Geographical education in Turkey: challenges and opportunities

ABSTRACTThis article provides a critical account of geographical education in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country which, as a result of regional conflicts and refugee crises, is currently much in the media. The picture of geography that emerges is of a discipline well established and generally popular in the school sector, but much less prominent in universities, where its role needs to be broadened beyond providing the next generation of school teachers. Across both sectors, key challenges are the professional development of staff, teaching and curriculum modernisation and engaging with both employability and the sustainability agenda – to which neither geography nor Islamic theological teaching in Turkey have yet given real prominence. A key starting point for change in Turkey's geographical education is the need to strengthen and rationalise the professional bodies that exist to promote geography.