Chapter 1
Teacher knowledge and the knowledge base of teaching

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-0355(02)00003-4Get rights and content

Abstract

In this chapter, the knowledge base of teaching is conceived as all profession-related insights, which are potentially relevant to a teacher's 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.

Section snippets

The knowledge base of teaching

A great deal of educational research has aimed at developing a knowledge base of teaching and, where possible, translating it into recommendations for teacher education (Reynolds, 1989). This knowledge base was supposedly shared by teachers and formed the basis for their behavior (Hoyle & John, 1995). Until the early 1980s, the line of reasoning in this field was rather straightforward. The goal of the research was to detect those teaching behaviors that resulted in higher pupil achievement

Teacher knowledge

Teacher knowledge is the total knowledge that a teacher has at his or her disposal at a particular moment which, by definition, underlies his or her actions (Carter, 1990). This does not imply that all the knowledge a teacher has actually plays a role in his or her actions. Teachers can, consciously or unconsciously, refrain from using certain insights during their teaching. The basic idea is that a reciprocity exists between the whole of teachers’ cognition (in the broad sense) and their

Teacher knowledge and educational innovation

So far, the discussion has focused on the relevance of teacher knowledge primarily as an element of the knowledge base of teaching. The conditions under which teacher knowledge can become a more fundamental “input” for that knowledge base of teaching, that is, in what ways the contribution of teachers as professionals to their common knowledge base can become more substantial, has also been addressed. Obviously, this can have important consequences for teacher education. There is another area

Concluding remarks

From the theoretical developments and empirical investigations with respect to teacher knowledge, the efforts to broaden the knowledge base of teaching to include teacher knowledge are promising. A number of illuminating studies, depicting teachers’ knowledge with respect to a range of phenomena, are available. As it has become clear that the greater part of teacher knowledge is strongly related to specific domains or contexts, much time-consuming research will be needed in order to depict the

Nico Verloop is Professor of Education and director of ICLON Graduate School of Education, Leiden University, The Netherlands. He is immediate past-president of the Dutch Educational Research Association. His major research interests are: teachers’ practical knowledge, learning and professional development of teachers and teacher evaluation.

References (68)

  • H. Borko

    Research on learning to teachImplications for graduate teacher preparation

  • S. Brown

    The professional craft knowledge of teachersStudent teachers gaining access to it

  • S. Brown et al.

    Making sense of teaching

    (1993)
  • J. Calderhead

    The contribution of field experiences to student primary teachers’ professional learning

    Research in Education

    (1988)
  • J. Calderhead

    TeachersBeliefs and knowledge

  • I. Carlgren et al.

    On teachers’ practical reasoning and professional knowledgeConsidering conceptions of context in teachers’ thinking

    Teaching and Teacher Education

    (1991)
  • K. Carter

    Teachers’ knowledge and learning to teach

  • F.K. Cochran et al.

    Pedagogical content knowingAn integrative model for teacher preparation

    Journal of Teacher Education

    (1993)
  • F.M. Conelly et al.

    Personal practical knowledge and the modes of knowingRelevance for teaching and learning

  • W. De Vos et al.

    A new road to reactions, part 1

    Journal of Chemical Education

    (1985)
  • N.K. Denzin

    The art and politics of interpretation

  • W. Doyle

    Themes in teacher education research

  • L. Duffee et al.

    Curriculum change, student evaluation, and teacher practical knowledge

    Science Education

    (1992)
  • M.J. Dunkin et al.

    The study of teaching

    (1974)
  • F. Elbaz

    Research on teachers’ knowledgeThe evolution of a discourse

    Journal of Curriculum Studies

    (1991)
  • M. Eraut

    Developing professional practice and competence

    (1994)
  • G.D. Fenstermacher

    Philosophy of research on teachingThree aspects

  • Fenstermacher, G. D. (1994). The knower and the known: The nature of knowledge in research on teaching. In L....
  • J. Furlong

    Intuition and the crisis in teacher professionalism

  • Grimmett, P. P., & MacKinnon, A. M. (1992). Craft knowledge and the education of teachers. In G. Grant (Ed.), Review of...
  • R. Gunstone

    Content knowledge, reflection, and their intertwiningA response to the paper set

    Science Education

    (1999)
  • W.D. Hawley et al.

    The essentials of effective professional development. A new consensus

  • E. Hoyle et al.

    Professional knowledge and professional practice

    (1995)
  • V.J. Janesick

    The dance of qualitative research design

  • Cited by (336)

    • Does teacher empowerment contribute to innovative work behaviour?

      2024, International Journal of Management in Education
    • Does initial teacher education (in England) have a future?

      2024, Journal of Education for Teaching
    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Nico Verloop is Professor of Education and director of ICLON Graduate School of Education, Leiden University, The Netherlands. He is immediate past-president of the Dutch Educational Research Association. His major research interests are: teachers’ practical knowledge, learning and professional development of teachers and teacher evaluation.

    Jan Van Driel is Associate Professor at ICLON Graduate School of Education, Leiden University, The Netherlands. His research focusses on the ways science teachers develop practical knowledge. This research encompasses both student teachers during their teacher preparation and experienced teachers who are dealing with curriculum reforms.

    Paulien Meijer is Assistant Professor at ICLON Graduate School of Education, Leiden University, The Netherlands, where she works as a teacher educator and educational researcher. Her research interests are teachers’ practical knowledge and teacher learning, both individually as in groups. In her research she specifically focusses on the professional development of experienced teachers.

    View full text