04/03/2015

PedagogicalContentKnowledge

TpackTechnologicalPedagogicalContentKnowledgeGotTPACK?
Search...
Search
Home
WhatisTPACK?
ComponentsofTPACK
ResearchandPD
Resources
Translations
RSSFeed

PedagogicalContentKnowledge
By
MatthewKoehler
May13,2011Postedin:Core

TPACK.ORGhasmoved

PleasevisitTPACK.ORGtovisitthe
newsite.Removeanybookmarksto
theseinternal(outdatedpages).Thissite
willbedeletedsoon.

Shulman(1986)advancedthinkingaboutteacherknowledgebyintroducingtheideaofpedagogical
contentknowledge.Heclaimedthattheemphasesonteacherssubjectknowledgeandpedagogywere
beingtreatedasmutuallyexclusivedomainsinresearchconcernedwiththesedomains(1987,p.6).
Thepracticalconsequenceofsuchexclusionwasproductionofteachereducationprogramsinwhich AboutArrasWordPressTheme
afocusoneithersubjectmatterorpedagogydominated.Toaddressthisdichotomy,heproposedto
CopyrightTpackTechnological
considerthenecessaryrelationshipbetweenthetwobyintroducingthenotionofPCK.
PedagogicalContentKnowledge.AllRights
Reserved.
Thisknowledgeincludesknowingwhatteachingapproachesfitthecontent,andlikewise,knowing
howelementsofthecontentcanbearrangedforbetterteaching.Thisknowledgeisdifferentfromthe
knowledgeofadisciplinaryexpertandalsofromthegeneralpedagogicalknowledgesharedby
teachersacrossdisciplines.PCKisconcernedwiththerepresentationandformulationofconcepts,
pedagogicaltechniques,knowledgeofwhatmakesconceptsdifficultoreasytolearn,knowledgeof
studentspriorknowledgeandtheoriesofepistemology.Italsoinvolvesknowledgeofteaching
strategiesthatincorporateappropriateconceptualrepresentations,toaddresslearnerdifficultiesand
misconceptionsandfostermeaningfulunderstanding.Italsoincludesknowledgeofwhatthe
studentsbringtothelearningsituation,knowledgethatmightbeeitherfacilitativeordysfunctional
fortheparticularlearningtaskathand.Thisknowledgeofstudentsincludestheirstrategies,prior
conceptions(bothnaveandinstructionallyproduced)misconceptionsstudentsarelikelytohave
aboutaparticulardomainandpotentialmisapplicationsofpriorknowledge.
PCKexistsattheintersectionofcontentandpedagogy.Thusitdoesnotrefertoasimple
considerationofbothcontentandpedagogy,togetherbutinisolationbutrathertoanamalgamof
contentandpedagogythusenablingtransformationofcontentintopedagogicallypowerfulforms.
PCKrepresentstheblendingofcontentandpedagogyintoanunderstandingofhowparticular
aspectsofsubjectmatterareorganized,adapted,andrepresentedforinstruction.Shulmanargued
thathavingknowledgeofsubjectmatterandgeneralpedagogicalstrategies,thoughnecessary,were
notsufficientforcapturingtheknowledgeofgoodteachers.Tocharacterizethecomplexwaysin
whichteachersthinkabouthowparticularcontentshouldbetaught,hearguedforpedagogical
contentknowledgeasthecontentknowledgethatdealswiththeteachingprocess,includingthethe
waysofrepresentingandformulatingthesubjectthatmakeitcomprehensibletoothers(p.9).If
teachersweretobesuccessfultheywouldhavetoconfrontbothissues(ofcontentandpedagogy)
simultaneously,byembodyingtheaspectsofcontentmostgermanetoitsteachability(Shulman,
1986,p.9).AttheheartofPCKisthemannerinwhichsubjectmatteristransformedforteaching.
Thisoccurswhentheteacherinterpretsthesubjectmatter,findingdifferentwaystorepresentitand
makeitaccessibletolearners.
ThenotionofPCKhasbeenextended(andcritiqued)byscholarsafterShulman(forinstancesee
Cochran,DeRuiter,&King,1993vanDriel,Verloop,&DeVos,1998).Infact,Shulmansinitial
descriptionofteacherknowledgeincludedmanymorecategories(suchascurriculumknowledge,
knowledgeofeducationalcontexts,etc.).MattersarefurthercomplicatedbythefactthatShulman
hashimselfproposedmultiplelistsindifferentpublications,thatlack,inhisownwords,great
crossarticleconsistency(Shulman,1986p.8).OuremphasisonPCKisbasedonShulmans
acknowledgementthatpedagogicalcontentknowledgeisofspecialinterestbecauseitidentifiesthe
distinctivebodiesofknowledgeforteaching.Itrepresentstheblendingofcontentandpedagogyinto
anunderstandingofhowparticulartopics,problems,orissuesareorganized,represented,and
adaptedtothediverseinterestsandabilitiesoflearners,andpresentedforinstruction(p.8).
Moreover,ouremphasisonPCKisconsistentwiththeworkofmanyotherscholarsandrecent
educationalreformdocuments.Sinceitsintroductionin1987,PCKhasbecomeawidelyusefuland
usednotion.ForinstanceintheareaofscienceeducationscholarssuchasAndersonandMitchner
(1994)HewsonandHewson(1988)Cochran,King,andDeRuiter(1993)andprofessional
http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/tpack/pedagogicalcontentknowledgepck/

