What is Component 1a?
Component 1a is the knowledge of content and pedagogy. As a teacher, you must have we must have a mastery of the content and material that we are presenting to our students. Not only that but take that content and apply it to the 21-st century so that it is applicable to society and the ever-changing needs of students. The teacher should know how their content applies to the real-world and be able to explain its importance to students. Being able to engage students in that content is key as well.
Why do we need it?
The world is ever-changing and with it so are students. As teachers, we must be prepared to dispel myths and misconceptions about the content. All of student learning can be rooted in the teacher having a mastery of the content. You never know what the needs of students will be, so that mastery of the content will help with meeting those needs. This knowledge of content can also help with the implementation of technology into the class. But it is also more than just knowing the content, it is also about being able to have and apply a knowledge of pedagogical disciplines and theorists to assess and teach students. Disciplines and theorists like Vygotsky, Piaget, Davis, Bronfenbrenner, and others. This combination in a teacher will make the best potential to impact and teach students.
What are the elements?
There are 3 elements in this component: knowledge of content and structure of the discipline, knowledge of prerequisite relationships, and knowledge of content-related pedagogy. The knowledge of content and structure of discipline means that every discipline has a dominant structure with smaller parts and includes central skills and concepts. This could look like a lesson plan is built around that content and includes the essential parts and skills needed to gain the most from it as a student. For knowledge of prerequisite relationships, that means there are skills that students may or may not have mastered in previous classes; analyzing this and basing the teaching of that could look like making sure that all students have a basic understanding of those skills before beginning the process of learning new material. A good teacher knows how to refer back to those basics when teaching new materials as well; taking what students know and applying it to new information is key so that they can understand. For knowledge of content-related pedagogy, this could look like being able to apply different terms, theorists, and effective techniques to how students are learning. All of these could be indicated by having clear explanations to student questions, lesson plans that reflect disciplines key to the subject, and knowing how to assess where students are and what can help them be successful in learning and ultimately in life.
Cool ideas to help implement Component 1a?
Finding and collaborating with other teachers can help with this. Use of Ed. Psych theorists and using learning from our knowledge base can help with this, too. There are many tools out there to help teacher educate themselves.
References:
- Danielson Group » The Framework. (2017). Danielsongroup.org. Retrieved 6 October 2017, from http://www.danielsongroup.org/framework/
- Learning Theories and Models summaries - Educational Psychology. (2017). Learning Theories. Retrieved 6 October 2017, from https://www.learning-theories.com/
- Knowing Our Students as Learners . (2017). Ascd.org. Retrieved 6 October 2017, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/111011/chapters/Knowing-Our-Students-as-Learners.aspx