Knowledge of Geography Required in Bachelor’s Degree Programs for Teacher Education: Analysis of Entrance Examinations for Public Junior or Senior High School Teachers

This paper analyzes the geography-related knowledge required to pass the recruitment examination for middle school teachers, which is open to all, from 2015 to 2019 in “Prefecture A” in Japan. The aim was to give perspectives on the direction of geography education in teacher training courses. The results showed that “a volume of knowledge” was required to correctly answer more than 60% of questions, and it was clear that a specific “quantity of knowledge” was necessary. These results reveal a gap between knowledge imparted in undergraduate teacher training courses and the general curriculum of school teachers.