1/3

04/03/2015

PedagogicalContentKnowledge

organizationssuchastheNationalScienceTeachersAssociation(NSTA,1999)andNational
CouncilfortheAccreditationofTeacherEducation(NCATE,1997)haveallemphasizedthevalue
ofPCKforteacherpreparationandteacherprofessionaldevelopment.AnanalysisofTeacher
Educatorshandbook:Buildingaknowledgebaseforthepreparationofteachers(Murray,1996)
showsShulmanasthefourthmostcitedauthorofthecloseto1500authorsinthebooksauthor
indexwithanoverwhelmingmajorityofthosereferencesmadetothisconceptofPCK(Murray,
1996,referredbySegall,2004).ThenotionofPCK,sinceitsintroductionin1987,haspermeatedthe
scholarshipthatdealswithteachereducationingeneralandthesubjectmattereducationinparticular
(Seeforexample,Ball,1996Cochran,King&DeRuiter,1993Grossman,1990Ma,1999
Shulman,1987Wilson,Shulman,&Richert,1987).Itisvaluedasanepistemologicalconceptthat
usefullyblendstogetherthetraditionallyseparatedknowledgebasesofcontentandpedagogy.

Diagrammatically,wecanrepresentShulmanscontributiontothescholarshipofteacherknowledge
byconnectingthetwocircles,sothattheirintersectionrepresentsPedagogicalContentKnowledge
astheinterplaybetweenpedagogyandcontent.InShulmanswords,thisintersectioncontainswithin
it,themostregularlytaughttopicsinonessubjectarea,themostusefulformsofrepresentationof
thoseideas,themostpowerfulanalogies,illustrations,examples,explanations,anddemonstrations
inaword,thewaysofrepresentingandformulatingthesubjectthatmakeitcomprehensibleto
others(Shulman,1986,p.9).
AlthoughShulmandidnotdiscusstechnologyanditsrelationshiptopedagogyandcontent,wedo
notbelievethattheseissueswereconsideredunimportant.Rather,theintentistonowbringexplicit
attentiontotheseissuesbyconsideringhowtechnologyinteractswithpedagogyasTechnological
PedagogicalKnowledge(TPK),withcontentasTechnologicalContentKnowledge(TCK),and
jointlyasTechnologicalPedagogicalContentKonwledge(TPCK).

AboutMatthewKoehler
Inmyresearch,Iseektounderstandthepedagogicalaffordances(andconstraints)ofnewer
technologiesforlearning,specificallyinthecontextoftheprofessionaldevelopmentofteachers.My
workhasledtoaprogramofresearchaboutaformofknowledge,TechnologicalPedagogical
ContentKnowledge(TPACK),thathasdevelopedtheoretical,pedagogical,andmethodological
perspectivesthatcharacterizeteacherswhoeffectivelyintegratecontent,pedagogy,andtechnology
intheirclassroompractice.
4Comments
1. Reply
YehoshafatShafeeGive'on
PostedOctober22,2011at10:00AM
Shulmandiddiscusstechnologyaccordingtoitsrelativeimportanceasanintegralpartofthe
curricularknowledge(1986,p.10).Inaddition,PCKwasintroducedanddefinedbyShulmanin
hislecture(1986)inawaythatcannotberepresentedbythetwoplanarintersectingdomains.
Hismainideain1986wastheultimatetestofunderstandingrestsontheabilitytotransform
knowledgeintoteaching.ThusPCKisinterwovenwithahighlevelofCK.Thecirclesdiagram
hidesthislevelandallowsonetorepresentC,PandTonsimilarandflattenedlevels.
2. Reply
Alientoinquiry
PostedJanuary15,2012at11:19PM
http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/tpack/pedagogicalcontentknowledgepck/

2/3

04/03/2015

PedagogicalContentKnowledge

DearDr.Koehler,
Thisisquiteanimportantsubjectforeducators,butletsgetdowntowhatitreallyisthe
intersectionofwhereonesknowledgeofthesubjectmeetsonesknowledgeofhowtoportray
theinformationtothelearners.Thisshouldalsoconsiderthefactorsthatonedealswithona
dailybasisaretheyreadytolearn,havetheyhadthepropernutrition,aretheyhappyor
content.didtheygetuponthewrongsideofthebed.Thesemayaffectthepedagogicalanalysis
ofhowthesubjectmaybestberelayed?
LessandlessAlienasgovernmentscarelessaboutourkids
Trackbacks/Pings
1. TPACK(TPCK)|Teaching,Technology,TrialsandTribulations
2. TPACK|"BeTheChangeYouWantToSeeInTheWorld"

LeaveaReply
Youremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*
Name*
Email*
Website

Comment
YoumayusetheseHTMLtagsandattributes:<ahref=""title=""><abbrtitle=""><acronym
title=""><b><blockquotecite=""><cite><code><deldatetime=""><em><i><qcite="">
<strike><strong>

PostComment

http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/tpack/pedagogicalcontentknowledgepck/

3/3