Knowledge of children through the eyes and voice of one teacher

Abstract

This case study investigates how one primary teacher of a multi-age classroom describes the knowledge she has of children and how they learn. The study presents the perspective that the research literature on teacher knowledge rarely includes knowledge of children. Recent investigations into teacher knowledge consider what the substance of teacher knowledge is; this study proposes that what teachers know about children must be included in future research. Researchers within the academic community have determined the direction of the research on teacher knowledge, but studies published in the 1990s suggest that teachers need to be more involved in these studies. Through my research, I learned that knowledge of children and how they learn structured one teacher's classroom. What she knew influenced her relationship with the children, and this knowledge also determined how she taught. Time and talk were the major factors which made this knowledge accessible. Attention to teachers' roles in generating descriptions of knowledge will provide a place for knowledge of children in teacher knowledge research literature, and it might also serve to bridge the gap between researchers and teachers.