The curious affair of Pedagogical content knowledge

Abstract

This paper attempts to find the core of pedagogical content knowledge by analysing the central concepts of the teaching-studying-learning process. The various relations between these concepts - teacher, student, content - lead to possible explanations about the nature of pedagogical content knowledge. The role of practice, empirical and normative sides, and personal practical theories are the essential features in understanding pedagogical content knowledge. And its dependence on the curriculum raises the question of latency as its theoretical existence. Moreover, this paper discusses the connection of pedagogical content knowledge to the German fachdidaktik as well as its relation to the French didactiques. The increasing use of pedagogical content knowledge may likely show the way to a more heterogeneous usage of this concept in the future.