The Relationship between Subject-Matter Expertise and Accountability in Instructional Tasks

Abstract

The ecological model was used to examine the relationship between subject matter expertise and the conduct of a teacher’s instructional task system. Nine teachers were studied when teaching activities with which they self-reported as having higher or lower levels of subject matter expertise. The findings suggest that higher levels of expertise by teachers in certain areas result in two specific changes in the academic work of physical education. The first is a provision of more tasks, and particularly more extending tasks, while the second is an accountability focus centered more so on the quality of the performance than a level of participation or effort.