Developing PCK for Teaching Teachers through a Mentored Internship in Teacher Professional Development

Abstract

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), according to Shulman (1987), is what makes possible the transformation of disciplinary content into forms that are accessible and attainable by students. This includes knowledge of how particular subject matter topics, problems, and issues can be organized, represented, and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of learners and presented for instruction (Magnusson, Krajcik, & Borko, 1999). Recently, researchers have argued that a parallel form of PCK exists for science teacher educators (Abell et al., 2009). Nonetheless, little is known about the process through which teacher educators develop their PCK, and more specifically, how doctoral programs can support prospective teacher educators in this regard. The aim of this study was to understand how a mentored internship experience within a teacher professional development program contributes to the development of doctoral students' PCK for teaching teachers. Through self‐study, three graduate students and their faculty mentor documented the development of their PCK throughout the mentorship.