Teacher Knowledge:A Conceptualization

Based on an Empirical Study

Yi’an WUBeijing Foreign Studies University

wuyian@bfsu.edu.cn

The Outline

1. Why teacher knowledge (TK)?2. Earlier research into TK3. The present study4. From EFL teachers’ professional

profile to EFL teacher knowledge5. Implications

1. Why teacher knowledge? Background

Key elements in TEFL-The teacher-The learner-The target language-The context of teaching & learning

The relationship and status of research into them

Teacher Research Traditional, experience-based until

mid-1980s Research in general education:

1980s Research in foreign language

education: 1990s In China: Around the turn of the

new century

Key issues in teacher research

The nature of teaching Teacher knowledge Teacher learning and development Teacher education

Theoretical underpinning: Nature of teaching

As doing: Behavioural As thinking and doing: Cognitive As interpreting: Hermeneutic ( 解释学

的 )(Freeman, D. 1996)

Nature of learning: The teacher learner

As input-output system: Behaviourism With self-agency: Humanistic psychology As a constructivist: Constructivism (cognit

ive) As a social being: Social constructivism(Roberts, J. 1998)

Research on teacher knowledge What’s the basic structure of teacher kno

wledge? What constitutes teacher’s practical know

ledge? What’s the relationship between teacher k

nowledge and teacher behaviour? What are the sources of teacher knowledge?（刘学惠， 2005 ）

The present study The direct purpose: The construct of

effective EFL teacher’s professional profile

The implication: Towards a construct of EFL teacher knowledge base

Significance-Teacher education-Teacher development-Teacher accreditation

2. Earlier research The nature of human knowledge

-Propositional /technical-Practical

-Accumulated through doing-Tacit, often embedded in narrative

(Schön 1983)

Shulman’s knowledge base: General education (1987)

Content knowledge General pedagogical knowledge Curriculum knowledge Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) Knowledge of learners and their

characteristics Knowledge of educational context Knowledge of educational ends, purposed,

and values, and their philosophical and historical grounds

Richard’s knowledge types: ESL teacher education (1998)

Two dimensions of language teacher knowledge -Subject matter knowledge and how curricular and content aspects of teaching are conceptualized; -Teacher’s personal views of what constitutes of good teaching

Richards’ knowledge base Theories of teaching Teaching skills Communication skills Subject matter knowledge pedagogical reasoning and

decision making Contextual knowledge

3. The present study Research purposes: (1) To develop a

professional profile of effective EFL teachers; (2) To explore into factors facilitating professional development

Participants: 213 effective EFL teachers from 36 universities across China

Instruments: Survey (213), interview (19)

The survey A Likert scale of 44 items clustered around 5

variables -view of EFL teaching: goals and attitude -view of teaching and learning: learner orientation -pedagogical content competence (PCC): English knowledge and skills -PCC: pedagogical competence -teacher learning and development

The survey Two open questions

-In what respects do you think you are different from the less effective EFL teachers? (What)-What factors have contributed to your professional development? Give an example of how each of these factors has been at work. (How)

The interview

-Semi-structured and in-depth -Designed on the basis of the

responses to the two questions in the survey

-Aimed at in-depth extension and explanation of the points mentioned

Analyses applied Likert scale items

-Descriptive statistics (SPSS 11.5)-reliability indices (SPSS 11.5)

Data from open questions and interviews: By theme analysis and counting of same themes

(Miles & Huberman 1994)

Reliability indices

分类变量 项目数

有效个案数

信度系数（）

总均值

教学观：目标与态度 5 213 .5829 4.4160

教学观：以学生为主体

7 212 .7246 4.5263

学科教学能力：英语知识与能力

4 213 .7482 4.5176

学科教学能力：教学能力

16 211 .8724 4.4639

教师学习与发展 12 211 .8363 4.4254

Findings-1 Inseparableness of what and how,

content and routee.g. Love of the profession

-Item mean: 4.68/5 -106 instances of mentioning

-As content-As route, a factor leading to effectiveness

An example Response to open Q1

“ 对教学的敬业精神。对学生有耐心” Response to open Q2

“ 责任心、敬业精神。…… 教任何班级、任何种类的学生我都会努力做到自己的最好。”

Dedication-As a quality-As a causal factor

No clear boundary between a quality and its fostering factors, the content and route, or the what and how

Implication: The professional profile must embrace both content and rout

Findings-2: The profile

A. View of English education and professional ethics

B. Conception of EFL teaching and learning

C. Pedagogical content competenceD. View of professional development

A. View of English education and professional ethics ( 职业观与职业道德 )

View of English education-A sense of mission with a two fold purpose: help learners grow into a all-round, worthy person; master English

