DOCUMENT RESUME ED 323 165 SP 032 061 TITLE Competing Visions of Teacher Knowledge: Proceedings from an NCRTE Seminar for Education Policymakers (Washington, D.C., February 24-26, 1989). Volume 1: Academic Subjects. Conference Series 89-1. INSTITUTION National Center for Research on Teacher Education, East Lansing, MI. SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE Nov 89 NOTE 225p.; For Volume 2 of proceedings, see SP 032 255. AVAILABLE FROMNational Center for Research on Teacher Education, 116 Erickson Hall, College of Education, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI 48824-1034 ($13.00). PUB TYPE Collected Works - Conference Proceedings (021) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC10 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Educational Background; Elementary Secondary Education; *History Instruction; *Intellectual Disciplines; *Mathematics Instruction; *Science Instruction; *Teacher Effectiveness; Teachers; Teaching Skills; *Writing Instruction IDENTIFIERS Knowledge Base for Teaching L ABSTRACT , The focus of this seminar was on how teachers learn to teach academic subjects to diverse learners and what they need to know to be effective instructors. The following papers were presented: (1) "Policy Implications of Research on Science Teaching and Teachers' Knowledge" (Charles W. Anderson);(2) "What Teachers Need to Know to Teach Science Effectively" (Anton E. Lawson); (3) "What Teachers Need to Know to Teach Science Effectively" (Arnold A. Strassenburg);(4) "Teaching Mathematics for Understanding: What Do Teachers Need to Know about Subjec.t Matter?" (Deborah Loewenberg Ball); (5) "Preparing Elementary Teachers to TeachMathematics" (E. Ray Phillips and A. Edward Uprichard);(6) "What Do Math Teachers Need to Be?" (Herbert Clemens);(7) "Parades of Facts, Stories of the Past: What Do Novice History Teachers Need to Know?" (Suzanne M. Wilson); (8) "Social Science Knowledge and Citizenship Education" (James A. Banks); (9) "Knowledge for Teaching History" (Catherine Cornbleth); (10) "Musts for Writing Teachers--Report from the Classroom" (Tom Romano); (11) "The Knowledge Necessary to Teach Writing Effectively" (George Hillocks, Jr.); and (12) Teaching/Writing in a Community of Inquirers" (John T. Gage). (JD) * ************************ * ***** ***** *********** ************************ * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. Conference Series 89-1 COMPETING VISIONS OF TEACHER KNOWLEDGE: PROCEEDINGS FROM AN NCRTE SEMINAR FOR EDUCATION POLICYMAKERS February 24-26, 1989 Volume 1: Academk Subjects National Center for Research on Teacher Education Published by The National Center for Research on Teacher Education 116 Erickson Hall Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1034 November 1989 This work is sponsored in part by the National Center for Researchon Teacher Education, College of Education, Michigan State University. The National Centerfor Research on Teacher Education is funded primarily by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, United States Department of Education. The opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily represent the position, policy,or endorsement of the Office or the Department. , 3 _ National Center for Researchon Teacher Education The National Center for Researchon Teacher Education (NCRTE)was founded at Michigan State University in 1985 by theOffice of Educational Research andImprovement, U.S. Department of Education. The NCRTE is committedto improving teacher education through researchon its purposes, its character and quality, and its role in teacher learning.NCRTE defines teacher education broadly and includes in its portfoliosuch diverse approachesas preservice, inservice, and induction programs andalternate routes to teaching. To further its mission, the NCRTE publishesresearch reports, issuepapers, technical series, conference proceedings, anda newsletter on contemporary issues in teacher education. For more information about theNCRTE or to be placedon its mailing list, please write to the Editor, National Centerfor Research on Teacher Education, 116 Erickson Hall, Michigan State University,East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1034. Director: Mary M. Kennedy Associate Directors: Robert E. Floden G. Williamson McDiarmid Editor: Sandra Gross Many papers published by the NCRTEare based on the Teacher Education and Learning to Teach Study,a single multisite longitudinal study. The researchers whohave contributed to this study are listed below: Marianne Amarel Monica Mitchell Deborah Loewenberg Ball Harold Morgan Joyce Cain James Mosenthal Sandra Callis Gary Natriello Barbara Camilleri Barbara Neufeld Anne Chang Lynn Paine David K. Cohen Michelle Parker Ada Beth Cutler Rkbard Prawat Sharon Feiman-Nemser