why is curriculum knowledge important in teaching

Ball et al. We wish to thank Doctor Caterina Marchionni at the Finnish Centre of Excellence in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki for comments and suggestions for the text. © 2018 The Author(s). Good teaching brings both of these forms of subject knowledge together, alongside students’ own experiences, through a creative process that the GA describes as ‘curriculum making’. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Today, when CI is expected of schools, its purpose needs to be clearly acknowledged by teachers in order to enhance motivation to carry out the necessary reforms and plan integrated teaching in a goal-directed way. If subjects are integrated into broader clusters, the new integrated subjects might create their own fields of knowledge without a corresponding scientific discipline. Finally, some concrete suggestions are provided to include CI in teacher education programs. In this section, another category is added as the aforementioned knowledge categories are interpreted and discussed from the perspective of CI. However, the challenge for integrative co-teaching is that, in Finnish schools, it has been seen mostly as an instrument for inclusive education rather than being considered primarily in the context of CI. Schools have a moral duty to ensure that the curriculum they give their A good starting point is not only developing subject pedagogy, but also developing a pedagogy for CI. Recent Ofsted research defined a ‘knowledge-rich’ approach as one in which curriculum leaders are clear on the “invaluable knowledge they want their pupils to know”. This pedagogical content knowledge can be complex, since it is only one aspect of an educator’s professional knowledge, and may be tied to the 5 It is a challenge for every teacher to master even a preliminary understanding of all subjects. According to Deng [26], an integrated curriculum distances school subjects from scientific disciplines. But, among all the above factors, the teacher has the most important … Your depth of subject knowledge therefore has a clear impact on the quality of your teaching. This is a common practice at the pre-school level in Finland. The individual educators can then contribute their observations, apply their methods and modifications that they have shaped through experience, in order to finally implement the curriculum in educating the child. There is a long tradition of general and subject didactics in Finland, but there is no such a thing as a didactics of CI, although some experiments have been carried out in departments of teacher education [33, 39]. The purpose of this chapter is to explore and analyze the kind of knowledge curriculum integration (CI) required of teachers and how teacher education should be developed to prepare teachers better for CI. Publishing on IntechOpen allows authors to earn citations and find new collaborators, meaning more people see your work not only from your own field of study, but from other related fields too. These intersections can serve as a basis for integrative themes. A subject-based curriculum is the usual way of arranging schoolwork in Finland. I have found recent discussions and debates about the concept of a 'knowledge-rich curriculum' - or knowledge-led; knowledge-based - fascinating. Shulman’s theory is useful here, because it describes categories of teachers’ knowledge required for successful teaching. However, subject teachers cannot be an expert in all subjects. Thus, CI might find correspondence in interdisciplinary science projects. Altogether, it can be said that the strength of CI is that it can have a strong purpose, a pedagogical mission. The advantages of a curriculum are that they provide a definite structure and offers a direction that is to be followed in order to reach a specific goal. "Curriculum is a body of knowledge-content and/or subjects. This kind of understanding provides a foundation for pedagogical content knowledge that enables teachers to make ideas accessible to others” (Shulman, 1987). However, he claims that if CI is taken seriously, it will have profound consequences when the discussion of how a scientific discipline becomes a school subject changes to something else [21], because if a curriculum is integrated, then there are no longer subjects with parallel disciplines. Licensee IntechOpen. Shulman saw knowledge of educational purposes as being one of the most important categories of teachers’ knowledge. First, studies can be taught in parallel in such a way that one theme is studied simultaneously in different subjects, for example, climate change along with social studies, chemistry, and geography. One approach is to design instructional materials that would assist in building conceptual bridges between subjects. School curricula are usually organized around school subjects with notable similarities from country to country. As Kansanen [18] states, Shulman’s model fits research purposes well, and the tradition of didactics acts more as a normative basis for teachers in their work. Shulman [3] is aware of how teachers’ content knowledge is not equally distributed to cover all aspects of a subject. If the content of subjects that are not one’s own is alien to teachers, then it can be posited that there are no means of knowing what is being learned in other subjects, especially simultaneously. 10 Reasons why Practical Education is more Important than Theoretical Article by Aashima Singh, August 13, 2014 Why do we need Education and if we do, what form should it be? It is the question of developing a child’s mind and thus shaping their lives. In a study carried out by McCarthy and Youens (2005), they identified a lack of robustness in the subject knowledge of … Additionally, challenges connected to curriculum reform in general have an effect on implementation of CI, such as teachers’ extensive workload, lack of curriculum knowledge, experience of top-down leadership of the reform, and insufficient resources for planning [10]. It is important that teachers realize that they could pick other tools as well, that alternative learning methods are available, and that there are different ways to structure a course or a curriculum, for example, in an integrative way. The analysis of Shulman’s categories revealed aspects to be considered when subject teacher education is developed from the perspective of CI. Available from: New Pedagogical Challenges in the 21st Century, Curriculum integration and the Finnish national core curriculum for basic education, Finnish subject teacher education