The Importance (And Joy) Of Subject Knowledge Enhancement

By Lauren Swain

This year as a history team, we have made a conscious effort to enhance our subject knowledge by going on termly excursions as a team. This has been something that has not only benefited our teaching and learning but also our team culture as a history department. We have been on various visits including the Science Museum, which resulted in a fantastic year 10 trip for their medicine through time course, the Old Operating Theatre that was part of the original St Thomas’ hospital, and The Globe to watch a Shakespeare play (although this was not the only play we saw - we also went to an incredibly inaccurate but extremely enjoyable show about Henry VIII’s wives called Six.) This has been something to look forward to each term and I could not recommend it highly enough.

Often, as teachers, we have so much on that we don’t always make time to continue to have a love for our subjects. We use textbooks and online resources but we forget the importance of the wonderful opportunities London has to offer! With the summer holidays coming up and the weather so lovely, why not try and book a few subject-focussed plans and maybe even go as a team? It has not only helped with our student engagement, modelling to them our passion for the subject, but it also highlights the importance of objects, buildings, museums, the arts, and other extracurricular activities. Learning outside of the classroom promotes not only a love of learning but a deeper understanding of the subject. Plus it’s super fun for us to be able to have the love of learning and a deeper understanding of our subject as a passion not only as a job. If you have any questions or want to hear more about what we have been up to, come speak to me, Charlotte, Jaya or Will!

Bitesize Research: The Value Of Subject Knowledge

By Jaya Carrier

I hope everyone’s having a great week! This week’s Tuesday CPD is on the theme of subject knowledge and pedagogy, and when thinking about this, I was intrigued to see the publication of a new book about the place of subject knowledge in teacher education. This volume includes the work of researchers working in Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the UK across a variety of subject contexts. Objectives: To look at the place and the value of subject knowledge in teacher education internationally Summary:

• The book as a whole uses a concept of ‘powerful knowledge’ to categorise knowledge that is most valuable for students in the modern world
• In a Geography context, authors argue that teachers need to use a strong combination of conceptual, contextual and procedural knowledge to ensure that their students become good geographers
• One chapter looks at how in a Maths context, one type of specific mathematical knowledge is argued to be central for unlocking students’ thinking and learning of maths
• Other subjects, including Religious Studies, are explained in the book to have roots in multidisciplinary approaches. They therefore argue that teachers of RS need to understand how these different approaches come together before they can successfully teach RS

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• What is my own relationship with subject knowledge? How much do I aim to maintain or extend it? And in what ways?
• How does better subject knowledge support your subject pedagogy?
• What might ‘powerful knowledge’ be in my subject?

If you would like to discuss this further with me - please let me know! I’d be delighted to open up these discussions and conversations.