Inferentialism and Subject Knowledge

• In Event: Knowledge and Cognition

Abstract

This paper proposes that our understanding of subject knowledge and its relationship to pedagogy would benefit greatly if we took account of recent developments in philosophy, concerning the nature of awareness and understanding, in particular the work of the philosopher Robert Brandom. These developments are of significant pedagogical importance and complement what we already know about effective pedagogic practice but they also have implications for teacher education. We know that the quality of teaching and learning is affected by teachers’ content knowledge but how, to what extent and in what way is not precisely understood. Brandom’s inferentialism turns our attention to the teachers’ orientations to knowledge domains, an area neglected in contemporary research and practice.

Author

• Jan Derry, Institute of Education - London