Jan H. van Driel

Teacher knowledge and the knowledge base of teaching

Abstract In this chapter, the knowledge base of teaching is conceived as all profession-related insights, which are potentially relevant to a teachers activities. From this perspective, it is argued that teacher knowledge, or teacher practical knowledge, should be included within this knowledge base, along with formal propositional knowledge. Although teacher knowledge is strongly related to individual experiences and contexts, there are elements of teacher knowledge that are shared by all teachers or large groups of teachers, for instance, all teachers who teach pupils of a certain age level. Investigating teacher knowledge to identify these common elements so as to do justice to its complex and specific nature can be problematic from a methodological point of view. To illustrate the potential benefits and limitations of research on teacher knowledge, the results from several studies are presented. A major conclusion from these studies is that an understanding of teacher knowledge may be useful to improve teacher education and to make educational innovations more successful. Finally, three areas of interest for future research are identified.

Teacher Professional Development Focusing on Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Because pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) includes teachers’ understanding of how students learn, or fail to learn, specific subject matter, the development of PCK is an important goal to focus on in professional development programs. The research literature clearly indicates the complex nature of PCK as a form of teachers’ professional knowledge that is highly topic, person, and situation specific. This implies that professional development programs aimed at the development of teachers’ PCK cannot be limited to supplying teachers with input, such as examples of expert teaching of subject matter. Instead, such programs should be closely aligned to teachers’ professional practice and, in addition to providing teachers with specific input, should include opportunities to enact certain instructional strategies and to reflect, individually and collectively, on their experiences.

Development of Experienced Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Models of the Solar System and the Universe

This paper investigates the developing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of nine experienced science teachers in their first few years of teaching a new science syllabus in the Dutch secondary education system. We aimed to identify the content and structure of the PCK for a specific topic in the new syllabus, ‘Models of the Solar System and the Universe’, describing the PCK development in terms of relations between four different aspects: knowledge about instructional strategies; knowledge about students’ understanding; knowledge about assessment of students; and knowledge about goals and objectives of the topic in the curriculum. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted in three subsequent academic years. From the analysis of the data, two qualitatively different types of PCK emerged. Type A can be described as oriented towards model content, while Type B can be typified as oriented towards model content, model production, and thinking about the nature of models. The results also indicate that these two types of PCK developed in qualitatively different ways.

Revisiting the Roots of Pedagogical Content Knowledge

In recent times there has been growing interest in the notion of a scholarship of practice (Hutchings, 2000; Shulman, 2002a). Scholarship is displayed through a teacher’s grasp of, and response to, the relationships between knowledge of content, teaching, and learning in ways that attest to practice as being complex and interwoven. A consequence of this work is the recognition that teachers’ professional knowledge is difficult to define and categorise, and therefore exceptionally difficult to articulate and document—yet it is increasingly important to do so. Through the work of the Carnegie Foundation (Shulman, 2000, 2001, 2002b) the impetus to encourage the education community to pay more attention to teachers’ knowledge and to better value professional practice has become increasingly important. Yet, attempts to articulate the critical links between practice and knowledge have proved to be exceptionally difficult because, for many teachers, their practice and the knowledge/ideas/theories that tend to influence that practice are often tacit (Schön, 1983). Additionally, definitions of knowledge, and distinctions between these definitions (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Connelly & Clandinin, 2000; Fenstermacher & Richardson, 1993; Korthagen & Lagerwerf, 1996; Richardson, 1994), have impacted on what researchers have looked for, and valued, in attempts to describe a knowledge base that might be described as influencing teachers’ approaches to, and practices of, teaching. Further to this, for school teachers there is little expectation or obvious reason for such articulation (Loughran, Berry, & Mulhall, 2004; Loughran, Milroy, Berry, Gunstone, & Mulhall, 2001) as the demands of time, curricula, and student achievement tend to create a focus more on ‘doing teaching’ rather than explicating the associated pedagogical reasoning. Importantly, however, if science teaching is to be better understood and valued, such

The conceptions of chemistry teachers about teaching and learning in the context of a curriculum innovation

In this paper, we report on a study of the beliefs of chemistry teachers about the teaching and learning of chemistry in upper secondary education in The Netherlands. This study was conducted in the context of the planning of a national revision of the chemistry curriculum towards a context‐based approach. Chemistry teachers’ beliefs were investigated using a questionnaire that focused on both content‐related ideas about the chemistry curriculum and general educational beliefs. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of Dutch chemistry teachers (n = 966), with a response of 348 (36%). On the basis of factor analysis, two distinct and independent belief structures were found: (1) a belief that combines the curriculum emphasis Fundamental Chemistry with a subject‐matter‐oriented educational belief, and (2) a belief that combines the curriculum emphasis Chemistry, Technology and Society with a learner‐centred educational belief. In a cluster analysis, it was found that most teachers (about three‐quarters of the respondents) combined elements of the two belief structures. However, two relatively small subgroups were identified whose beliefs could be described in terms of one of these two belief structures. Implications for the innovation of the chemistry curriculum are discussed.

