Teaching Mapwork in South African Schools : Reflections from Educators' Experiences, Concerns and Challenges

While some skills have become outdated in this ICT-driven age, map reading remains a vital skill for enhancing young people's spatial reasoning. This study examined Educators' experiences, concerns and challenges while teaching map work in South African schools. The study's focus is on the relevance of skills in cartography (Mapwork) by educators which forms an integral part of success in Geography. Survey research design was employed in the study. Forty Grade Twelve (12) Geography Educators who were selected through multi stage and simple random sampling techniques served as participants for the study. Four research questions were raised, while questionnaire and interview served as the major data collection instruments. Quantitative data from the field work were analysed, using descriptive statistics of percentage and frequency counts, while qualitative data obtained through interviews were analysed thematically. Findings of the study revealed that teaching of mapwork is a challenge to most of the educators sampled, especially the aspects that deals with calculations and Geographic Information System (GIS). Factors, such as educators' qualifications, educators' preparedness and inadequate teaching and learning resources were found to be responsible for the poor mapwork teaching among educators. The study recommended, among others, adequate training and deployment of qualified educators to schools, as well as adequate supply of relevant teaching and learning resources, not only to improve on the performance of learners in mapwork, but also to achieve the overall goal of geography as a subject in school.