Pamela Schram Mary L Gomez Trish Stoddart Samgeun K. Kwon M. Teresa Tatto Magdalene Lampert Sandra Wilcox Perry Lanier Suzanne Wilson Glenda Lappan Lauren Young Sarah McCarthey Kenneth M. Zeichner James Mead Karen K Zumwalt Susan L Melnick 4 Preface Mary M. Kennedy A popular pastime today is to develop lists of whatteachers need to know. Such lists can have a settling effect; by enumerating all the elements of good teaching,we have cleared up at least one of life's many confusions. But in fact, these listsdo not solve very much, for each entry on each list is complicated in itself.Every researcher who has triedto define teacher knowledge, every policymaker who hastried to measure it, andevery teacher educator who has tried to enhance it, knows the myriadproblems and perplexities thatare bubbling underneath the surface of eachentry on these lists. Like many others, The National Center for Researchon Teacher Education (NCRTE) has also been struggling to understand thenuances of these entries. The Center is trying to learn how teachers learn to teach academic subjectsto diverse learners.In light of this mission, the Center is especially interested in two particularlist entries: "academic subjects" and "diverse learners." These two entries make nearlyeveryone's list, but like other entries, their full meaning has yet to be determined. On February 24-25, 1989, in Washington, D.C., the NCRTEsponsored a conference for educational policymakers to examine thesetwo entries.For academic subjects (Volume 1), we focused on science, mathematics, historyand writing; for student diversity (Volume 2), we focused on student cognition andon student cultural backgrounds. Rather than seeking out one authority in each of these domains,we sought three. And we sought people whom we expected to view their assigned topicsfrom diverse perspectives. Our goal was to delve deeply into each topic, to understand each topic in farmore depth than is permissible at the level of list entries. So, for instance,we viewed student cognition from the point of view of Vygotskyian theory, conceptualchange theory, and behavior change. And we viewed writing from the viewpoint ofa teacher, a researcher, and a disciplinarian. The papers in this volume derive from that seminar.Among other things, we discovered that the conceptual struggles within these fieldswere not as diverse as one might expect.Instead, there are a small number of tensions thatseem to be repeated in many different fields. Both science educators and writing educators,for instance, are torn between defining their subject as a body of content and defining itas a way of thinking and behaving. Both mathematicians and historians find it difficultto convince novices that their knowledge is tenuous, not fixed. People in all four of these fieldsexperience a tension between theway the subject is perceived by its most advanced thinkers and theway it is perceived by naive students. Among other things, we all became aware of the struggles and tensionswithin each field, of the difficulties of defming ideas, and of themany faces each of these fields really has.Seeing each field portrayed froma variety of perspectives was interesting and intellectually stimulating in itself. Seeing analogousdilemmas emerge across'. ach diverse fields made the conference particularly stimulating.In fact, it was especially so for the speakers who represented the various disciplines, formany of them had never had the opportunity to examine another fieldvery closely. The opportunity to do so enabled them to better understanding conflicts within theirown fields. Our hope is that, by making these proceedings available to others,we can provide a similar experience for a broader group. 1 AcImowledwnents I would like to acknowledge the organizationaltalents of Joan Eadie who organized the conference in Washington, D.C., the thoroughnessof Sandra Grnss for tracking andediting the proceedings papers, and theperseverance and dedication of Anna G. Edridge andKris Langham for preparing the individualpapers for publication in this volume. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume 1: Academic Subjects Preface Mary M. Kennedy i Acknowledgments Science Policy Implications of Research on Science Teaching andTeachers' Knowledge Charles W. Andetson 1 What Teachers Need to Know to Teach Science Effectively Anton E. Lawson 29 What Teachers Need to Know to Teach Science Effectively Arnold A. Strassenburg 67 Mathematics Teaching Mathematics for Understanding: What Do TeachersNeed to Know About Subject Matter? Deborah Loewenberg Ball 79 Preparing Elementary Teachers to Teach Mathematics E. Ray Phillips and A. Edward Uprichard 101 What Do Math Teachers Need to Be? Herbert Clemens 123 History Parades of Facts, Stories of the Past: What Do Novice HistoryTeachers Need to