ABSTRACT
As I set about exploring these questions the work of Lee Shulman became a useful point of departure. Shulman (1986) devised a key concept which he called ‘pedagogical content knowledge’; knowledge that ‘goes
beyond knowledge of subject matter alone to the dimension of subject matter for teaching. I still speak of content knowledge here, but of the particular form of content knowledge that embodies aspects of content most germaine to its teachability’ (p. 10). In other words, the act of teaching demands a particular kind of subject knowledge that is related to knowing how to teach that subject. To develop this kind of pedagogical content knowledge is arguably far from straightforward and yet it is essential if children are to encounter experiences and undertake activities which reflect their teacher’s beliefs about the subject in question. Several researchers have explored this notion of pedagogical content knowledge further. Most recently Rosie Turner-Bisset (1999) makes a distinction between pedagogical content knowledge – ‘beliefs about the subject’ – and ‘general educational beliefs’. This gives us a further helpful insight into why the translation of subject beliefs into practical teaching is difficult. There are two dimensions, one related to the specific subject and one to the curriculum as a whole.
