For more than two decades, three components of teacher knowledge have been discussed, namely, content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and general pedagogical knowledge (GPK). Although there is a growing body of analytic clarification and empirical testing with regard to CK and PCK, especially with a focus on mathematics teachers, hardly any attempt has been made to learn more about teachers’ GPK. In the context of the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M), Germany, Taiwan, and the United States worked on closing this research gap by conceptualizing a theoretical framework and developing a standardized test of GPK, which was taken by representative samples of future middle school teachers in these countries. Four task-based subdimensions of GPK and three cognitive subdimensions of GPK were distinguished in this test. TEDS-M data are used (a) to test the hypothesis that GPK is not homogenous but multidimensional and (b) to compare the achievement of U.S. future middle school teachers with future middle school teachers from Germany and Taiwan. The data revealed that U.S. future teachers were outperformed by both the other groups. They showed a relative strength in one of the cognitive subdimensions, generating strategies to perform in the classroom, indicating that in particular they had acquired procedural GPK during teacher education.
Adams, R. ( 2002). Scaling PISA cognitive data. Paris : OECD.
2.
Adams, R., & Wu, M. (Eds.). (2002). PISA 2000 technical report . Paris, France: OECD. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/53/19/33688233.pdf
3.
Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York, NY: Longman .
4.
Baer, M., Dörr, G., Fraefel, U., Kocher, M., Küster, O., Larcher, S., . . . Wyss C. ( 2007). Werden angehende Lehrpersonen durch das Studium kompetenter? [Do future teachers acquire competencies through studying?]Unterrichtswissenschaft, 35(1), 15-47.
5.
Ball, D.L., Thames, M.H., & Phelps, G. ( 2008). Content knowledge for teaching: What makes it special ? Journal of Teacher Education, 59(5), 389-407.
6.
Bateson, M.C. ( 1994). Peripheral visions: Learning along the way. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
7.
Baumert, J., & Kunter, M. ( 2006). Stichwort: Professionelle Kompetenz von Lehrkräften [Keywords: Professional competence of teachers]. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 9(4), 469-520.
8.
Baumert, J., Kunter, M., Blum, W., Brunner, M., Voss, T., Jordan, A., . . . Tsai, Y.-M. ( 2010). Teachers’ mathematical knowledge, cognitive activation in the classroom, and student progress. American Educational Research Journal, 47(1), 133-180.
9.
Baumert, J., Kunter, M., Brunner, M., Krauss, S., Blum, W., & Neubrand, M. ( 2004). Mathematikunterricht aus Sicht der PISA-Schülerinnen und -Schüler und ihrer Lehrkräfte [Mathematics education from the perspective of PISA students and pupils and their teachers]. In M. Prenzel, J. Baumert, W. Blum, R. Lehmann, D. Leutner, M. Neubrand, . . . U. Schiefele, (Eds.), PISA 2003. Der Bildungsstand der Jugendlichen in Deutschland- Ergebnisse des zweiten internationalen Vergleichs [PISA 2003: The educational level of young people in Germany-Results of the second international comparison] (pp. 314-354). Münster, Germany: Waxmann.
10.
Berliner, D.C. ( 2001). Learning about and learning from expert teachers. International Journal of Educational Research, 35(5), 463-482.
11.
Berliner, D.C. ( 2004). Describing the behavior and documenting the accomplishments of expert teachers. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society , 24(3), 200-212.
12.
Blömeke, S., & König, J. (2010a). Messung des pädagogischen Wissens: Theoretischer Rahmen und Teststruktur [Measuring pedagogical knowledge: Theoretical framework and test structure]. In S. Blömeke, G. Kaiser, & R. Lehmann (Eds.), TEDS-M 2008-Professionelle Kompetenz und Lerngelegenheiten angehender Mathematiklehrkräfte im internationalen Vergleich [TEDS-M 2008-Professional competence and learning opportunities of prospective mathematics teachers in an international comparison] (pp. 239-269). Münster, Germany: Waxmann.
13.
Blömeke, S., & König, J. (2010b). Pädagogisches Wissen angehender Mathematiklehrkräfte im internationalen Vergleich [Pedagogic knowledge of prospective mathematics teachers in an international comparison] . In S. Blömeke, G. Kaiser, & R. Lehmann (Eds.), TEDS-M 2008-Professionelle Kompetenz und Lerngelegenheiten angehender Mathematiklehrkräfte im internationalen Vergleich [TEDS-M 2008-Professional competence and learning opportunities of prospective mathematics teachers in an international comparison] (pp. 270-283). Münster , Germany: Waxmann.
14.
