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Kris Stutchbury Post 1

10 July 2020, 5:39 PM

Activity 2.6 Knowledge of how to teach

Use this thread to tell us how you can support student teachers in developing their pedagogical content knowledge (i.e. knowledge of how to teach their subject)

Samson Kisirkoi Post 2 in reply to 1

17 July 2020, 8:22 PM

I would support student teachers in developing their pedagogical content knowledge by facilitating their acquisition and understanding of adequate knowledge of the respective subject areas. I will encourage them to do regular practical teaching, and make adjustments based on feedback from our interactive sessions. 

Andrew Ibrahim Post 12 in reply to 2

22 July 2020, 10:58 PM

Michele Deane Post 15 in reply to 2

23 July 2020, 3:23 PM

If I summarise, Samson, student teacher should have subject knowledge and they should also practise teaching. It seems to me that there is a big gap between knowing a subject and teaching it, or to put it another way, between knowing a subject and knowing how to teach it. 

Making adjustment in the light of feedback comes after the students have gone over the gap on their own. How could we support them on bridging the gap?

Angore Mbitha Post 3 in reply to 1

17 July 2020, 9:20 PM

As a teacher you can help to develop somebody's subject knowledge and maybe even their mind and personality by providing a better pedagogical approach that will enable student teachers grasp the contents so as to apply the skills during their teaching work in their chosen subjects.



Abiola Ajani Post 4 in reply to 1

17 July 2020, 9:33 PM

I  Will support student teachers in developing their pedagogical content knowledge by encouraging helping them to acquire needed knowledge and skills on their respective subject area.I will also give room for the student teacher to undergo regular practical teaching among their colleagues for necessary feedback and adjustment.

Course Instructor

Ndidi Ofole Post 5 in reply to 1

18 July 2020, 10:59 AM


Mastery of subject matter

I will ensure that the teachers have the prerequisite knowledge of the subject matter. For example, as a  psychology teacher they need to understand  the concept of positive reinforcement. I will refer them to websites, TESSA OER for  and links where they can increase their knowledge of the subject matter.

Methods of teaching .

I will teach them different participatory methodologies that is specific for psychology courses. . For example, case study, role plays, drama, demonstrate, group work, thin-pair and share. I will ensure that they know the time to adopt each method to suit the  topic.

Understanding learners Perceptions: I will teach the teachers how  to know what the students bring to the table as far as prior conceptions, feelings, and strategies. This is because the student teacher  needs to incorporate the information in planning and delivery the lesson as a way of catering for individual differences.

Deciding a subject's difficulty: I will also teach my student how to  create lesson plans that move through the easier material quickly and provide more time for the difficult subjects. This will help students fully grasp the more difficult topics so they are better prepared to move forward. Moreover, the teachers will be taught how to design age appropriate  lessons.  

 


MARTHA Kabate Post 8 in reply to 5

19 July 2020, 2:04 PM

well said Ndidi

Deborah Cooper Post 19 in reply to 5

23 July 2020, 7:10 PM

Hi Nidi 

Interesting what you say about "what students bring to the table as far as prior conceptions, feelings, strategies"  in the light of learner centered education. 

Does anyone have examples of changing their strategy ?

MY PASSPORT PHOTO

Gladys Rotich Post 27 in reply to 5

31 July 2020, 1:45 PM

Adding on Ndidi's feedback, the above can be done in groups practically or in a demonstration so that student teachers gain confidence.

Mil

Bashiru Saliu Post 6 in reply to 1

18 July 2020, 10:43 PM

I will support student teachers in microbteachinh and give them teaching aid to facilitate their Teaching

MARTHA Kabate Post 7 in reply to 1

19 July 2020, 2:03 PM

 In supporting  students teachers in developing their pedagogical content knowledge; 

I will make sure that together with professional  studies ,  more emphasis will also be  on pedagogical  issues.  This is on what kind of strategies  are to be used in a certain  topic/ subjects . To be specific student teachers will be grouped into streams, those who intend to teach arts   subjects, science subject and language. by doing that each group will be taught on how to teach their  subject.  

Kris Stutchbury Post 9 in reply to 7

19 July 2020, 10:22 PM

It is interesting that so far you all agree that pedagogical content knowledge is important (eg as a Maths teacher, I don't just need to understand fractions, I need to know how to teach it!) But in the poll that we conducted in the first seminar, 'a focus on subject pedagogy' got the second to last number of votes. Why do you think this might be? 

Sabankilie DARPAK SOUGUE Post 10 in reply to 9

21 July 2020, 4:50 PM

We all agree that the knowledge of the content pedagogy is very important but I guess the results from the polls during the webinar featured this result you are mentioned due to the spontaneity of the answers and taking into account the fact that many participants were not yet acquainted with the input from the current readings about this topic .This is what I guess.

Kris Stutchbury Post 22 in reply to 10

29 July 2020, 9:29 AM

Sabankilie,

I agree. We are planning to conduct the same poll again at the end of the course in the third webinar. It will be interesting to see if views have changed! I wonder if another issue is that on many courses, students learn Maths in the maths department and teaching methods in the education department. Where do they learn how to teach maths? Kris

Monioluwa Olaniyi Post 25 in reply to 9

30 July 2020, 1:26 PM

In response to this post Kris, I think many people always get "over anxious" in trying to teach and simply lay more emphasis on that. Several people take pedagogical content knowledge for granted and a lot of times, it's almost natural  because the teacher seems to have a good grasp of the subject matter.It is only when you're dealing with subjects that have high level of difficulty that the consciousness of the fact that a focus on subject pedagogy is necessary comes to the fore.

