A Research on the Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Senior Secondary Chinese Language Teachers --- A Case Study of How Teachers Manage Teaching Materials

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), uniquely possessed by teachers, is the expert knowledge of teaching particular subjects. While researchers have probed into the connotation of PCK from the aspects of various subjects, this study explores an area of subject teaching not yet developed in the investigation of teachers' PCK: the PCK of experienced teachers of Senior Secondary Chinese Language, particularly its connotation, foundation, and changes after the curriculum reform.;The reform of the Chinese Language Curriculum in Hong Kong has released learning materials to schools without specifying prescribed texts. Schools are required to accommodate a school-based curriculum in view of the school and its students. To design such a curriculum demands a higher level of teachers' PCK. This study, by citing how teachers managed teaching materials, adopted a qualitative approach to investigate teachers' PCK. Using case study method and via purposeful sampling, this study identified six Senior Secondary Chinese Language teachers as research subjects. Two of them came from two schools which developed their own teaching materials, while the other four belonged to two other schools which employed textbooks.;The result revealed that the PCK possessed by these Senior Secondary Chinese Language teachers comprised five dimensions of knowledge: the knowledge of the purpose of subject teaching, the knowledge of student learning, the knowledge of curriculum content, organization and teaching materials, the knowledge of instructional strategies and representations, as well as subject knowledge. After the curriculum reform, the changes in the teachers' PCK were reflected mainly from their knowledge of student learning, knowledge of curriculum content, structure and teaching materials, and knowledge of instructional strategies and representations. Some teachers put more emphasis on developing students' language ability, demonstrating a change in their knowledge of the goal of subject teaching. Subject knowledge of the teachers, which was important to them when handling teaching materials, remained the same before and after the reform. The PCK of the teachers in this case study came from: teacher education and training programmes, practice and reflection, collaboration and study, the experience of curriculum development, collaborative lesson preparation, peer observation, internal and external professional exchanges, resource sharing, etc.;This study has three significant findings. First, among all the knowledge of teachers, PCK is independent. It is the expert knowledge of teaching particular subjects, as well as an integrated expression of various knowledge dimensions during subject teaching. Secondly, subject knowledge is one of the dimensions of teachers' PCK during subject teaching. It integrates with other knowledge dimensions to realize effects. Thirdly, the knowledge dimension of instructional strategies and representations of PCK has different scopes of application. "Strategies" refers to all kinds of pre-lesson instructional design, as well as the general instruction method during actual teaching. "Representations" refers to that during subject teaching, according to specific subject content and by adopting targeting approach, teachers modify the pedagogical content so as to make it more comprehensible to students.