“[Culture] Makes Each Country Unique, It’s Kind of like a Trademark.” Empirical Results on Students’ Perceptions of Culture and Space as Learning Prerequisite for Geography Lessons

Abstract

Students’ everyday perceptions of culture and space have a significant impact on their social coexistence and should, therefore, be considered in geography lessons. The other or foreign is often negatively assessed. This perception is based on an essentialist understanding of cultural space but is inappropriate for a culturally diverse world. The concept of transculturality by Wolfgang Welsch offers a constructivist perspective on culture and space, which takes cultural globalization into account and avoids a stereotyped division of cultures. To prevent xenophobia, it is important to understand the everyday ideas about culture and space younger generations possess and the extent to which transculturality is integrated. The learning requirements of students provide a basis on which geography lessons can be developed that incorporate these concepts to counteract xenophobia. To determine everyday perceptions, 197 German 9th-grade students were asked. The selection of the sample was based on a declaration of consent from the parents and was not fully probabilistic. In addition to a preliminary study, 98 female and 99 male students were surveyed in a written questionnaire. The data analysis was realized in a mixed-method design, with qualitative content analysis and supplementary quantifications. The results of which suggested that culture and space are predominantly understood as nationally specific. Consequently, a transcultural understanding should be incorporated long-term into geography lessons.