ABSTRACT
Protracted arguments over content have arguably undermined, or at least not supported, quality teaching and learning in history or social studies classrooms. Whether there are discipline-specific core teaching practices is an interesting question that calls for further research across the field. The need for such work, however, should not preclude practice-focused teacher education. It is important to consider instructional practice as more than discrete moves that result in student learning but rather as a central component of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Focusing on practice within the framework of PCK allows for different types of subject matter and a variety of learning outcomes. It provides a way to identify how more generic teaching practices might be "discipline specific". The chapter describes Dr. Stephanie van Hover's concern about "well-meaning policymakers" that "might try to enact their own interpretations" of instructional practice that results in "unstable or unworkable policy".
