Pedagogical content knowledge in early childhood: A study of teachers' knowledge

The term Pedagogical Content Knowledge [PCK] describes the coalescence of three kinds of knowledge considered essential to effective teaching: knowledge of content, students, and pedagogy (Shulman, 1986). PCK includes knowledge about what is to be taught (curricular content) knowledge about who is to be taught (students) and knowledge about how to teach (pedagogy).Studies of PCK span from early elementary to higher education, but very little is known about the nature of PCK for early childhood teachers and its implications for the teaching and learning of very young children. However, the field of early childhood education is beginning to acknowledge the importance of the three kinds of knowledge embedded in PCK for early childhood practitioners (Aubrey, 1996 Hyson & Biggar, 2006 Kagan & Scott-Laurie, 2004 NAEYC, 20022. 20023).The present study addresses two questions: (1) what characterizes the PCK of a group of early childhood teachers at the beginning of the school year, and (2) does this profile change after participating in a professional development intervention designed to enhance the PCK of early childhood teachers?Interviews with 52 pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers were conducted at two points in the school year. Time 1 interviews, done at the beginning of the school year, generated a descriptive profile of their pedagogical content knowledge. This profile reveals that discrete, content-related skills characterize the PCK of these early childhood teachers rather than conceptual understanding of key ideas in curricular content. Furthermore, correlations among the three types of knowledge present in PCK were few and modest at Time 1. For those teachers participating in the professional development intervention, Time 2 data revealed statistically significant changes in utilizing knowledge about students in tandem with content knowledge when describing students' learning. An increase in the number and strength of correlations among the three types of knowledge comprising PCK was also evident for participants in the professional development. Study findings point to the value of using the PCK construct in examining the knowledge base of early childhood educators, and reveal PCK as susceptible to change through professional development.