Deconstructing the hidden imbalances in geography teacher education: a Fibonacci framework for ITE curriculum revision

With geography teacher educators (GTE) research still scarce, we introduce the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio as analytical tools for examining the balance of initial teacher education (ITE) for future geography teachers. Drawing on 46 in-depth interviews with GTE from nine university departments in Czechia, we investigate how they perceive ITE’s current curriculum structure and its ideal form. A novel research instrument, based on Fibonacci proportions, is used to compare the perceived weight of disciplinary knowledge, subject-specific pedagogy, and teaching practice. The findings reveal a persistent gap between the real and the ideal. Current programs are dominated by theoretical geography knowledge, while the ideal model shifts toward geography-to-teaching skills and classroom practice. This contrast highlights educators’ professional agency and the structural constraints imposed by accreditation, institutional traditions, and entrenched paradigms. The Fibonacci framework reveals hidden hierarchies in ITE curricula and guides their coherent redesign. More than a metaphor, it provides a diagnostic lens and roadmap for aligning disciplinary expertise with pedagogical application and practice. By exposing the knowledge – skills – practice imbalance, the study contributes to debates on teacher education (TE) reform and calls for a more practice-oriented geography TE model.