and curriculum integration, Physical Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science, Finnish national core curriculum for basic education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Educating through a curriculum provides a flexibility in the process that can be beneficial for a child’s learning. However, I’m increasingly convinced that a knowledge-rich curriculum is actually an important concept that we ought to embrace. It is not the work of one teacher to develop it from the scratch, neither to teach children following their own method as a lot of diverse things need to be taught. Putting knowledge in context April 2013 4 Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal Volume 6 Issue 3 April 2013 In this study, the understanding curriculum policy is aligned with S. Ball’s idea (1992, When a change is proposed to the status quo, it must be well reasoned in order to make the objectives visible and understandable. In the learning process, pupils are supported to structure and expand their worldview ([1], p. 32). This can be called the missing paradigm of today. Subject teachers form interest groups promoting particular subjects [9]. In short, teachers need understanding of CI as one option for constructing a curriculum, and they need broad knowledge of the current curriculum, including the content and objectives of subjects they are not teaching themselves. We are IntechOpen, the world's leading publisher of Open Access books. Purpose: The purpose of this report is to further develop an open mind.And to use this newly acquired weapon in our arsenal to not only question what This is why it is worth spending a bit more time to consider what content knowledge really is. However, to consider CI as the opposite of subject-based education would be incorrect. The third kind of pedagogical knowledge essential for CI is teachers’ ability to make content comprehensible to students. Lopes and Macedo [8] describe a subject-based curriculum as a form of control that sustains prevailing labor relations, knowledge processes, and the creation of identities and therefore resists change. It is beyond dispute that scientific disciplines and school subjects are somewhat symmetrical and that part of teachers’ content knowledge comes from specific disciplines, especially the deeper knowledge of alternative views and competing theories within a discipline. It is not rare to find interdisciplinary science programs combining natural sciences and technology. In addition to general educational values, subject-specific values can be recognized [30]. This is sometimes taken for granted, yet the organization is a result of a long social process involving struggles with curriculum content [9]. Demanding challenges in the The Finnish core curriculum stresses the holistic growth of students as ethical persons. This is what Shulman has called the missing paradigm[2], although it has been argued that the paradigm has not been entirely missing, because it has long been a central feature of the German tradition of subject didactics (Fachdidaktik) [18]. It is defined as the integration or amalgamation of pedagogy and content which basically covers the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of teaching. The Importance Of The Teaching And Learning Process 1022 Words | 5 Pages All of them are related to one another. First, Shulman’s theory of teachers’ knowledge serves as a clear model for analyzing the requirements of teachers’ work. It is important for student teachers to know that a curriculum is historically constructed and that subject division is only one form of its actualization. PCK was This information is crucial when teachers are constructing local curricula based on the core curriculum. The development and implementation of language teaching programs can be approached in several different ways, each of which has different implications for curriculum design. This category can be called integrative pedagogical knowledge, which crosses all categories. The core curriculum offers two concrete examples of integration structured on differentiated subjects [1]. It may not necessarily be rigid only because its a single proven curriculum. Lee Shulman has described the development of teacher education as a process in which pedagogical knowledge has become more and more openly acknowledged as essential competence along with subject matter content knowledge. It helps the pupils to link knowledge of and skills in various fields, and in interaction with others, to structure them as meaningful entities. And knowledge is – rightly – back at the heart of discussions about the curriculum. Although Shulman has been criticized for a static understanding of the meaning of subject matter [16], there are many reasons why in this chapter Shulman’s theory is applied to the study of the challenges of CI. It is a crucial phase of a child’s life that needs to be handled with utmost care. Students are learning more about how to exist and contribute in a world that is increasingly intertwined and interconnected. It includes examples, metaphors, analogies, illustrations, activities, assignments, and demonstrations that make the content more accessible. Without knowledge of these subcultures, cross-curricular coordination can be restricted. In this last section, the challenges identified by applying Shulman’s categories of teachers’ knowledge are discussed in the framework of subject teacher education with the objective of generating suggestions for how teacher education in universities could be developed to equip teachers with information, the abilities, and the will to implement CI as described in the new Finnish core curriculum. Another question is how these kinds of studies affect teacher education and the development of teachers’ content knowledge. Yet, in schools, teachers of all subjects form a community. Such pedagogical methods are always content-specific so they cannot necessarily be transferred to other contexts [2]. This means knowledge of general curriculum theory, including CI. However, history as a school subject should cover all relevant historical periods, not just those in which a teacher has specialized. They maintain high hygiene standards. It is known that novice teachers in Finland are more interested in CI than are experienced teachers, but lack the courage and skills to implement it [33]. However, as noted above, the substance of the content knowledge of an expert and that of a teacher are probably different, because scientific disciplines and school subjects are not constructed identically. The outcome of