The relation between content-specific and general teacher knowledge and skills

Abstract

The relation between teacher knowledge and skills and how these were influenced by teacher education was examined with 171 secondary mathematics teachers. Six paper-and-pencil and video tests were applied to assess content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and general pedagogical knowledge as well as diagnostic, teaching and classroom management skills. It was hypothesized that the relation between these six cognitive facets was best approximated by distinguishing between levels of generalizability across different mathematics teaching situations. The data strongly supported this model in confirmatory factor analyses. The data also revealed the hypothesized differential relations between teacher cognitions and teacher education.