Pre-Service Geography Teachers’ Pedagogical Competence in Their Minor Subjects: Implications for Teacher Education

Abstract Assessment of pre-service teachers’ pedagogical preparedness to teach their minor subjects has received no attention in the teacher education literature. This study therefore assesses pre-service geography teachers’ pedagogical competence in their minor subjects, which included Political Science, Economics, History, and Economics. Pedagogical competence was conceptualised using three constructs adapted from the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework: Pedagogical Knowledge, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge. Through a survey, a total of 182 pre-service geography teachers participated in the study. The obtained empirical data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation. A one-way MANOVA test was conducted to explore the differences in the pre-service teachers’ pedagogical competence based on minor subject classifications. The results showed that the pre-service geography teachers had relatively higher Pedagogical Knowledge in their minor subject compared with Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge. There was a significant effect of minor subject classifications on the level of Pedagogical Knowledge, with higher scores reported among the Economics minor group. Implications of the findings for teacher education curriculum frameworks are discussed, among other recommendations.