Developing a Pedagogical Frame of Reference: Conceptual Understandings and Reasoning

• In Event: The Stories We Tell: Identity, Action Research, and Ethnography in Teacher Education

Abstract

The interrelationship between knowledge and experience is the foundation of constructivist teaching and learning. However, all experiences are not of equal value and by simply involving students in some form of experiential learning does not mean they are constructing relevant and meaningful understandings. The purpose of this research is to examine how three elements of reflective practice can be interrelated into learning experiences in which preservice teachers are constructing meaningful conceptual understandings. In this model of reflective practice, preservice teachers are identifying and explaining pedagogical concepts that are important for teacher effectiveness; reasoning and justifying factual examples that provide valid and equitable representations of pedagogical concepts; and then generalizing and applying understandings of these pedagogical concepts to varied educational contexts.

Authors

• Edward Jadallah, California State University - Monterey Bay

• Amanda Jane Darden, Coastal Carolina University