Types of Teacher Knowledge

What do you think of when you hear the word teacher? Do the words knowledge and expertise enter your mind? Perhaps you think about somebody who knows their stuff and can explain it to others. These are both positive definitions of a teacher—much better than George Bernard Shaw’s, "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.”

What qualities constitute a good teacher? What distinguishes a great teacher from a good teacher? What do you expect from your teachers? What should society expect from public education?

With federal initiatives such as No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top, the proposed questions are extremely pertinent. Educational reform is changing the way schools operate. With federal dollars linked to test scores--you can bet your bottom dollar that government officials are asking these questions. The public expects teachers to know their stuff and to have the ability to explain it to their pupils. What does this entail? How do we measure effective teaching? What areas need to be screened? The following articles suggest ways to measure effective teaching.

In the article, Those Who Understand Knowledge Growth In Teaching, Lee Shulman discusses the elimination of content knowledge and subject matter in current teacher licensure examinations. Instead of measuring knowledge of subject matter, state licensure examinations assess organizing instructional material, evaluating student progress, recognizing student differences, having cultural awareness, understanding youth, knowing educational policies and classroom management procedures. While all of this is extremely pertinent to being a good teacher--one cannot minimize having some knowledge about the subject he/she plans to teach. Shulman makes an excellent point--not only should teachers know stuff--but they need to have the pedagogical skills to teach it!

In the article, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge, Mishra & Koehler expound on Shulman's main points by adding technology into one of the four attributes that a teacher should have. Mishra & Koehler use the acronym TPCK to outline the four basic teaching attributes: Technology, Pedagogy, Content, and Knowledge. Teachers can be knowledgeable but the knowledge is meaningless unless they know how to use this knowledge along with appropriate pedagogy and technology. Teachers can have great pedagogy and technological skills and be ineffective teachers because they lack appropriate content knowledge. Also, teachers can know and understand technology, but may not know how to utilize it for instructional purposes. Great teaching requires a teacher to have well-rounded set of skills. Throughout the entire article, Mishra & Koehler expound how each skill is valuable, relevant, and pertinent to instruction. Teachers must know how to use each area for instructional purposes.

In the article, Teachers' and students' cognitional knowledge for classroom teaching and learning, Peterson further expounds on this topic by discussing the importance of metacognition in learning. Students must be encouraged to think about their thinking. Teachers must also think about their teaching and instruction.

In my opinion, all three articles make valid and relevant points in regards to types of teacher knowledge. Teachers must know their stuff, know how to teach it, and reflect on their teaching. Knowing how to teach the content includes implementing technology. Living in the digital age requires teachers to implement technology in an effective manner!


Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.

Peterson, P. L. (1988). Teachers' and students' cognitional knowledge for classroom teaching and learning. Educational Researcher, 17(5), 5-14.

Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14.