Yuliana Lavrysh, PhD in Pedagogical Science
(National Technical University of Ukraine “ KPI”)
AN
APPROACH TO PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
FOR
TECHNOLOGY TEACHERS
The changes in the structure and
contents of technology education
programs in Ukraine have generated the
interest in exploring the functions,
duties and development challenges of
teachers for technical specialties. In order to demonstrate high professional quality, a teacher must
have excellent command of the contents of her/ his own technical subspecialty.
Teacher’s competence should be both theoretical and practical.
However, good command of the contents alone does not guarantee
that the teacher is good at teaching the subject. Constantly changing pedagogic solutions and techniques, the development
of new subjects have an effect on the content of teachers work.
Teachers typically enter the career of a university teacher or lecturer
in Ukraine with a degree in a technology subject area plus one year of
scientific and pedagogical education. These teachers have specific knowledge
upon their specialty and good command in technology. During their one year of teacher education while
Master Program they get some knowledge
of the main principles and fundamentals
of general pedagogy and general information of teaching strategies and
class management, so the development of Pedagogical
Content Knowledge ( PCK) is limited. This problem becomes more important
issue for technology teachers who may not have covered well educational
strategies and instructions during
undergraduate degrees.
. Engineering education in Ukraine
has a unique structure in that it combines practical and theoretical
knowledge and it gives great opportunities to
create a rich and flexible learning environment due to the changes in
strategies, curriculum and educational contests.
The
activity of technology teachers and the demands concerning their
skills have been examined in many
studies. The top challenges for
teachers were selected by researchers from all over the world . These
challenges are: creating learning environments that promote active learning,
critical thinking, collaborative learning; developing 21st-century literacy; reaching
and engaging today’s learners.
Implementing teacher development strategies in order to fulfill educational objectives is problematic for technology
teacher who has not proficient knowledge of educational strategies. However, such technologies as problem-based
learning and project-based learning are considered to be a learning environment that may promote students
motivation, technological literacy and
teachers development (Prince M., 2004).
In our research we addressed
the necessity in changes of teacher’s professional pedagogical knowledge components
which made up PCK, according to
the researches of Magnusson S., Krajcik
J., and Borko H. (Magnusson, S., Krajcik, J., & Borko, H., 1999, Williams
J., Lockley J., 2012). In their view, an experienced teacher’s PCK includes:
orientations towards teaching principles and rules, knowledge of curriculum, knowledge
of assessment, knowledge of students’ learning style, knowledge of
instructional strategies.
The technology teachers have to understand that
the emphasis of the teaching and learning process
shifts from the teacher to the student. Understanding
and promoting students learning is a priority of any teacher of the 21st
century. The teacher becomes a facilitator of
learning, someone who supports the student's quest for knowledge. This
facilitator’s role is particularly relevant
when the knowledge to be taught is contextual and relative.
The traditional pedagogy of workshop-type industrial arts subjects was, and in
many cases still is, “show and follow” instead of active learning environment.
(Walmsley B. 2003,p.56).
However, technology education is transforming to a subject that deals
with an individual student’s ability to solve problems by implementing
specifically relevant knowledge of
technological processes and systems. Technology education teachers
should create with students a learning partnership, which later will promote
learner autonomy (Walmsley B., 2003). The demand to develop both practical
skills and problem-solving abilities requires technology teachers to address a
pedagogical content.
In order to
facilitate learning, technology teacher ought to find out the following factors
of students: culture, age, previous educational experience, personal objectives etc. The thoughtful
student-teacher relationship allows students not only to develop judgments, to
focus on learning, to master organizational
abilities, but also promotes the development of students’ professional
identity. The progression from
teacher-centered to
student-centered teaching and learning strategies includes both teaching and assessment
methods. It is carried
out through the following stages: teacher-centered strategy, lectures,
demonstrations, discussion, role play, case study, assignments, individualized
strategies, projects, researches, student-centered strategies. We can suggest that working together is a powerful
determinant of effective teaching.
Curriculum is the totality of formal and informal content that develop
skills and organize knowledge in order to achieve specific educational
goals. The curriculum design approach should be outcome-oriented. The
development of materials that teachers
work with should be educationally significant, intellectually challenging and
stimulate critical and creative thinking. Multiple teaching options have to be
provided in the curriculum: classroom activities, small-group activity,
independent activity, laboratory experience, web-based assignments etc.
In
addition to lectures,
most of which should encourage questioning and discussion, the strategies include demonstrations,
tutorials, seminars (many of which should be led by the students), skills
analysis and demonstrations, computer-assisted learning, role playing,
practice-based experiential learning and self-directed learning. Many of these require dividing the class into small groups, which has
resource implications in terms of teachers' numbers and time, as well as
implications for how students' learning is assessed.
One of the most important demand to higher educators and more specifically, technology
educator, is the ability to think critically. Technology educators are integral to the educational interaction, thereby
having the potential to facilitate positive critical thinking abilities of
students.
This study has indicated that PCK development can help technology teachers to improve the results of their
activity and support their willingness
to master pedagogical skills despite of
any challenges. This study focused on identifying factors and challenges
that influenced the learning environment and outcomes. We strongly believe that
teacher’s development requires permanent professional growth that encourages
positive feedback and discovery of
teaching practice and subject. All these recommendations will allow to
create teacher and students partnership and positively influence the teachers’
attitude to new techniques implementation.
References
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Hill, A. M. (1998). Problem solving
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