Blömeke, S., & Paine, L. ( 2008). Getting the fish out of the water: Considering benefits and problems of doing research on teacher education at an international level . Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(4), 2027-2037.
15.
Blömeke, S., Paine, L., Houang, R.T., Hsieh, F.-J., Schmidt, W.H., Tatto, M., . . . Schwille, J. ( 2008). Future teachers’ competence to plan a lesson: First results of a six-country study on the efficiency of teacher education. ZDM-The International Journal on Mathematics Education, 40(5), 749-762.
16.
Bloom, B.S. ( 1976). Human characteristics and school learning. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
17.
Bromme, R. ( 1992). Der Lehrer als Experte: zur Psychologie des professionellen Wissens [The teacher as expert: The psychology of professional knowledge] . Bern, Switzerland: Huber.
18.
Bromme, R. ( 1997). Kompetenzen, Funktionen und unterrichtliches Handeln des Lehrers [Skills, functions, and curricular activities of the teacher] . In F. E. Weinert (Ed.), Enzyklopädie der Psychologie: Psychologie des Unterrichts und der Schule [Encyclopedia of psychology: Psychology of teaching and the school] (Vol. 3, pp. 177-212). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.
19.
Bromme, R. ( 2001). Teacher expertise. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (pp. 15459-15465). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
20.
Brophy, J. ( 1999). Teaching. Brussels, Belgium: International Academy of Education. Retrieved from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/publications/EducationalPracticesSeriesPdf/prac01e.pdf
21.
Carroll, J.B. ( 1963). A model of school learning. Teachers College Record, 64, 723-733.
22.
Cochran-Smith, M. & Fries, K. ( 2005). Researching teacher education in changing times: Politics and paradigms. In M. Cochran-Smith & K. M. Zeichner (eds.), Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA Panel on Research and Teacher Education (pp. 69-110). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
23.
Correa, C.A., Perry, M., Sims, L.M., Miller, L.M. & Fang, G. ( 2008). Connected and culturally embedded beliefs: Chinese and U.S. teachers talk about how their students best learn mathematics. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 140-153.
24.
Fenstermacher, G.D. ( 1994). The knower and the known: The nature of knowledge in research on teaching. Review of Research in Education, 20, 3-56.
25.
Fischer, R. ( 2004). Standardization to account for cross-cultural response bias: A classification of score adjustment procedures and review of research in JCCP. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35(3), 263-282.
26.
Good, T.L., & Brophy, J.E. ( 2007). Looking in classrooms. Boston, MA : Allyn & Bacon.
27.
Grossman, P.L. ( 1992). Why models matter: An alternate view on professional growth in teaching. Review of Educational Research, 62(2), 171-179.
28.
Grossman, P., & McDonald, M. ( 2008). Back to the future: Directions for research in teaching and teacher education. American Educational Research Journal , 45(1), 184-205.
29.
Grossman, P.L., & Richert, A.E. ( 1988). Unacknowledged knowledge growth: A re-examination of the effects of teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education , 4(1), 53-62.
30.
Helmke, A. ( 2003). Unterrichtsqualität erfassen, bewerten, verbessern [Understand, evaluate, and improve teacher quality]. Seelze , Germany: Kallmeyer.
31.
Hill, H.C., Rowan, B., & Ball, D.L. ( 2005). Effects of teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching on student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 371-406.
32.
Hopmann, S., & Riquarts, K. (Eds.). (1995). Didaktik und/oder Curriculum: Grundprobleme einer international-vergleichenden Didaktik [Didactics and/or curriculum: Basic problems of an international-comparative didactics]. Weinheim, Germany: Beltz.
33.
Jonsson, A., & Svingby, G. ( 2007). The use of scoring rubrics: Reliability, validity and educational consequences. Educational Research Review, 2(2), 130-144.
34.
Kagan, D.M. ( 1992). Professional growth among preservice and beginning teachers . Review of Educational Research, 62(2), 129-169.
35.
Klafki, W. ( 1985). Neue Studien zur Bildungstheorie und Didaktik. Beiträge zur kritisch-konstruktiven Didaktik [New studies to education theory and didactics: Contributions to the critical-constructional didactics]. Weinheim, Germany: Beltz.
36.
König, J., & Blömeke, S. (2009). Pädagogisches Wissen von angehenden Lehrkräften: Erfassung und Struktur von Ergebnissen der fachübergreifenden Lehrerausbildung [Pedagogic knowledge of prospective teachers: Acquisition and structure of the results of cross-disciplinary teacher education]. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 12(3), 499-527.
37.
