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Definition
Checklist
Examples
Summary
Definition
-
"Pedagogical content knowledge
identifies the distinctive bodies of knowledge for teaching. It represents
the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how
particular topics, problems or issues are organized, represented, and
adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of learners, and presented
for instruction. Pedagogical content knowledge is the category most likely
to distinguish the understanding of the content specialist from that of
the pedagogue" (Shulman, 1987, p. 4).
Checklist of
Observable Behaviors
-
___ 1. Comprehension: To teach is to
understand.
___ Purposes
___
Subject-matter structures
___
Ideas within and outside the discipline
___ 2. Transformation: Comprehended ideas
must be transformed in
some manner
if they are to be taught. Transformations
require some
combinations or ordering of the following
processes:
___ Preparation (of the given text material)
___
Representation of the ideas in the form of analogies,
metaphors
___
Instructional selections from among an array of teaching
methods and models
___
Adaptation to the characteristics of the students
___
Tailoring the adaptations to the specific students in the
classroom
___ 3. Instruction: The variety of
teaching acts includes the following:
___ Management
___
Presentations
___
Interactions
___
Group work
___
Discipline
___
Humor
___
Questioning
___
Discovery and inquiry instruction
___ 4. Evaluation: This process ensures
that the teacher checks for
understanding
and misunderstanding during interactive
teaching. As
a result, the teacher evaluates his or her
own
performance and makes adjustments for experience.
___5. Reflection: This process includes a
series of steps, including
reviewing,
reconstructing, reenacting, and critically analyzing
one’s teaching to
improve.
___6. New comprehensions: The expectation
is that through acts of
teaching the
teacher achieves a new understanding of purposes,
subject matter,
students, teaching, and self.
Reference
-
Shulman, L. ( 1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of
the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1),
1-22.
Examples
-
Comprehension
To teach for understanding, a teacher
needs to create a few central goals that are significant for both the
teacher and the student. These goals need to be clear, stated explicitly,
and posted in the classroom. For instance, a fifth grade teacher starts
her lesson about friction, mass, and force by reminding her students what
they studied last class to help them understand that they will add more
information to their prior knowledge. The teacher tells the students that
the first unit discussed was on motion and the second unit was on
friction. Before introducing them to the third new unit about force, the
teacher checks for students' understanding of the previous units.
Transformation
The same fifth grade science teacher
explains to her students the relationship between mass, force, and
inertia. To demonstrate those concepts, the teacher provides the students
with an analogy that transforms the idea into an example the students can
understand. She asks the students to determine if it would take more
force to push her or a kindergarten student in a swing. She points out
that it is easier to push someone once they are in motion. The
teacher then asks the students who would be easier to stop once they were
in motion herself or the kindergarten student? She relates their
answers to the time it takes large trucks to stop; on a highway compared
to compact cars. Because several of the students are school crossing
guards, the teacher personalizes her analogy by discussing what they
learned in their crossing guard training about the force of
different-sized vehicles.
Instruction
For the same lesson, the teacher uses an
instructional method that incorporates group work. The students are
engaged in cooperative learning in groups of three, in which each of them
has to take care of a physical component of an experiment. For instance,
while doing the experiment, one student records the mass, the second one
the distance, and the third one the force. In this way, the teacher
assures interaction between students, peer tutoring, and communication,
which definitely increases students learning.
Evaluation
The same teacher uses an ongoing strategy
of evaluation and performance assessment. This assessment serves as an
instructional tool to help teachers meet students’ needs. Using
the evaluation form, the teacher continually checks students'
understanding of the subject matter.
The evaluation form includes a chart
divided into two sections to assess problem solving and communication.
The students receive from 0-3 points for their efforts. Here is how
the teacher would assess student skills:
| Score |
Problem solving |
Communication |
| 0 |
Totally misunderstood
information |
Explanation
is not clear |
| 1 |
Understanding of material
not yet at appropriate level |
Explanations
have some clarity |
| 2 |
Student understanding of
task at appropriate level |
Explanations
are mostly clear and logical |
| 3 |
Beyond appropriate level
of understanding and analyzing the task |
Explanations
are logical and appropriate |
-
Reflection
This example shows a student teacher’s
inner thoughts and reflections on her experiences as a teacher.
- My cooperating teacher has the
gift of gab. It seems that most of the other excellent teachers
I have worked with also have this gift. This gift can be very
important in the classroom because it brings learning to the level of
the children. Connecting book facts to real life situations
empowers kids and helps build true knowledge. Stories or
anecdotes relating to the topic of study help bridge the gap between
school life and outside of school life. Children begin to see
that their daily experiences are important and have connections to
what they learn in school.
-
- At this point in my
teaching career, I stay right on track and often avoid branching out
using stories related to the subject of study. I do include
further discussion and exploration of all subjects, but I have never
been a storyteller. This is something I suppose I will learn
over time. As I have more and more experiences and as I see more and
more connections between everyday life and the curriculum I am
teaching I hope that I will begin to provide my students with a more
personal learning experience through the use of stories which might
help them see parallels in their lives and their learning (Naumann,
1997a).
New Comprehension
The following example shows how a teacher
acquires new meanings from his teaching experiences to help in his future
teaching career.
- One of the most valuable
lessons I learned is the importance of doing everything one step at a
time, slowly. Luckily, I learned this my first day on the job.
I was trying to help the fourth graders organize their binders
according to classroom policy. I whipped right through my
directions and explanations. The kids just didn’t get it.
It was at this time that I began to realize how the mind of a
9-year-old works so differently from my own 25-year-old mind.
-
- Children can’t remember a
list of directions. They must have them written down so they can go
back and be able to reread them. Often if children are told how
to do something, they will be unable to complete the task unless they
are shown how to do it.
-
- Quickly, I learned that in
order for these children to accomplish just about anything, it was
necessary to provide them with very detailed instructions and often
step-by-step guidance. It was a revelation for me to realize that
these kids don’t use their minds to reason things through but rather
they wait to be told how to do something. Their world is very
black and white. They often can only see one way of doing things, the
right way. (Naumann, 1997b)
References
Naumann, K. (1997a). Student teaching reflection: Real life is
the best teacher of book knowledge [On-line].
-
Naumann, K. (1997b). Student teaching reflection: They look so
grown up but they’re not [On-line].
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