From Knowledge to Knowing: An Inquiry into Teacher Learning in Science

By B. Warren; M. Ogonowski

In this paper we elaborate the idea of pedagogical content knowledge through close examination of a teacher's learning in science. We address a question derived from Shulman's (1986) original work on teacher knowledge: What is learning for teaching? We locate our exploration in a view of pedagogical knowing as a practice of seeing into the subject matter through the eyes, hearts, and minds of learners, an image we adapt from Ball (in press). We present a case study of a second year, fifth grade teacher as she conducted an investigation of aquatic ecology over a period of several months, in the context of a four-year project in which teachers examined science, science learning, and teaching through their own and their students' experience as learners. We analyze how this teacher came to see into the subject matter, her own learning, and her students` learning as she worked to understand aspects of the ecology of a local pond, and how her experience figured in her identify as a learner and her practice as a teacher.

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Published by: Center for the Development of Teaching

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