Professional ethics-Dedication, responsibility, conscientiousness-Love of, care and respect for learners

B. Conception of EFL teaching and learning ( 外语教学观 )

Learner-oriented teaching -Taking a learner’s perspective, probing into t

he process of learning-Helping learners develop interest and confidence in learning-Emphasis on learning strategies and abilities

Language as tool and as carrier of the target language culture

Language teaching as a combination of science and art

C. Pedagogical content competence: 10 indices ( 外语学科教学能力 )

1) A good command of spoken & written English; a solid grounding in the form, meaning and use of English; a broad scope of world knowledge

2) Good at creating a motivating and friendly learning environment

3) Having clear instruction goals towards which activities are organized

4) Ready to adjust content and instruction to learners’ emerging needs

5) Alert to opportunities to create learning moments

6) Good at organizing learning targeted at development of both accuracy and fluency

7) Good at bringing out the cultural and humanistic potential of content

8) Alert to opportunities for illuminating how the English language works

9) Alert to opportunities for guiding learners in how to learn

10) Clear about how one’s own teaching contributes to curriculum goals

D. View of professional growth

( 教师发展观 ) Teaching as a continued process of teacher

learning Featured by reflective, exploratory practice

with the classroom as the platform Internal motivation from a strong love of

the profession External forces at work: an encouraging

teaching environment, mentors, opportunities to upgrade knowledge and expertise

Relations among 4 dimensions

外语学科教学能力( 学科知识 + 教学知识）

职业观和道德观

外语教学观

教师学习与发展观

课堂行为

4. From the professional profile to EFL teacher knowledge base

Type 1: Subject knowledgeType 2: Pedagogical knowledgeType 3: Knowledge outside the

above: Related to view of education, professional ethics, view of self-development, etc.

Human interests and human knowledge

Habermas’ (1972) conception of fundamental human interests and human knowledge-Technical (towards control)-Practical (towards understanding)-Emancipatory (towards empowerment , the ability of individuals/groups to take control of their own lives in autonomous and responsible way

EFL teacher knowledge types 1) Subject knowledge2) Pedagogical knowledge

-Curriculum goals -Contextual

~The classroom context~The sociocultural context of the

learning institution -Pedagogical process of learning and teaching

3) Emancipatory knowledge-Spiritual in nature-View of and attitude towards the TEFL profession, professional ethics-An awareness, an understanding of the importance of self-reflection and responsibility

Man’s full development means that he/she has genuinely emancipated himself/herself in the sense that he/she is in full control of those external forces with the potential to further his/her talent and capacity.

Karl Marx (1960, in 张楚廷 2006)

To develop oneself, it is necessary to draw upon the external positive forces, to take control ( 驾驭 ) of them so as to emancipate oneself. In this sense, man’s development is their emancipation.

When EFL teachers regard teaching as an integral part of their life and when they’ve taken control of external positive forces and free from the bounds of negative forces, teaching is no longer a job only, but also life itself, and an enjoyment. They find themselves in complete harmony with the environment, to which they are a part and add positive input.

Two broad types of knowledge Pedagogical content knowledge

-A merging of subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge (technical knowledge and practical knowledge in Harbemas’ sense)-Subsuming the B & C dimensions of the professional profile, i.e., view of teaching and learning & pedagogical content competence

Emancipatory knowledge-Spiritual in nature-Beyond the scope of foreign language teaching-Subsuming the A & D dimensions of the profile, i.e., view of the profession and professional development, professional ethics-The aim of education

5. Implications “To be a good teacher, one needs to

strive to be a good (emancipated) person”

For further research-Pedagogical content knowledge-Emancipatory knowledge-Importance of classroom research

Cited referencesFreeman, D. & Richards, J. (eds.). 1996. Teacher learning in lang

uage teaching. New York: CUP.Habermas, J. 1972. Knowledge and human interests. Cambridge:

Polity Press.Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. 1994. Qualitative data analysis (2

nd ed.). London: SAGE.Richards, J. 1998. Beyond training. Cambridge: CUP.Roberts, J. 1998. Language teacher education. London: ArnoldSchon, D. A. 1983. The reflective practitioner: How professionals

think in action. London: Temple.刘学惠， 2005 ，外语教师教育研究综述，外语教学与研究 37

（ 3 ）。张楚廷， 2006 ，教育哲学，北京：科学教育出版社。

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