Map Use in Geography Lessons: Teachers’ Concepts of Map-Based Argumentation

Abstract In the context of civic education, teaching map-based argumentation skills is essential to enable learners to participate in finding solutions to social challenges. Based on the assumption that teachers’ beliefs have a significant influence on lesson design and thus on students’ learning success, a study was conducted to investigate the beliefs of geography teachers regarding their conceptual understanding of map-based argumentation. An analysis of the interviews made it possible to categorize various conceptual understandings and showed that the majority of geography teachers have a rudimentary understanding of the concept or one that deviates from the didactic understanding of the concept. As a result, the teachers ascribe insufficient importance to map-based argumentation skills. In conclusion, the resulting consequences for teaching practice were discussed, and starting points for optimizing the implementation of the concept were identified.