Exploring the relationship between pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and sustainability of an innovative science teaching approach

Abstract

This study identified common patterns in Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of three exemplary teachers who have voluntarily sustained the implementation of an argument-based inquiry approach, and explored how those patterns relate to their sustained implementation. Results indicate that teachers’ orientations aligned with argument-based inquiry, especially as to how students learn, are essential for their sustained implementation. Their orientations are strongly connected with two other components of PCK (i.e., Knowledge of Student Understanding and Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations), which mutually interact with the sustainability of the implementation.