Teaching mapwork in South African schools: reflections from educators’ experiences, concerns and challenges

Olaniran, Sunday Olawale; Ahiaku, Philip; Mncube, Dumisani Wilfred

Teaching mapwork in South African schools: reflections from educators’ experiences, concerns and challenges

dc.contributor.author	Olaniran, Sunday Olawale
dc.contributor.author	Ahiaku, Philip
dc.contributor.author	Mncube, Dumisani Wilfred
dc.coverage.conference	issn
dc.date.accessioned	2026-02-05T08:24:22Z
dc.date.available	2026-02-05T08:24:22Z
dc.date.issued	2019
dc.departmentName	Languages and Social Sciences
dc.description.abstract	While some skills have become outdated in this ICT-driven age, map reading remains a vital skill for enhancing young people's spatial reasoning.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 Mapwork 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 multistage 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.
dc.faculty	Faculty of Education
dc.format.preprint	No
dc.identifier.citation	Ahiaku, P.K.A., Mncube, D.W. and Olaniran, S.O., 2019. Teaching mapwork in South African schools: reflections from educators’ experiences, concerns and challenges. African Journal of Gender, Society and Development, 8(2), pp.19-36.
dc.identifier.issn	2050-4284 (online)
dc.identifier.issn	2050-4276 (print)
dc.identifier.other	https://doi.org/10.31920/2050-4284/2019/8n2a2
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10530/58628
dc.inproceedings	issn
dc.issuenumber	8 / 2
dc.keynote	issn
dc.language.iso	en
dc.pages	19 - 36
dc.peerreviewed	Yes
dc.publisher	Adonis & Abbey Publishers
dc.subject	Qualifications
dc.subject	Experiences
dc.subject	Geographic Information System (GIS)
dc.subject	Topographical map
dc.subject	Mapwork
dc.subject	Map analysis and spatial
dc.title	Teaching mapwork in South African schools: reflections from educators’ experiences, concerns and challenges
dc.title.journal	Journal of Gender, Information and Development in Africa
dc.type	Journal Article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
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