A Knowledge Base for the Teaching Profession: What Would It Look like and How Can We Get One?

• Published in: Educational researcher Vol. 31; no. 5; pp. 3 - 15
• Main Authors: Hiebert, James, Gallimore, Ronald, Stigler, James W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA American Educational Research Association 01.06.2002; Sage Publications
• Subjects: Art teachers; Children; College instruction; Curricula; Educational Research; Educational Researchers; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Japan; Knowledge Base for Teaching; Language teaching methods; Learning; Mathematics education; Parsing; Pedagogical content knowledge; Problem solving; Students; Subject Content Knowledge; Teacher education; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Knowledge; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Japan; New York; Chicago Illinois; United States > US
• ISSN: 0013-189X; 1935-102X
• DOI: 10.3102/0013189X031005003

To improve classroom teaching in a steady, lasting way, the teaching profession needs a knowledge base that grows and improves. In spite of the continuing efforts of researchers, archived research knowledge has had little effect on the improvement of practice in the average classroom. We explore the possibility of building a useful knowledge base for teaching by beginning with practitioners' knowledge. We outline key features of this knowledge and identify the requirements for this knowledge to be transformed into a professional knowledge base for teaching. By reviewing educational history, we offer an incomplete explanation for why the United States has no countrywide system that meets these requirements. We conclude by wondering if U.S. researchers and teachers can make different choices in the future to enable a system for building and sustaining a professional knowledge base for teaching.