experience in collaboration might not only be a better understanding of other subjects and their cultures, but also a better understanding of one’s own disciplines and subjects and their presuppositions and commitments [36]. In addition, broad curriculum knowledge promotes collaboration when teachers can identify the intersections of subjects. Early childhood education should be designed such that it helps the learning process in kids. In subject teacher education programs in Finland, student teachers in different subjects study with instructors who are specialized in pedagogical content knowledge/didactics of certain subjects. It\'s been a pleasure being associated with a school of international standards where I see my child nurtured with warmth, love and care-just like a home away from home. This is the case in teacher education programs, such as in Finnish subject teacher education, in which student teachers study scientific disciplines at the university level and are educated as specialists in certain disciplines and then equipped with pedagogical knowledge. Then the content is not known beforehand, and building of pedagogical content knowledge can be seen as a challenging task because the content part is missing. The entire staffs including the teachers, didis etc are sincere, dedicated & caring. Shulman’s point is that pedagogical knowledge has been seen as too general, applicable to teaching any subject and all content. Furthermore, in collaborative forms of CI, teachers need good skills and conditions for cooperation across subject borders. Shulman presented interdisciplinarity as a part of content and curriculum knowledge [22]. Teacher education in Finland emphasizes pedagogical thinking [35], which requires teachers to understand the objectives of the curriculum. In addition, Rogers [28] stresses teachers’ profound identification with their own subject subcultures, including their particular beliefs, norms, and practices. The content of every subject needs its own pedagogical approach, i.e., pedagogical content knowledgeto make it comprehensible to students. Sometimes a school subject has a scientific discipline as a background, such as biology, although the science of biology is divided into many subcategories. The older the students become, the more subject-based the schooling becomes [1]. For example, CI is now popular in Finnish schools as a means of teaching what climate change means and what can be done to stall, if not reverse it. Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. This is significant both from the students’ and from the teachers’ points of view. The answers to fundamental questions of our age or of individuals seeking guidance in living must be sought in multiple sources. A school subject can also be a cluster of many fields of knowledge. The fourth and most radical way is to organize all schoolwork holistically without any designated subjects. As teachers, we know that teaching is, in essence, about helping pupils to learn. It would be practically impossible for a teacher to know a discipline so thoroughly and coherently that s/he could simply transform it into a school subject [25]. What students learn in lesson one is built on in lesson two e.g. In this way, CI is woven into the development of interdisciplinary studies in universities. Without this kind of knowledge, it is difficult to plan teaching that connects various subjects. Lateral curriculum knowledge makes high demands of subject teachers and requires sharing information within schools. Lee Shulman’s theory of teacher’s knowledge [2, 3] is used to identify the challenges of CI for teachers in the context of the new Finnish core curriculum. However, Deng does not point out that disciplines can also be integrated into a form of interdisciplinary science. In some visions the future teaching staff will consist of generalist and specialist teachers working together in new cooperation-based schools [33]. For the first time, the new core curriculum presents CI normatively as a compulsory element of schoolwork. The curriculum identifies learning outcomes, standards and core competencies students must demonstrate before advancing. Mikko A. Niemelä and Kirsi Tirri (March 28th 2018). According to Shulman, a sound level of content knowledge is required for developing pedagogical content knowledge. Since Shulman sees content and pedagogical knowledge as intertwined, he states that teacher education is the responsibility of the entire university [3]. Primarily, student teachers have to be aware of CI as one alternative for structuring the curriculum. This allows the pupils to perceive the significance of the topics they learn at school for their own life and community, and for the society and humankind. is important for elementary mathematics teaching; and (2) consider how this knowledge can be effectively promoted in mathematics courses for preservice elementary school teachers, focusing on the nature of tasks used in these courses. There are no short cuts for acquiring pedagogical content knowledge. Such knowledge is a starting point for integration within a single subject with the goal of making the content of one subject more interconnected and experienced as a whole in students’ consciousness. Some of this has been explored brilliantly in various blogs. The issues of the community, the society or the humankind are usually so-called wicked problems, such as city planning, poverty or climate change. for 1+3, enter 4. If the content of content knowledge does not come directly from scientific disciplines, then content knowledge should be considered as leaning on other sources, such as a curriculum, textbooks, teachers’ guides, and media. Additionally, the curriculum includes a list of seven cross-curricular transversal competences, such as multi-literacy and ICT competence, which are to be taught in connection with every subject [1]. However, it is a different story if your subject knowledge is not strong. Research shows that co-teaching is rarely implemented as a collaboration between subject teachers, but is more often concentrated on using special education teachers as partners [29]. Another challenge from a teacher’s perspective is created when all the “innovations,” such as use of the latest technology, enhancing co-teaching and CI, are implemented at the same time [38]. It is a crucial phase of a child’s life that needs to be handled with utmost care. When CI is implemented with the methods of inquiry learning, the learning process and the content might not be securely in the hands of a teacher, if the students decide a theme.