Teacher knowledge: a complex tapestry

Abstract

Teachers need to know a great deal, in many areas and in multiple ways. Teacher knowledge is a complex tapestry, and teachers must successfully weave the multiple threads. In this article, I present a conceptualisation of teacher knowledge that provides a framework for describing the complexity of teacher knowledge. The framework describes three ways of knowing: “knowing how,” “knowing why,” and “knowing what” and then applies these three knowledge discourses across six domains of teacher knowledge. The framework was developed from a study of 14 teachers in their first year of teaching, and in this article the framework is applied to their experiences to illustrate specific gaps in their teacher knowledge. It is proposed that this conceptualisation of teacher knowledge allows those involved in teacher education and induction to more clearly identify professional learning needs and develop their programmes with specificity.