The Pedagogical Content Knowledge Base of Beginning Social Science Teachers

Abstract

This paper addresses the core theme of "the knowledge base of teachers: the balance between subject and pedagogical knowledge". The theoretical framework is Shulman's (1987) knowledge base of teaching. The paper reports a longitudinal study of ten preservice teachers as they moved from their 4th (and final) year of studies to their first year of teaching. The focus of the study was to look at participants' conceptions of effective Social Science teaching, especially with the knowledge base of pedagogical content knowledge over a period of time, that is, a study of conceptual change. Teachers who possess pedagogical content knowledge have that capacity to combine pedagogy and content into ways that make topics understandable to learners. Shulman (1987), in his publication of "Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of a New Reform", presented a "portrait" of teaching expertise in which he asked "What does Nancy believe, understand, and know how to do that permits her to teach as she does? Can others be prepared to teach with such skill?" (p.8). Shulman concluded that Nancy possessed a body of knowledge that included not only content, curriculum, learners, contexts, values and purposes, but a unique body of knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge that is the "...province of teachers, their own special form of professional understanding" (p.8). In this paper, I will explain how I used concept mapping and video stimulated recall to indicate the understandings held in beginning Social Science teachers over a twelve month period.