1.2. Knowledge for teaching
Learning to be a teacher is a complicated process – yet it is often presented as being straightforward – simply a matter of following a set of rules (knowledge of which is tested by exam) or following a prescribed lesson plan. In order to understand how
to become a better inclusive teacher, it is helpful to think about what it is teachers need to know and be able to do.
One way to think about this issue is to consider knowledge about teaching as falling into three categories:
- Knowledge for practice
- Knowledge of practice
-
Knowledge in practice
Figure 1 The
three categories of teaching ‘knowledge’ (drawn from Cohran-Smith and Lytle,
1999). View PDF version
Activity 4.1 Knowledge for teaching
Allow approximately 30 minutes for this activity.
- Think back about your own experience of learning to be a teacher and of working as a teacher. In your study notebook make a list of what it is that you ‘know’ that someone who is not a teacher doesn’t, e.g. theories of learning, the school
curriculum, how to control a class, how to plan a lesson, how to organise the classroom, etc.
- Next, draw a table with three columns with the headings: knowledge for practice, knowledge of practice and knowledge in practice. Sort your list from part 1 into the three columns.
- Now think about your training to be a teacher. What did the different aspects of your training contribute to what you now know and are able to do? Annotate your table to show how and where you learnt the different aspects of your craft as a teacher. If
you are unqualified, annotate the table to show how you have come to know the knowledge and skills you have listed.
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