Assignment 3 Subject Knowledge and Pedagogy.

Abstract

At the start of the GTP programme, it was a prerequisite to assess subject knowledge with a view to planning a course of action following weaknesses in knowledge identified. I was able to identify the areas in the ICT subject that I found my knowledge somewhat lacking in, namely Databases, Spreadsheets and Programming. This document attempts to track my efforts to improve my subject knowledge in these areas, providing evidence, where possible, of knowledge growth. The importance of knowing your subject cannot be stressed enough if teaching is the chosen career path. How would you teach others if you dont know what you are talking about? An almost impossible endeavour. The second part of this document explores Pedagogy, the science of teaching methods and principles. I will try to evaluate my pedagogical knowledge and look at ways I have hopefully improved on the techniques I thought I had compared to tried and tested techniques or methods. There are a few principles of the methods of teaching which I would briefly explore, in the hope that I show understanding and evidence of. These are principles such as: a) the learning environment is supportive and productive; b) the learning environment promotes independence, interdependence and self-motivation; c) the students needs, backgrounds, perspectives and interests are reflected in the learning program; d) the students are challenged and supported to develop deep levels of thinking and application; e) assessment practices are an integral part of learning and teaching.

Subject Knowledge:
Teacher training has undergone some significant changes in recent years, and possibly the most significant is the introduction of professional standards in qualifying to teach (TDA, 2002) which has given greater responsibility to schools approach to training, opening the way to an increased variety of training options and a more central role for school-based trainers. There appears to be tension between the provision of a flexible route with trainee teachers taking responsibility for their own learning and the constraints of reaching government defined standards and competences. One of the new features of GTP is that a significant number of trainee teachers now have prior experience of working in a school support role such as teaching assistants and IT support technicians, such as myself, a former senior IT Technician. However, a Mayotte (2003) report states, previous career success does not guarantee success as a teacher. Those involved in the school based teacher education will engage in a number of orientations such as the academic, the practical, the personal and the critical, to greater or lesser extent. The Academic Orientation where teaching and learning to teach are based on subjects which include the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1986). The Practical Orientation this focuses on the craft, skills and techniques that skilful practitioners use. The Personal Orientation where the teacher is placed as a learner at the centre of the educational process. The Critical Orientation a combination of a social and political vision of schooling and, that novice teachers need to promote particular values.

What is new is the increased emphasis on the enhancement of subject knowledge and subject pedagogic knowledge by schools in England which has been identified as a developmental need by the Training and Development Agency (TDA). Following an initial review of trainee teachers in 2007, trainee reflections of general progress over the course were analysed against a TDA model. This analysis indicated that where subject knowledge was concerned trainees focussed on individual student development or assessment for learning or organisational aspects rather than considering the range and depth of subject and pedagogical knowledge they themselves needed to learn and develop and how to go about this, (something I found was the case with me and my teacher training). Thankfully there was the Booster Course, which extracted forgotten and unused knowledge specific for the chosen career path.

The accounts of the teachers in this review also echoed the concerns of the government that there appeared to be insufficient knowledge and understanding about subject knowledge and pedagogy and support from departmental staff in furthering this understanding (Evans, A., Hawksley, F., Holland, M. R. and Caillau, I. (2008). Again, this cannot be said to be the case in my personal experience.

Developing Subject Knowledge. Subject knowledge is paramount if you want to teach ICT and Computer Science; in fact, this is the case in all taught subjects, whether academic or vocational. The starting point on the course was a self audit of subject knowledge which enabled me to see what I could do with my degree and identified gaps in relation to my teaching. This audit created an open awareness from which I was able to identify what needed to be done as part of my training programme. At the start of this training programme, I was lacking sufficient knowledge to deliver a well taught lesson where the students learned and retained well, in areas such as Databases, Spreadsheets and Programming. It was apparent that I had to do the necessary refreshing and re-learning of these areas of ICT before I felt confident enough to deliver a lesson that begun to teach and engage the students. My Skills Audit, showed which areas to concentrate on and I began a programme of study to improve my knowledge in these areas. The programme was basically centred on the topics or units within these areas that I was going to be teaching the students. It was necessary for me to re-learn things I had forgotten from lack of use, or whatever reason, and I began with the complexities of Databases, such as the 1st to 3rd Normal Form a required aspect of Relational Databases. In my quest to further develop my subject knowledge, not only in the key areas identified, but overall, I have been including in my research activities, some practice exercises as well as teaching me along with the class, using the resources I had put together for the lesson being delivered. It was identified that my programming knowledge required a major boost, especially as the programming language being taught was one I had no experience with Scratch and as such I had to do my research and watch some instructional videos, and use reference material. Programming though, is not restricted to just the Scratch program, thankfully, you find it in the macros used in spreadsheets and databases in the form of Visual Basic, a language that I

