Paraeducator Pedagogical Content Knowledge

• In Event: Content Areas and the Lives of Teachers

Abstract

Paraeducators are being utilized as academic interventionists with increasing frequency, particularly with our most struggling students. The objective of this study was to evaluate the Pedagogical Content Knowledge of one non-certified classroom paraeducator while she provided supplemental literacy instruction to ten at-risk kindergarten students. The PI used interviews, content knowledge assessment, and teaching observations to evaluate the paraeducator's ability to evaluate her students' learning, create new representations for instruction, and communicate the ideas in new language. The paraeducator demonstrated PCK in her ability to use varied questioning techniques, create visual representations for novel vocabulary, and use intersubjectivity as a foundation for effective teaching and learning.

Authors

• Ann Morrison, Metropolitan State University of Denver

• Kathleen Carroll Luttenegger, Metropolitan State University of Denver