Kris Stutchbury Post 26 in reply to 25

31 July 2020, 8:54 AM

I agree - there is sometimes an assumption that if someone understands the subject well, then they will understand how to teach it. That is not always the case. Someone with a PhD in physics might struggle to develop an explanation of electricity that is relevant and comprehensible for Grade 7 students. It is a different skill! How do we give student teachers the opportunity to develop these skills in our programmes? 

Monioluwa Olaniyi Post 11 in reply to 1

22 July 2020, 1:42 PM

I'll support student teachers in developing their pedagogical content knowledge by encouraging them to use available resources. Professional interaction like discussing with colleagues, sharing their experiences and attending professional workshops would also help.

Paul Idris Post 13 in reply to 1

23 July 2020, 9:51 AM

*first, is to make the student teachers master the content of the subject matter.

*exposing the student teachers to different method of content presentation required in a field of the discipline. and also make them learn about learners learning behaviors and the condition learners may learners base under given topic.

*exposing the student teachers to other links e.g TESSA links that deal with several teaching pedagogy.

Heitor Simao Post 14 in reply to 1

23 July 2020, 1:10 PM

As a teacher I can start by serving as a model in my pedagogical approach so that I not only teach by words but also by actions, inspire them to research regularly about the subject area they will teach and about didactic strategies that best fit their students.

Michele Deane Post 16 in reply to 14

23 July 2020, 3:42 PM Edited by the author on 23 July 2020, 3:46 PM

I have read all your answers with great interest your ideas on how to develop your students' Knowledge of how to teach (Pedagogical Content Knowledge). I will try to regroup the strand I have identified (and I will reuse your words unashamedly :-) 

  • Subject knowledge is an important prerequisite.
  • Student-teachers need to have awareness to the difficulty of the subject linked to learners' perceptions and level. (My question : does a pupil need to know all there is to know about a topic?)
  • Student-teachers need to be taught methods of teaching. They need to be given strategies to be used in certain topics/subjects. This can be done by the teacher modelling the technique in her/his pedagogical approach so that s/he does not only teach by words but also by actions
  • Supportive resources come into play.
  • Students enacts these strategies in their teaching practice. Micro teaching can be used
  • Feedback, professional interactions, sharing of practice also have  a part to play.

Michele Deane Post 17 in reply to 16

23 July 2020, 3:45 PM

This is quite a long answer, but it is not exhaustive. Please do add to it, expand on it, provide examples of strategies you have use to develop or you would like to use to expand your students Knowledge of how to teach (Pedagogical Content Knowledge)

Deborah Cooper Post 20 in reply to 14

23 July 2020, 7:16 PM

Hello Heitor

Interesting to see what you say about "teach by actions not words." 

If you or your student teachers come to one of my training sessions I promise you we will do poetry and physical role play and group work and pair work. We will actively do it and reflect on the experience  not just read the theory, although it is important to give the reasons.

Looking forward to reading about everyone's experiences of active work.

Deborah

Sabankilie DARPAK SOUGUE Post 18 in reply to 1

23 July 2020, 5:43 PM

Taking for granted that the trainees have a greater  amount of knowledge about their subject content during their stay in the teacher training centers ,I guess it will be very helpful if we focus somehow on getting them to grasp with the pedagogy specific to every subject matter when it comes to classroom routine. We will try to be much more comfortable with those skills ourselves in order to be able to practice these skills during their micro teaching and they will be able to replicate those skills when they will be in front of their own students in schools after.

Linet Njagi Post 21 in reply to 1

24 July 2020, 9:52 AM

supporting then in gaining the needed content their subject area and also in general areas like psychology of teaching and learning ,this will help them understand their students better

PETER Gathara Post 23 in reply to 1

29 July 2020, 10:35 AM

The student teacher can improve their pedagogical knowledge by reading widely on the topics that they are supposed to teach. This can be done by use of cross referencing the materials that they read so that they can fully understand the content. Use of different resources such as videos and reading of topics included can help a lot in ensuring that they have the required pedagogical knowledge.

Sandra Amos Post 24 in reply to 23

30 July 2020, 8:12 AM

Student teachers also gain PCK by experiencing good teaching as a learner. As teacher educators, our practice is an important part of developing our students PCK. 


Aminu Rufai Post 28 in reply to 1

2 August 2020, 5:53 AM

I Will support my students to develop their pedagogical content knowledge by demonstrating to them the various teaching strategies  encourage them to use the strategies and also help them master the subject content in their various teaching subjects

Nila Oduori Post 29 in reply to 1

3 August 2020, 6:48 PM
By modeling the various teaching techniques and encouraging them to demonstrate how technology can be used with the content they are trying to teach.

Sandra Amos Post 30 in reply to 29

4 August 2020, 10:07 AM

This is so important Nila. A very good point made. 

Jacqueline Korir Post 31 in reply to 1

7 August 2020, 11:11 AM

I can support them by teaching them how to access resources and also teaching them on the importance and strategies for learner centered education 

Felicia Oamen Post 32 in reply to 1

10 August 2020, 9:46 PM

I will support student teachers by creating opportunities to serve as role model by making them observe me teach the subject (in this case pragmatics) so they can have the opportunity to see the practical side of the subject

Chimdiebere Joseph Post 33 in reply to 1

8 September 2020, 6:53 AM

I will support student teachers in developing their pedagogical knowledge, by giving them all the resources they need to deepen their own understanding of their subjects

Toluwase Olanipekun

Toluwase Olanipekun Post 34 in reply to 1

14 September 2020, 2:41 PM

Using the TESSA OER to develop learning materials will assist me to plan activities better and have an organised class.

Discussion tags: activity 2.6, knowledge of how to teach