Social Representations of Flooding of Future Teachers of Primary Education (Social Sciences): A Geographical Approach in the Spanish Mediterranean Region

Abstract

The risk of flooding is the main natural hazard that affects the European Mediterranean region. This hazard has worsened in recent decades due to the occupation of flood areas and the effects of climate change. Therefore, understanding and gaining a more in-depth knowledge of social representations of flooding is important. In addition, interest in this subject is accentuated in the case of future teachers. This is because it is mandatory to teach this subject in Primary Education (Grades 1–6; Social Sciences subject). The aims of this research are: (1) To explore the instruction about flooding received by future teachers during their school period, and (2) to examine their perception about factors influencing flood risk. Methodologically, a questionnaire was distributed among future teachers of Primary Education (Faculty of Teaching Training, University of Valencia, Spain). The results regarding the respondents’ perception show that only 21.3% of the future teachers received instruction about floods during their school period. With reference to factors that influence floods, they mostly believe that the main factors are climate change and the spatial land management. Furthermore, 51.3% believe that this phenomenon has been increasing over the last few years, and 82.5% think that it rains heavier today.

Are Future School Teachers Qualified to Teach Flood Risk? An Approach from the Geography Discipline in the Context of Climate Change

“…Parker [18] argues that, in previous decades, the main measure to reduce flood risk was the construction of hydraulic works to guarantee the level of security in the affected areas. These actions led to overconfidence in the engineering works and the maintenance and development of inappropriate actions that increased exposure and vulnerability [19]. Since 2000, actions aimed at decreasing hazards have given way to measures to reduce vulnerability and exposure [20].…”

“…Nevertheless, according to Morote and Olcina [22], instruction in schools (a non-structural action) is largely overlooked. In this sense, in developed countries, it is considered essential to train future citizens in issues related to science [23], but also in connection with their daily lives [19].…”

“…The above described situations show that this phenomenon is a social problem that has an enormous impact and is highly relevant in terms of both scientific content and teaching methods [24]. If these climate change scenarios become a reality (see for example the floods in central Europe and Asia in July 2021), there will be an urgent need for a more aware society that is educated in and adapted to these phenomena in which school education should form a key pillar [19,20,25]. Therefore, in recent years, different authors have expressed the importance of the educational factor for reducing risk and adapting to climate change [26][27][28].…”

“…These types of studies related to Geography and/or Social Sciences teaching are scarce and recent [51]. With respect to the Mediterranean region and flood risk, studies have been carried out on the social representations of the future Primary School teachers [19,20,24] and educational proposals [52,53].…”

Riesgos atmosféricos y cambio climático: propuestas didácticas para la región mediterránea en la enseñanza secundaria

“…Cabe poner de manifiesto que, en España, de manera general la producción científica sobre esta temática desde el ámbito educativo se ha realizado en el área de las Ciencias Experimentales y Naturales (Díez, 2015;Hernández-Ruíz, García, Díez y Carrera, 2020;Garzón, Ortega y Garrote, 2009). Desde la Didáctica de la Geografía, tradicionalmente, no ha sido un tema de estudio predominante (Ollero, 1997), aunque en los últimos años se han publicado diferentes trabajos, especialmente en la región valenciana, tanto sobre propuestas y experiencias de salidas de campo y representaciones sociales y formación del profesorado (Morote y Hernández, 2020;Morote y Souto, 2020). En cuanto a la sequía (desde las Ciencias Sociales), tanto en el ámbito internacional como nacional, los trabajos son escasos, como los de Chiwara y Lombard (2018) o Little, Aboud y Lenachuru (2009), concretamente en el continente africano.…”