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Perceptions of ‘subject knowledge’ in the initial teacher training of primary school teachers: nature, role, purpose and process
Deborah PopeUniversity of Chester26th September 2015
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‘Subject knowledge’
• Prevalent term in teacher training • Clarity or ambiguity…?
• In the Cambridge Primary Review of Education, Alexander (2010) highlighted lack of coherence to the discourse about subject knowledge in teacher education in England in comparison to other European countries.
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Background• Teachers’ Standards (2002, 2007, 2012) – different ways of
thinking about ‘subject knowledge
• Shulman (1986, 1987) – Pedagogical content knowledge and knowledge bases for teaching
• Developments from this: • New knowledge bases identified (e.g. Grimmet and McKinnon,1992;
Grossman, 1995)• PCK re-examined and analysed (e.g. Cochran et al 1993; McNamara,
1991; McEwan and Bull, 1991)• Alternative models of knowledge bases for teaching (e.g. Meredith,
1995, Banks et al, 1996, Ellis, 2007)
Knowledge needed for teaching is complex and multi-faceted. How do we communicate this complexity to our trainees?
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‘Context affects what professional knowledge gets used and how.’ (Eraut 1994:20)
• Various models that represent a situated view of ‘subject knowledge’ take account of it being developed in practice by teaching in schools (e.g. Banks et al 1996; Leach and Moon 2000; Ellis 2007).
• Developed in the subject specialist context of secondary teaching.
Relevance to primary teaching…?
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Against this landscape…• How do we define and position ‘subject
knowledge’ in our primary training?
• How do our trainee primary teachers construct meaning from the discourse around ‘subject knowledge’ for primary teaching?
• How is this reflected in their emerging professional identities?
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Research methodology• Qualitative study - constructivist approach• Final year undergraduate primary education trainees / school
mentors / university tutors• Two Higher Education Institutions – 140 participants in total
Data gathered via: • questionnaires • semi-structured interviews • Drawing/mapping activity part of interview
• qualitative content analysis of documentary evidence
• Data analysis using grounded theory approach (Charmaz 2006)
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Emergent Findings
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Trainees’ perceptions of the term ‘subject knowledge’
Diverse definitions of the term – 18 distinct categories
Majority of trainees think: • the term ‘subject knowledge’ is not used in the same way to
mean the same thing by all involved in training and we do not attach equal importance to it;• have to learn the ‘rules of the game’ in each context
• the school-based element of training has more impact on their subject-specific knowledge development than the university-based training;
• they receive most subject-specific feedback from school-based activities;
• school mentors help them to set subject-specific targets rather than university tutors. • Interview/documentary data conflicts so why do they have
some of these perceptions?
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Specific ways of thinking…
Three trainees’ pictorial representations of their thinking about ‘subject knowledge’ for primary teaching.
• same institution• same B.Ed. Programme (four years)• same point in training – end of final year• all achieved Grade 1 ‘Outstanding’
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Trainee A
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Trainee B
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Trainee C
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How trainees say they develop subject-specific knowledge that they use in their teaching:
• Most frequent: using the Internet, research for preparation for teaching on placement
• Least frequent: observation of teachers, reference to their own prior education
• Majority highly sceptical in their perceptions of university subject knowledge auditing and tracking processes
• On school placement it is the pressure of having to teach that is the stimulus for development of subject-specific knowledge.
• School mentors appear to have a minimal role in this; they highlight ‘gaps’ or weaknesses for individuals to go away and work on independently.
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School mentors…• Very reluctant to participate in the research about ‘subject
knowledge’
• Diverse opinions about the nature of ‘subject knowledge’ but say they are clear about the meaning of the term ‘subject knowledge’ in ITT
• School-based element of training has most impact on subject-specific knowledge development. Some negativity about the impact of the university training expressed.
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University tutors…
• Similar variation in definitions of ‘subject knowledge’
• Dual discourse and tensions evident: • tutors participate in practices that they do not agree with/value; • some have different definitions of ‘subject knowledge’ in their
personal opinion versus professional opinion;• express dissatisfaction with the coherence of some partnership
documentation and practices whilst being part of them.
Links to the contextualist perspective of Edwards et al (2002) – rule governed behaviour/learning the ‘game’ of education
• Do university tutors have to learn the rules of a new ‘game’?
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How do the research findings link to the Carter Review recommendations?
• ITT course content• Subject-specific pedagogy*• Systematic subject knowledge development• Evidence-based teaching• Integration of theory and practice• Mentor training and development
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Issues emerging from the research• Contradictions in the data to explore
• Researcher as ‘insider-outsider’ - facing uncomfortable ‘truths’ in the data
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ReferencesAlexander (2010) (ed.) Children, their world, their education: final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review, Oxon: Routledge.
Banks, F., Leach, J. and Moon, B. (1996) Knowledge, school knowledge and pedagogy: reconceptualising curricula and defining a research agenda, paper presented at the European Conference for Education Research, Seville, Spain.
Cochran, K.F., De Ruiter, J.A. and King, R.A. (1993) Pedagogical content knowing: an integrative model for teacher preparation, Journal of Teacher Education, 44, 263-272.
Charmaz, K. (2006) Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis, London: Sage.
Department for Education (2012) Teachers’ Standards, London: DfE.
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2002) Qualifying to teach. Professional standards for qualified teacher status and requirements for initial teacher training, London: DfES.
Edwards, A. Gilroy, P. and Hartley, D. (2002) Rethinking Teacher Education: collaborative responses to uncertainty, London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Ellis, V. (2007) Taking subject knowledge seriously: from professional knowledge recipes to complex conceptualizations of teacher development, The Curriculum Journal, 18(4), 447-462.
Eraut, M. (1994) Developing professional knowledge and competence, London: Falmer Press.
Grimmett, P.P and McKinnon, A.M. (1992) Craft knowledge and the education of teachers, Review of Research in Education, 18, 385-456.
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Grossman, P. (1989) A study in contrast: sources of pedagogical content knowledge for secondary English, Journal of Teacher Education, 30, 24-31.
Grossman, P. (1995) ‘Teachers’ knowledge’, in L.W. Anderson (ed.) International Encyclopaedia of Teaching and Teacher Education, Oxford: Elsevier.
Leach, J. and Moon, B. (2000) Pedagogy, information and communications technology and teachers’ professional knowledge, The Curriculum Journal, 11(3), 385-404.
McEwan, H. & Bull, B. (1991) The pedagogic nature of subject matter knowledge, American Educational Research Journal, 28, 316-334.
McNamara, D. (1991) Subject knowledge and its application: problems and possibilities for teacher educators, Journal of Education for Teaching, 17, 113-128.
Meredith, A. (1995) Terry’s learning: some limitations of Shulman’s pedagogical content knowledge, Cambridge Journal of Education, 25, 176-187.
Shulman, L.S. (1986) Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Research, 15, 4-14.
Shulman, L.S. (1987) Knowledge and teaching: foundations of the new reform, Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.
TDA (2007) Professional Standards for Teachers in England from September 2007, London: TDA.