The Problematization of Classroom Geography through the Introduction of 1998 and 2008 Textbooks
Classroom geography in France was in a state of crisis in the 1980s due to the combined effects of paradigm changes in academic research in geography, and the loss of relevance for pupils in a discipline that taught fixed knowledge and accorded priority to memorization. There were active debates about the causes of the crisis in geography teaching during this period led by a nascent didactic movement. Problematization is presented as a solution to revitalize teaching in the discipline, and school programs imposed this new approach to teaching in 1995. An analysis of textbooks demonstrates that in reality, the proposed problematization was largely formalized, and only partially called into question traditional geography teaching methods.