Explicating Practical Knowledge: An Extension of Mentor Teachers' Roles.

SUMMARY This article provides an overview of various models and interpretations of mentoring and focuses on a somewhat neglected aspect of mentoring: the explication of mentor teachers’ practical knowledge as a contribution to student teachers’ learning to teach. From that perspective, research on mentoring is related to research on teachers’ knowledge. The central questions addressed in this article are: (a) What role can the explication of practical knowledge by mentor teachers play in helping student teachers learn to teach?, and (b) How can practical knowledge be made explicit during mentoring? Although the difficulties involved in eliciting mentor teachers’ practical knowledge are recognised, several opportunities for realising this goal are described. Finally, some preconditions for the exploration of mentor teachers’ practical knowledge by student teachers and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Current trends and missing links in studies on teacher professional development in science education: a review of design features and quality of research

This review provides an overview of the the current state of research on professional development in science education. An analytical frame was used, based on what is known about PD from educational research. Clarke and Hollingsworth’s model for teacher professional growth was also used to categorise the studies according to their aims and outcomes. Exemplar studies in each category are highlighted. In total, 44 recent studies were selected, all referring to science PD. The results show an increase in the number of PD studies in science education in recent years. Most PD programmes are aimed at enhancing teacher cognitions as well as classroom practice. Most recently, there seems to have been an increase in programmes that also aim at improving student outcomes through PD. All studies applied most of the characteristics drawn from research on what makes PD effective. However, school organisational conditions were not usually taken into account. Moreover, there has been a very little research on the role of facilitators and their impact on the outcomes of a PD programme.

Developing secondary students’ conceptions of chemical reactions: the introduction of chemical equilibrium

This article describes an empirical study concerning the introduction of the chemical equilibrium concept in chemistry classrooms in a way which challenges secondary students’ initial conceptions of chemical reactions. The objectives of this study were to identify the types of reasoning students use in this context and to develop teaching strategies which promote conceptual change in this respect. As a grounded theory approach was adopted, the study included three research cycles. In each cycle, a field experiment was carried out which involved the design and implementation of an experimental course. Data consisted mainly of audiotapes of classroom situations and the written responses of groups of students. The results indicated that carefully designed chemical experiments contributed to students’ dissatisfaction with respect to their present conceptions of chemical reactions. The concept of a dynamic chemical equilibrium was offered as an explanatory model to account for the anomalous data. This model wa...

The ideal research‐teaching nexus in the eyes of academics: building profiles

Research and teaching are supposed to be closely related in universities. Among academics the belief in a symbiotic relationship is strong. However, it is unclear what form this relationship can take. Several authors have presented categories and dimensions to clarify this relationship and the aim of this project was to contribute to this discussion by understanding what academics’ ideal research‐teaching nexus would look like. The ideal images of 30 academics were investigated using a mental visualisation assignment. Respondents were encouraged to describe in detail what for them the linkage between research and teaching would look like in the ideal situation. Five profiles of the research‐teaching nexus could be distinguished: teach research results; make research known; show what it means to be a researcher; help to conduct research; and provide research experience. These profiles are related to dimensions proposed earlier in the literature on the research‐teaching nexus.

Using the curriculum emphasis concept to investigate teachers’ curricular beliefs in the context of educational reform

This paper reports a study on teachers’ domain‐specific beliefs about the chemistry curriculum for upper‐secondary education in The Netherlands. Teachers’ beliefs were investigated using a questionnaire focused on the goals of the chemistry curriculum. The design of the questionnaire was based on three curriculum emphases: ‘fundamental chemistry’, ‘chemistry, technology and society’, and ‘knowledge development in chemistry’. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of Dutch chemistry teachers. The results indicate that, on the whole, the curriculum emphasis ‘fundamental chemistry’ received the strongest support. This is in accordance with the content and the tradition of the Dutch chemistry curriculum. When the two types of upper‐secondary education were compared, it appeared that ‘chemistry, technology and society’ was almost equally valued for both types of education. However, the curriculum emphasis, ‘knowledge development in chemistry’, was considered much more important for pre‐university education than for senior general secondary education.