Contents, pedagogy, PCK and implications for research literacy in education

Abstract

Education students are often exposed to two quite unconnected bodies of knowledge - one about what teaching should be, and the other concerned with the characteristics and skills of good teaching. This schism is further exasperated through the varying conception and emphasis on the overlapping dimensions of subject matter knowledge relevant to teaching, namely content knowledge, substantive knowledge, syntactic knowledge, and beliefs about subject matter. This paper revisits the pedagogical content knowledge framework advanced by Lee Shulman, and the research around PCK. An important aim of teaching and learning is to generate new knowledge to enhance teaching and optimise student learning outcomes. This paper further introduces research literacy, and how effective lead and highly accomplished teachers utilise their own reflective practice to improve their teaching, and empower those under their charge. Research Literacy, as an extension of effective PCK is presented with exemplars, with recommendations for a framework for engaging and extending prospective lead and highly accomplished teachers. References are made to the TALIS (2009) study.