had experienced with, albeit one that I had to refresh my memory on and re-learn, (an ongoing aspect of my teacher training and teaching). I also identified a lacking in my Spreadsheets knowledge, and began my re-learning by going to my colleagues for help and found that there are areas of my knowledge where I did not so much re-learn as learn a whole new aspect. My knowledge is growing, but I know there is still quite a lot to learn before I can begin to feel comfortable when teaching this topic. I feel that the Booster course at the start of this training programme, served two purposes identified areas I knew little or nothing about and taught and reminded me of areas I had forgotten over the years. As an ICT technician over the years, my technical knowledge has out-grown my theoretical knowledge of applications used for functional IT use, but this is not a disadvantage, more a strength with the introduction of Computer Science to the suggested curriculum. In the KS5 topic areas, Computer Science is an area that has captivated the pupils and even though there is always more to learn, with the speed at which technology is developing, my knowledge of this topic is not one I feel I have issues with, but will continue to do the work needed to stay on top of developments and provide the best lessons I can.

Pedagogy:
The science of teaching, the techniques, styles and methods employed over the years to provide practical and functional lessons to students. Pedagogy lends itself to the art of teaching the way a teacher utilises subject knowledge and teaching styles to deliver a well taught lesson. Teaching styles vary, mainly according to individual characteristics, but they have one thing in common the desire to impart knowledge in a way that is beneficial to the students and provides an assessment opportunity before, during and after lessons. Turner-Bisset (2001) states that teaching is not a matter of skill or competency alone as teachers need a deep understanding of several different knowledge bases to develop sophisticated professional expertise. Shulman (1986) argues that the literature on teaching focuses on management of classrooms, organisation of activities, allocation of time for activities, assessment, praise, and questioning technique whereas the consideration of lesson content is under-conceptualised. Goodson (1998) states that relationships within subject matter remain unexplored and under-theorised. Shulman (1986a, 1986b, 1987) states his interest in questions teachers ask and the explanations they offer. He is interested in where teacher explanations come from and how teachers decide what to teach, how to represent what they teach, how teachers question students about subject content and how teachers deal with problems of pupils misunderstandings. Shulman observes that new teachers begin with expertise in the content they teach and an important issue for him is the transition they make from expert student to novice teacher. Fuller and Bown (1975) articulated a three-stage model of student-teacher development. They aver that concerns of student teachers shift outward from an initial pre-occupation of self to a focus on tasks and teaching situations, and finally to consideration of the impact of their teaching on pupils. This I can subscribe to as I was very self conscious at the onset of this programme and as time went on, I became more wrapped up in the tasks and teaching part and then eventually started to consider how well I was doing at teaching the students and what kind of impact I was having on their knowledge gain, and what impact I was having on them as a whole. (It was no longer about my learning; it became more about my teaching). General pedagogical knowledge is the generic knowledge about teaching gained from practice. The sort of knowledge to which Shulman is referring is knowledge of, for example, how to settle a class, how to attract and hold the attention of the class and how to manage educational resources. Much of general pedagogical knowledge appears to be procedural and learnt from practice; yet it is also likely, given that it is grounded in practice, that general pedagogical knowledge is constructed from innumerable cases of teaching, and

