What Does This Study Contribute to Our Understanding About Teacher Education?

Abstract

When this self-study was undertaken, research of the exploration of teacher educator knowledge was in its infancy. Teacher knowledge, such as content area expertise or experience in a K-12 classroom, is an important contributor to a teacher educator's knowledge. However, the particular knowledge held as a teacher educator is positioned differently. The strands of teacher educator knowledge revealed in this study reveal the complicated, variable ways teacher educators design curriculum and interactions that will move forward the knowledge and learning of preservice teachers. Central to the context of this study was the move from teaching a course I had taught before in-person to an online platform. It is a relevant contribution to establish that the strands were revealed in the shift, that the strands were made clear and personal beliefs validated as I made those decisions about preservice teacher curriculum in a new teaching format. Such tacit knowledge is potentially better examined in such settings. This study, in particular its approach as a self-study of practice, also contributes by examining the strands of teacher educator knowledge as a way to uncover knowledge, sources of motivation for teacher educators, and a commitment to improving practice. By positioning the study in the particular context of a shift to teaching online, the strands uncovered in this study can inform the larger research conversation and lead to further explorations of the knowledge, obligations, and responsibilities held by teacher educators in similar or different settings.

Citation

Lay, C.D. (2024), "What Does This Study Contribute to Our Understanding About Teacher Education?", Exploring Teacher Educator Knowledge (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 48), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 113-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720240000048009