Bridging Practices

Many teachers have grappled with the importance of either subject knowledge or pedagogical methodology in determining what teaching and learning depends on. Although there has been mounting controversy regarding this issue, teaching and learning rely on both beliefs. Dewey (1904/1964) believed that good teachers were those who could create "genuine intellectual activity" in students and that these activities were directly tied to teaching disciplines. He also believed that subjects were an extension of the mind, the products of curiosity, investigation, and the search for truth. A significant factor that affects the learning experiences of our students is the content knowledge that we bring to the educational situation. Can we effectively teach a skill that we ourselves are not skilled in? A good teacher looks beyond the content that needs to be taught and finds ways to make meaningful connections that all students can understand. How can we take a difficult concept and present it to our students in a variety of ways that will enable them to understand the concept more effectively? Successful educators are those who assess what their students know and in essence work backwards in designing what activities they will teach and how they will teach them. Our students can dictate what you would need to know and be sensitive to in regard to content knowledge in teaching.
Two features from the perspective of practice and the application of teaching is: 1. analyzing one's knowledge into a less refined form 2. being able to use the knowledge one has that Schulman and his colleagues ( Schulman, 1986, 1987; Wilson, Schulman, & Richert, 1987) called "pedagogical content knowledge:" a combination of knowledge that connects content and pedagogy. There are three problems that continue to plague teacher content preparation. By addressing what teachers need to know, how they need to know it, and helping them learn to use it, we can develop well-rounded educators who are open-minded about the new techniques and teaching strategies that will benefit their students.
It is difficult to step out of your comfort zone and teach a skill/concept that is either new or one that you are not comfortable with. In addition to your assessing what your students know before the actual teaching of the concept, your colleagues can be wonderful resources. Last September my district began a school-wide guided reading program. I was unfamiliar with this approach because I had always taught reading using novels and basal readers in conjunction with a phonics approach. I must admit I was very apprehensive about undertaking such a huge year-long project. My own knowledge of the guided reading program was quite limited and I did not have any experience with it prior to beginning the program. I called upon my colleague who was trained in guided reading. We met on several occasions and she answered many of my questions. I observed some of her guided reading groups in session so that I could get a sense of what one looks like. I did some reading on my own and I began to feel a bit more confident. I started to assess my students by administering a running record to determine their reading level. This would enable me to put my students into guided reading groups.
I began meeting with one group a day until I gradually worked my way up to two and finally three. Your own experience and observing your students' responses in various learning situations can provide valuable insight into the knowledge that you can provide your students.