has a substantive base (Turner-Bisset, 2001). It follows that an understanding of pupils learning is a necessary requirement for good teaching to be possible and that consequently the expert teacher will have a pedagogical repertoire of teaching techniques. Techniques that can be used to assess the pupils ability to learn and what form of teaching best suits each individual and each class. Differentiation comes to the fore here. Differentiation is a necessary characteristic of good pedagogical practice which addresses the needs of the individual in class and allows for a more tailored lesson to ensure that all benefit. The teacher identifies the best possible approach to a pupils learning after assessing said pupil, then tailors the lesson to accommodate the necessary alterations needed for the benefit of that pupil, without making it obvious that these measures have been taken, so as not to undermine the pupils confidence, but to boost it. Shulman (1986b) offers additional categories of knowledge bases that contribute to pedagogic content knowledge. Knowledge of learners includes general knowledge of what pupils of a certain age are like and specific, context bound, knowledge of a group of learners, i.e. my class. Teaching contexts may have a significant impact on teaching performance, and there are a range of contextual factors that affect teachers development and classroom performance. These include the socio-economic level of the catchment area; the type and size of school; the class size; the amount and quality of support teachers and other colleagues give to each other; the feedback teachers receive on their performance; the quality of relationships in the school; and the expectations and attitudes of the head teacher. In my personal journey towards the ideal pedagogical content and practice knowledge, it has been identified that the structuring of my lessons is an area I have to concentrate on in order to achieve the standard I feel I can achieve. I have found, from comparing my style with the styles of my colleagues, tutors and lecturers, that the flow of the lesson is an integral part of pedagogical practice. If the lesson does not flow well, the pupils are left unsure of what they are being taught and possibly unsure of what, if anything, they have learned in the lesson or series of lessons covering a single topic. Structuring a lesson does not come easily to me, possibly because my professional career up to the point of embarking on this journey exposed me to a different working style where I worked with fellow professionals in the field and did not have to teach. It was more a do than a learn. From observations and feedback, I found out that there was a lot to learn about pedagogy, and as the learning continues with a multitude of material, I hope to improve to a high standard. Getting this aspect right would be of benefit to me, but more importantly, would be of benefit to the pupils I teach. The structure of a lesson should look something like this a beginning (starter), a middle (main body with mini plenaries) and an end (plenary).

It makes sense that you get this right, you get the flow right. I am now trying to get a starter where there is an activity, reflection, discussion or a mix of two or more, and a main body which would be divided into a doing and learning section with gauging questions for assessment of learning and creative thinking; then an end where there would be a main plenary where the questions would be more of the same but with more feedback and guided learning, e.g. Homework tasks. Another aspect of pedagogical knowledge is how to settle a class, aka classroom management; this can be affected by things such as classroom layout, since typically, a room used to teach ICT/Computer Science is one that has a number of computers which have to be laid out in such a way as to allow health and safety rules to be observed. This does not always favour the teacher who would, in some rooms have his/her back to a proportion of the class at any one time. Classroom management is achieved when the teacher has the full attention of and holds it, the pupils whether they are engaged in a task or in listening to the teacher or each other in group or class work. I have been told that a certain presence is always a good characteristic to have in the teaching profession, and I have come to realise what that actually means. It is the ability to make yourself noticed in a small space, filled with others and distractions. In order to portray a presence, I have discovered, you should exude a certain level of confidence, though in my case, this was more and act than the actual feeling confident. Confidence as a trainee is one thing I felt short of, but this is growing as my knowledge and experience grows.

Subject Knowledge and Pedagogy

The two areas discussed in this document go hand in hand if being the best possible teacher you can be is as important to you as it is to me. One cannot be without the other to be able to effect and affect the learning of the pupils the ultimate aim of becoming a teacher. Subject knowledge works well with pedagogy in that having the knowledge of the topic to be taught would allow you the ability to structure the learning in the most effective way which would minimise any potential for disruption or distraction in the class, which in turn would lead to the correct learning atmosphere suitable for the most retention of information and learning. The above document has ear-marked some valid points in my overall learning that need more focus and research if I am to truly know the kind of teacher I am and would like to be. Pedagogical knowledge is not just an art, it is a science too; one which must be experienced and studied in order to achieve maximum gain. Teaching styles would always differ from person to person, with small similarities occasionally found amongst a group.

Bibliography:

Developing Trainees Subject Knowledge for Teaching (2007) http://www.tda.gov.uk/upload/resources/pdf/s/subject_knowledge07.pdf

EVANS, A., HAWKSLEY, F., HOLLAND, M. R. and CAILLAU, I. (2008). Improving subject knowledge and subject pedagogic knowledge in employment based secondary initial teacher training in England. In: Annual Conference of the Association of Teacher Education in Europe, Brussels, 23-27 August 2008.

DR JACEK WIKTOR BRANT. (2006). Institute Of Education, University Of London. Subject knowledge and pedagogic knowledge: ingredients for good teaching? An English perspective.

LEES S. SHULMAN (1987), Stanford University. Knowledge and Teaching: Foundation of the New Reform.