The Lost Domain: Unpacking and Investigating Curricular Knowledge

• In Event: 70.043 - Investigating Knowledge for Teaching Secondary Mathematics

Abstract

In this paper, I highlight the importance of examining curricular knowledge, an under-researched domain of knowledge needed for teaching, particularly at the secondary level. I present results from a study that examined a group of teachers’ interactions with curriculum materials during their pre-service education and in their first year of teaching.

Theoretical Perspective
In this study I focus on curricular knowledge. According to Shulman (1986), curricular knowledge is knowledge about the range of programs for the teaching of subject matter, the instructional materials available, and the knowledge related to making decisions about the fruitfulness of using particular materials in particular situations. More recently, Choppin (2008) defined curricular content knowledge as “the knowledge of how a particular set of curriculum materials functions to engage students in a particular context” (p. 288).

Learning the curriculum or how to use curriculum materials is not easy. Using materials requires teachers to develop “curriculum vision,” or a sense of where the materials are going and how particular activities fit into this (Sherin & Drake, 2009). This process requires teachers to constructively and dynamically “read” materials and their students (Remillard, 2005). Specifically, teachers need to understand the philosophy and rationale in order to make decisions about what to do and how to do it.

Methods
I present findings from a study that included (1) instruction focused on supporting the development of curricular knowledge through assignments focused on curricular noticing and (2) engagement in a study group focused on planning during the first year of teaching. Curricular noticing (Authors, 2014) builds on the work of professional noticing (Jacobs, Lamb, & Philipp, 2010) to describe what teachers attend to, and how they interpret and respond to curriculum materials.

First, within methods, preservice teachers (PSTs) engaged in reviewing three sets of curriculum materials multiple times and used a framework to describe and evaluate the content. Second, through engagement in a study group, novice teachers, including both those that were a part of the first portion of the study and those that were not, were supported in responding in ways that provide students with rich opportunities to engage in mathematics.

Findings & Discussion
Analyses indicated that the methods assignment may have impacted what PSTs attended to within the materials and how they interpreted this content. Teachers were able to glean insight into the philosophy of the materials and make decisions based on this philosophy. For example, teachers chose to adopt materials because they found them to provide opportunities for all students due to the focus on group work and communication, specifically mentioning that this was a guiding principle of the materials.

Study group data will be analyzed this year. Analysis focuses on understanding how novice teachers took up aspects of their curricular materials through observations, interviews, and teacher reflections, and how they supported each other through reflecting on videos of enacted lessons. Discussion focuses on what teachers seemed to learn from their work with curriculum materials as PSTs that supported them in doing this work as first year teachers.

Author

• Lorraine Marie Males, University of Nebraska - Lincoln