Self-Study and Pedagogical Content Knowledge

• In Event: Exploring the Intersections of Self-Study, Science Teaching, and Science Teacher Education

Abstract

Purpose
This paper will explore the potential of collaborative self-study to shed light on the concept of pedagogical content knowledge, a construct that has been the subject of much research in science education since the late 1980s.

Theoretical Framework
Pedagogical content knowledge is defined as the kind of knowledge that “goes beyond knowledge of subject matter per se to the dimension of subject matter knowledge for teaching . . . . Pedagogical content knowledge also includes an understanding of what makes the learning of specific topics easy or difficult” (Shulman, 1986,p. 9). A recent review of science education literature reveals that research on pedagogical content knowledge (often abbreviated as PCK) remains challenging to this day. Berry, Loughran, & van Driel (2008) argue that pedagogical content knowledge remains a “seductive” (p. 1273) idea for researchers because it “was one way of opening up new possibilities for looking into, and better understanding the skills, knowledge and ability of expert teachers” (p. 1277). As Loughran et al. (2001) note, however, teachers typically lack the vocabulary to describe the development of their professional knowledge in a way that fits with the construct of pedagogical content knowledge, leading many teachers to dismiss the term as jargon (Berry et al., p. 1277).

Methods and Data Sources
Author 1 and Author 2 worked together to explore how a teacher educator, working with a critical friend, developed an increased awareness of the needs and concerns of her elementary teacher candidates by studying the development of their PCK. Thirty-three primary science student teachers used Content Representation(CoRe) as a tool to unpack their approach to teaching a science topic that uncovered the reasons for teaching that topic as they did. Author 3 presents a case study of one teacher candidate to illustrate some of the barriers to the development of PCK for teaching science and how these barriers were revealed in her early work in a preservice teacher education program.

Results
Author 1 and Author 2 provide insight into how science student teachers’ PCK develops and how knowledge of that development matters for a teacher educator’s teaching about teaching science. Author 3 uses the case study of her teacher candidate, who went on to become a successful high school teacher focused more on success on the State Examination than developing her PCK, to highlight the tension of “idealism vs. realism” for science teacher educators. Author 3’s self-study also reminds us of the tension between teaching about science teaching for educational reform, particularly with a focus on inquiry learning, and the demands of a high-stakes system of accountability that is very real to teachers and teacher candidates.

Scholarly significance of the study
This paper synthesises many important ideas about how self-study might contribute to a greater understanding of what pedagogical content knowledge is, how it develops in teacher candidates, and how a greater focus on pedagogical content knowledge might contribute to improving one’s pedagogy of teacher education.

Authors

• Pernilla Nilsson, Halmstad University

• J. John Loughran, Monash University

• Deborah J. Trumbull, Cornell University