May 31: Last day to save $75 on registration for 2012 Annual Conference in Boston More Info June 30: Board of Trustees nomination deadline More Info July 22-25: 2012 Summer Conference in Denver More Info

Learning depends on teacher knowledge

by Joellen Killion
RESULTS - December 1998

Teachers' content knowledge impacts students' learning. Teaching for understanding relies on teachers' ability to see complex subject matter from the perspectives of diverse students. Teachers' ability to design questions, select instructional and assessment tasks, evaluate student learning, and make instructional, curricular, and assessment decisions depends on how well they understand the content they are teaching. Their content expertise depends on numerous factors: their undergraduate or graduate preparation in the content area, how they were taught the subject, and their conceptual understanding of the discipline.

Two studies confirmed the impact of teachers' understanding of their content area on student learning. Goldhaber and Brewer examined the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning in mathematics and science. They found a significant positive relationship between teachers' degrees and students' achievement. Social studies teachers in Hawaii were asked to rate their own level of understanding of various historical periods and teaching methods. Students' performance was almost a perfect match; they performed best in areas where their teachers had the most expertise.

The recent National Convocation on Mathematics Education in the Middle Grades focused on three questions: What are the characteristics of math programs that support teaching and learning? What developmental considerations should we think about for middle grade students? What do teachers need to know and be able to do in this subject?

While mathematics was the focus, the principles apply to all disciplines. In math, for example, teachers who learned an algorithmic approach may not understand math concepts well enough to explore math ideas from different developmental perspectives. Even math majors may not adequately understand basic math and students' diverse approaches to math tasks.

Teachers need to understand not only the discipline but also how students conceptualize the discipline. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards indicate teachers must decide when to provide information, clarify an issue, model, lead, and let a student struggle with a difficulty. These decisions are based on what teachers know about the developmental ability of their students, their content area, and their pedagogical flexibility. What the student learns will depend on the teachers' decisions.

Two examples of how teachers' content knowledge impacts student learning in mathematics were demonstrated at the math convocation. Both apply to other disciplines as well. The first is how teachers view problems or tasks. If a teacher views a problem or task and its solution as an isolated example of a mathematics concept without considering how the problem and its solution might be generalized to solve other related problems, the teacher may artificially restrict what students learn. Another example is how teachers alter problems or tasks to accommodate the developmental needs of their learners. Unless the teacher fully understands the essential concept underlying the problem, this transformation may result in a problem based on a distinctly different concept.

Teachers may be unprepared to teach the reform curriculum advocated in the various subject disciplines because their own education in the content area may have been insufficient to prepare them to teach for understanding. Teachers need staff development that requires them to become constructivist learners of discipline-specific concepts, their students' thinking and ways of approaching tasks, and various pedagogical strategies to develop students' understanding.

Effective staff development enables educators to provide challenging, developmentally-appropriate curricula that engage students in integrative ways of thinking and knowing.