Knowledge and Teaching:Foundations of the New Reform

TLDR

Shulman argues that teaching reform must prioritize comprehension, reasoning, transformation, and reflection, a stance justified by the historical neglect of these aspects by research and policy. The study seeks to articulate and justify this conception by answering four questions about the knowledge base for teaching, its conceptualization, pedagogical reasoning processes, and implications for policy and reform. The answers, grounded in philosophy, psychology, and practitioner casework, extend beyond current reform assumptions and redirect how teaching is understood, and teachers are trained and evaluated. This article was chosen for the November 1986 special issue on “Teachers, Teaching, and Teacher Education” but appears here because of publishing exigencies.

Abstract

Lee S. Shulman builds his foundation for teaching reform on an idea of teaching that emphasizes comprehension and reasoning, transformation and reflection. "This emphasis is justified," he writes, "by the resoluteness with which research and policy have so blatantly ignored those aspects of teaching in the past." To articulate and justify this conception, Shulman responds to four questions: What are the sources of the knowledge base for teaching?In what terms can these sources be conceptualized? What are the processes of pedagogical reasoning and action? and What are the implications for teaching policy and educational reform? The answers — informed by philosophy, psychology, and a growing body of casework based on young and experienced practitioners — go far beyond current reform assumptions and initiatives. The outcome for educational practitioners, scholars, and policymakers is a major redirection in how teaching is to be understood and teachers are to be trained and evaluated. This article was selected for the November 1986 special issue on "Teachers, Teaching,and Teacher Education," but appears here because of the exigencies of publishing.