medical (health path) and tourism (helping path).

Powerful Geography was created to specifically have an impact on the K-12 curriculum. Zadrozny emphasized how “the skills and the content that is learned in K-12 geography can be so vital for any student. It’s where geography can ignite passion and lead to meaningful careers.”

Bren Vander Weil is a fourth-year doctoral student in geographic education, a geography instructor, and a leader of the newly established Geographic Education Leadership Academy alongside Skylar Slaughter-Murphy, also a fourth-year doctoral student in the geographic education program. He hopes to form a synergy and a sense of community amongst educators in geography through the academy by using Powerful Geography, which can cause a ripple effect throughout the country.

“The idea with our leadership academy is to have knowledge trickle down and create teachers who act as influencers,” Vander Weil said. “They can then talk to others about how to use this content at different levels to make it more engaging and relevant to the student interest and their locale.”

Through a fully online Ph.D. program in geography education that boasts 20 students, TXST is broadening participation in the field and getting more culturally responsive content out on a global scale. Boehm describes the program as “unique in the U.S. and thus providing leadership for career and goals-based learning in geography and other subjects. Textbooks are acknowledging this trend.”

The Powerful Geography website includes publications, lesson plans, student resources, professional development videos, testimonies, and implementation processes. In addition, the newly published book on Powerful Geography edited by Michael Solem, Ph.D., Boehm, and Zadrozny serves as a wealth of information for aspiring geography educators and chronicles Powerful Geography experiences in the schools of 12 countries.

The Grosvenor Center is a sponsor of the 2024 AGX SWAAG Joint Annual Conference at TXST from Oct. 6-8 in the LBJ Student Center in San Marcos and will have a booth, panel discussion, and Powerful Geography information session. The center will also host the Geography Strand at the Texas Council for the Social Studies Conference at Kalahari Resort in Round Rock from Oct. 31-Nov. 3.