Project Overview
This study will provide benchmark standards of appropriate teacher knowledge for teaching Mathematics and English across the levels of schooling from Foundation to Year 12, at different stages of experience, and will explore ways in which teacher knowledge can be developed.
Teachers make a difference (Hattie, 2007). Hence, there is considerable interest in raising the quality of teachers through setting standards and expectations to which all teachers can aspire. This task is complex. The knowledge that teachers need in order to be effective varies across the levels of schooling and experience. Different subjects require their own specialised knowledge of content and how that content should be taught. Mathematics and English are core components of curricula around the world, and the emphasis on literacy and numeracy as outcomes for an educated citizenry makes it imperative to determine the knowledge that teachers need in order to teach effectively in these areas. Although there has been progress in defining the nature of teachers’ knowledge (Shulman, 1987), mapping this knowledge across subjects and levels of schooling remains an intractable problem. |
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The curriculum describes what school students must know at each year level but there is no parallel “pedagogical” curriculum to identify to teachers and teacher educators what appropriate pedagogical knowledge is necessary to achieve the goals of the curriculum. This study will establish empirically a pedagogical curriculum for the development of teachers’ knowledge in the two key areas of Mathematics and English, and internationally will position Australia as the world leader in the development of quality teachers.
Teachers make a difference (Hattie, 2007). Hence, there is considerable interest in raising the quality of teachers through setting standards and expectations to which all teachers can aspire. This task is complex. The knowledge that teachers need in order to be effective varies across the levels of schooling and experience. Different subjects require their own specialised knowledge of content and how that content should be taught. Mathematics and English are core components of curricula around the world, and the emphasis on literacy and numeracy as outcomes for an educated citizenry makes it imperative to determine the knowledge that teachers need in order to teach effectively in these areas. Although there has been progress in defining the nature of teachers’ knowledge (Shulman, 1987), mapping this knowledge across subjects and levels of schooling remains an intractable problem. The curriculum describes what school students must know at each year level but there is no parallel “pedagogical” curriculum to identify to teachers and teacher educators what appropriate pedagogical knowledge is necessary to achieve the goals of the curriculum. This study will establish empirically a pedagogical curriculum for the development of teachers’ knowledge in the two key areas of Mathematics and English, and internationally will position Australia as the world leader in the development of quality teachers.
From this background, the specific aims of this study are:
Teachers make a difference (Hattie, 2007). Hence, there is considerable interest in raising the quality of teachers through setting standards and expectations to which all teachers can aspire. This task is complex. The knowledge that teachers need in order to be effective varies across the levels of schooling and experience. Different subjects require their own specialised knowledge of content and how that content should be taught. Mathematics and English are core components of curricula around the world, and the emphasis on literacy and numeracy as outcomes for an educated citizenry makes it imperative to determine the knowledge that teachers need in order to teach effectively in these areas. Although there has been progress in defining the nature of teachers’ knowledge (Shulman, 1987), mapping this knowledge across subjects and levels of schooling remains an intractable problem. The curriculum describes what school students must know at each year level but there is no parallel “pedagogical” curriculum to identify to teachers and teacher educators what appropriate pedagogical knowledge is necessary to achieve the goals of the curriculum. This study will establish empirically a pedagogical curriculum for the development of teachers’ knowledge in the two key areas of Mathematics and English, and internationally will position Australia as the world leader in the development of quality teachers.
From this background, the specific aims of this study are:
- To identify key aspects of teachers’ knowledge for teaching Mathematics and English;
- To establish benchmarks for teachers’ knowledge for teaching Mathematics and English;
- To identify similarities and differences in teachers’ knowledge for teaching between the two subject areas of Mathematics and English;
- To develop a variety of instruments to measure this knowledge in ways that allow teachers at all levels of schooling to demonstrate appropriately their knowledge for teaching Mathematics and English;
- To determine how the key aspects of teachers’ knowledge for teaching Mathematics and English change across levels of schooling;
- To determine how the key aspects of teachers’ knowledge for teaching Mathematics and English change as teachers move through stages of experience; and
- To explore sustainable ways in which teachers’ knowledge might be developed.
The Powerful Knowledge Project: Mapping out Standards of Teachers' Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics and English to achieve the goals of the Curriculum is a collaborative project between the University of Tasmania and Massey University. Funding has been provided through an Australian Research Council Discovery Projects grant (DP130103144)