Illustrating and developing science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge through learning study

Abstract

Using a teacher educator's perspective to study pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as described in the Refined Consensus Model (RCM) of PCK, this chapter explores an approach to uncover teacher thinking that is grounded in the complex work of teaching and learning about teaching. PCK is described in theRCM as the knowledge that supports science teachers' pedagogical reasoning during teaching. Stated from a teacher educator's perspective, PCK is the knowledge used and developed by science teachers in their teaching practice. The complexity of teaching, however, creates a challenge for researchers and teacher educators interested in gathering evidence to better understand and document science teachers' developing PCK. An approach to supporting science teacher learning that is embedded in the facets of teaching-planning, enacting, and reflecting-is learning study. Learning study engages teachers in cycles of describing phenomenon-based tasks, anticipating students' ideas, and analysing learning. Each of these phases in the study of learning draws on science teachers' pedagogical reasoning in ways that appear to be aligned with descriptions of collective PCK (cPCK) and distinguishes qualitative differences between individual teacher's ePCK. In the context of graduate teacher education, this chapter describes the potential of learning study to enable researchers and teacher educators to capture, unpack, and refine our ideas about the features of PCK that guide science teachers' thinking within the different facets of their teaching.