Vanessa Kind Webinar - Pedagogical Content Knowledge

The lecture discusses the expectations societies have for their teachers, introducing factors required for “quality teaching”. Current teacher preparation methodologies in many nations operate a deficit model that focuses on providing potential teachers with information deemed necessary to function as a teacher, allied to a “master-apprentice” system to develop classroom teaching strategies. The impact on student achievement is mixed: international data shows that some well-funded jurisdictions perform at or below average, and outcomes for students vary. The lecture explores research evidence illustrating “great teaching”, identifying components that seem consistently essential for high attainment. Pedagogical content knowledge is presented, and analysed from the perspective of teacher preparation policies in five contrasting jurisdictions. Empirical evidence illustrating the quality of pedagogical content knowledge teachers require will be presented. The lecture concludes with a proposal for a teacher quality framework model and recommendations for policy and practice.