Student success depends on the teachers love of the material and a willingness to convey that love and knowledge to the students. However, when content matters more than anything else, teachers are sidetracked from using methods or strategies that enhance student learning. This hurts students and faculty as well because neither are reaching their full potential.
Some teachers think the best way to improve their teaching is to develop their content knowledge. When teachers have this outlook on teaching they end up with high levels of knowledge, but do not have the instructional methods and strategies needed to relay their knowledge to their students. Content knowledge is no more important than process knowledge, both are essential. What we teach and how we teach it are very important to one another.
Although both of these types of knowledge are essential, the development of one does not improve the other. Content knowledge can be improved through further studies, but if the strategies used to relay that knowledge are subpar, teaching will still be ineffective. Teachers tend to try to blame their ineffective teaching on everything imaginable, from the students to lack of materials. It is ultimately the teachers responsibility to weave content knowledge and process knowledge together to ensure a successful classroom.
The best teachers may not always have the strongest content knowledge but they do know their material, they also know a lot about the process. They have several instructional methods, strategies, and approaches—a collection they continually work on, just as they develop content knowledge. They value the importance of the power of the process to determine student learning outcomes.
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The section goes into detail about practices that have been designed to prepare future teachers. In chapter one, Feiman-Nemser discusses three phases of learning to teach: preservice education programs, induction, and on the job experience. She makes three arguments that serve to set the tone for the remainder of the section. First, she argues that the manner in which teachers learn to teach in a preparation program does not agree with what professionals know about learning. Principally, many preservice programs ignore basics of learning while preparing teachers for their future classroom. Secondly, the author discusses how unintended lessons may contribute more to a person’s classroom philosophy than formal courses. For example, a teacher may learn steps that are convenient or helpful, which are not based on best practices. Teachers often learn how to manage a classroom based on experience or observation, but it may not be the best way to handle the situation. The preservice program often contains an element of practicum and student teaching, which can be effective, but can also lead to bad habits based on short-sighted goals and incorrect observations and experiences. The first chapter also investigates the induction phase and identifies differences of thought and implementation that can hinder a program’s effectiveness. Finally, the author discusses the in-service
From two studies in mathematics, a total of four relationships between teachers' content knowledge and student learning were examined. In three instances, a positive relationship was found, for two cohorts of elementary grades students over a three year period and for grade 3 students' learning of advanced concepts. In one instance, grade 3 students learning of basic concepts, no relationship was found. In science, a total of three relationships between teacher content knowledge and student learning were examined. In two instances, a relationship was documented between teachers' content knowledge, both correct and incorrect, and their grade 8 students' development of correct and incorrect understandings, respectively. In the third instance, high school biology teachers' knowledge of the nature of science was not found to relate to their students' learning about the nature of
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... generally accepted that a teacher’s main role is to facilitate learning rather than to be the source of all knowledge” (p.2).
“…Content knowledge refers to the body of information that teachers teach and students are expected to learn in a given subject….Content knowledge generally refers to the facts, concepts, theories, and principles that are taught and learned…” (edglossary, August, 2013). In contrast, transfer refers to “the ability to learn in one situation and then to use that learning…in other situations where it is appropriate” (Hunter, 1971, p. 2). Moreover, both content knowledge and teaching for transfer are vital aspects in the learning process; especially when it comes to EL (English Learner) students. Thus, teaching core concepts to apply new skills becomes the ultimate goal for instructors.
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