Powerful Geography Through Historical Geography: A Case Study of Social Studies Teacher Preparation in the United States

Secondary school geography teachers in the United States tend to earn undergraduate degrees that focus on history and social studies. Since each state in the US governs the policies and procedures for teacher certification, we focus our attention on the preparation of secondary school geography teachers in Texas. We describe our university context, present the results of the Powerful Geography career aspirations survey administered to our students, and explain what we learned through interviews with two secondary school educators with administrative responsibilities for onboarding new teachers. Next, we provide a case study of our Historical Geography of North America course. We contend that historical geography has much to offer as an avenue for demonstrating Powerful Geography to aspiring social studies teachers.