What influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools? A study of four subject departments in England

This paper reports on a study exploring teacher learning of subject content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in four subject departments of secondary schools in England. The research design employed interview and observation. This paper focuses on characterising the cultures o...

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Main Authors: Childs, A, Burn, K, Mcnicholl, J
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2013
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author Childs, A
Burn, K
Mcnicholl, J
author_facet Childs, A
Burn, K
Mcnicholl, J
author_sort Childs, A
collection OXFORD
description This paper reports on a study exploring teacher learning of subject content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in four subject departments of secondary schools in England. The research design employed interview and observation. This paper focuses on characterising the cultures of the subject departments from the participants' own perspectives, examining the key factors influencing the formation of these cultures and how they facilitated or constrained the learning of SCK and PCK. Analysis of the data was done using constant comparative analysis. Findings show that three of the subject departments could be described as having more collaborative cultures whilst one was more individualistic. The findings also show that the key influencing factors were the nature and status of the subject, leadership of the department and the presence of a shared physical space, a team room. The paper ends by considering some of the implications for teacher learning in the workplace particularly at a time, in the English context, where the government's reforms are moving towards more school-based initial teacher education and continuing professional development. © 2013 Copyright Teacher Development.
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spelling oxford-uuid:d519c5c3-1730-420f-a17c-ec053c5b40a42022-03-27T08:23:30ZWhat influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools? A study of four subject departments in EnglandJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:d519c5c3-1730-420f-a17c-ec053c5b40a4EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2013Childs, ABurn, KMcnicholl, JThis paper reports on a study exploring teacher learning of subject content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in four subject departments of secondary schools in England. The research design employed interview and observation. This paper focuses on characterising the cultures of the subject departments from the participants' own perspectives, examining the key factors influencing the formation of these cultures and how they facilitated or constrained the learning of SCK and PCK. Analysis of the data was done using constant comparative analysis. Findings show that three of the subject departments could be described as having more collaborative cultures whilst one was more individualistic. The findings also show that the key influencing factors were the nature and status of the subject, leadership of the department and the presence of a shared physical space, a team room. The paper ends by considering some of the implications for teacher learning in the workplace particularly at a time, in the English context, where the government's reforms are moving towards more school-based initial teacher education and continuing professional development. © 2013 Copyright Teacher Development.
spellingShingle Childs, A
Burn, K
Mcnicholl, J
What influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools? A study of four subject departments in England
title What influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools? A study of four subject departments in England
title_full What influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools? A study of four subject departments in England
title_fullStr What influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools? A study of four subject departments in England
title_full_unstemmed What influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools? A study of four subject departments in England
title_short What influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools? A study of four subject departments in England
title_sort what influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools a study of four subject departments in england
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