A Study of the Status of Teacher’s Professional Knowledge

Abstract

Teacher knowledge is an important factor of teaching level and also is an important indicator to evaluate the quality of education. In order to understand the state of Chinese teachers’ knowledge, this study investigates the state and type of in-service mathematics teachers and pre-service mathematics teachers in the capital of northeast three provinces. Then by means of comparing the difference of all kinds of teachers’ knowledge between different types of teachers and analyzing the influence of different sources on teachers’ knowledge development, this study explores the development of teachers’ knowledge. Results of the study were as follows: In-service junior high school mathematics teachers behave well in teacher knowledge, and there are three types of their knowledge structure: balanced, experiential, and branch, and then the order from big to small of the importance of all kinds of knowledge in professional development is PCK, math subject knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and math curriculum knowledge; Pre-service teachers got lower scores in mathematics curriculum knowledge and PCK, and there are three types of their knowledge structure: balanced, weak, and branch; There are significant differences between in-service and pre-service teachers in math curriculum knowledge, math subject knowledge, and PCK, and in-service teachers scored higher on this three knowledge; The main sources of teacher knowledge for in-service teachers are teaching experience and reflection, and daily communication with colleagues; however, the main sources for pre-service teachers are educational probation and micro-teaching. Implication for theory is discussed in order to provide reference for teacher education.