An Investigation into the PCK Development of Turkish Prospective Teachers of English through Lesson Preparation

An Investigation into the PCK Development of Turkish Prospective Teachers of English through Lesson Preparation

Kaslıoglu, Ozlem

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), a type of specific knowledge that teachers possess, involves the synthesis of subject-matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge (Shulman, 1986). PCK is developed through years of experience in the classroom since how to organize and represent specific content in forms that will facilitate students’ learning is one of the most difficult aspects of learning to teach (Veal, 1999). Although teacher education programs offer courses that aim to broaden prospective teachers’ (PTs) subject-matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge, teaching opportunities are limited; thus, it may be assumed that PTs have limited or minimal PCK. Studies on the development of prospective teachers’ PCK are scarce and mainly conducted in the fields of science and mathematics education (Ruhama, 1993; Van Driel et al., 2002; Lee et al. 2007). The present study aims to investigate the PCK development of 5 Turkish prospective teachers of English who are currently completing their third year in a teacher education program of a state university in Turkey. Data comprises of lesson preparation tasks based on a literary text and written reflections of participants illustrating their thought processes. Data will be analyzed through qualitative means and the findings of the study will be discussed by referring to the relevant literature.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2012-05-04

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