6: Knowledge of Subject Matter^*

This chapter advances a conceptualization of two components of the knowledge base of teaching by building on the seminal work of Shulman (1986) and his colleagues (Grossman, 1990; Wilson, Shulman, & Richert, 1990), among others. Specifically, subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge are explored. As the essays in this monograph attest, there has been a significant change in the thinking of teacher educators about what constitutes these forms of knowledge and their implications for teacher education. For example, the idea that teachers transmit content knowledge to students is now commonly derided as “banking” education, borrowing a metaphor from Paolo Friere (1970, p. 59). In contrast with the growing interest in constructivism, teacher educators increasingly see knowledge as something that students themselves create. It is the key argument of this chapter that both groups, traditionalists and constructivists, must attend to helping students understand why some propositions or constructions are more warranted than others; that is, a major aspect of content knowledge for teaching is knowledge of justification itself. The first part of this essay rehearses a traditional definition of knowledge and illustrates its implications for subject matter knowledge. The second part extends the discussion to pedagogical content.