König, J., & Blömeke, S. (2010a). Messung des pädagogischen Wissens: Theoretischer Rahmen und Teststruktur [Measurement of educational knowledge: Theoretical framework and test structure]. In S. Blömeke, G. Kaiser , & R. Lehmann (Eds.), TEDS-M 2008-Professionelle Kompetenz und Lerngelegenheiten angehender Primarstufenlehrkräfte im internationalen Vergleich [Professional competence and learning opportunities of prospective primary school teachers in an international comparison] (pp. 253-273). Münster, Germany: Waxmann.
38.
König, J., & Blömeke, S. (2010b). Pädagogisches Wissen angehender Primarstufenlehrkräfte im internationalen Vergleich [Pedagogic knowledge of prospective primary school teachers in an international comparison] . In S. Blömeke, G. Kaiser, & R. Lehmann (Eds.), TEDS-M 2008-Professionelle Kompetenz und Lerngelegenheiten angehender Primarstufenlehrkräfte im internationalen Vergleich [Professional competence and learning opportunities of prospective primary school teachers in an international comparison] (pp. 275-296). Münster, Germany: Waxmann.
39.
König, J., & Blömeke, S. (2010c). Pädagogisches Unterrichtswissen (PUW) [Educational teaching knowledge]. In Dokumentation der Kurzfassung des TEDS-M-Testinstruments zur Kompetenzmessung in der ersten Phase der Lehrerausbildung [Documentation of the short version of the TEDS-M-Test instrument for competence assessment in the first phase of teacher training] . Berlin, Germany: Humboldt University of Berlin.
40.
König, J., & Blömeke, S. (in press). TEDS-M country report on teacher education in Germany. In M. T. Tatto (Series ed.), Policy, practice, and readiness to teach primary and secondary mathematics: The Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics international report (Vol. 5). Lansing: Michigan State University.
41.
Krauss, S., Baumert, J., & Blum, W. ( 2008). Secondary mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge: Validation of the COACTIV constructs. Zentralblatt für Didaktik der Mathematik, 40, 873-892.
42.
Larcher, S., & Oelkers, J. ( 2004). Deutsche Lehrerbildung im internationalen Vergleich [German teacher education: An international comparison]. In S. Blömeke, P. Reinhold, G. Tulodziecki, & J. Wildt (Eds.), Handbuch Lehrerausbildung [Handbook of teacher training] (pp. 128-150). Bad Heilbrunn, Germany: Klinkhardt.
43.
McDonald, J.P. ( 1992). Teaching: Making sense of an uncertain craft. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
44.
Oser, F., & Oelkers, J. (Eds.). (2001). Die Wirksamkeit der Lehrerbildungssysteme [The effectiveness of teacher education systems]. Chur , Switzerland: Ruegger.
45.
Putnam, R.T., & Borko, H. ( 2000). What do new views of knowledge and thinking have to say about research on teacher learning? Educational Researcher , 29(1), 4-15.
46.
Risko, V.J., Roller, C.M., Cummins, C., Bean, R.M., Block, C.C., Anders, P.L., & Flood, J. ( 2008). A critical analysis of research on reading teacher education . Reading Research Quarterly, 43(3), 252-288.
47.
Schmidt, W.H., Blömeke, S., & Tatto, M.T. (in press). Teacher preparation from an international perspective. New York, NY: Teacher College Press.
48.
Schmidt, W.H., Cogan, L., & Houang, R. ( 2011). The role of opportunity to learn in teacher preparation: An international context. Journal of Teacher Education, 62(2), 138-153.
49.
Schulte, K. ( 2008). Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen in der Lehrerbildung-Zur Struktur und dem Zusammenhang von Lehrer-Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen, Pädagogischem Professionswissen und Persönlichkeitseigenschaften bei Lehramtsstudierenden und Lehrkräften. University of Göttingen. Retrieved from: http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/diss/2008/schulte/schulte.pdf
50.
Shulman, L.S. ( 1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14.
51.
Shulman, L.S. ( 1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform . Harvard Educational Research, 57, 1-22.
52.
Slavin, R.E. ( 1994). Quality, appropriateness, incentive, and time: A model of instructional effectiveness. International Journal of Educational Research, 21, 141-157.
53.
Stigler, J.W., & Hiebert, J. ( 1999). The teaching gap: Best ideas from the world’s teachers for improving education in the classroom. New York, NY : Free Press.
54.
Tatto, M.T., Schwille, J., Senk, S., Ingvarson, L., Peck, R. & Rowley, G. ( 2008). Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M): Conceptual framework. East Lansing: Michigan State University.
55.
Tatto, M.T., & Senk, S. ( 2011). The mathematics education of future primary and secondary teachers: Methods and findings from the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics. Journal of Teacher Education, 62(2), 121-137.
56.
Townsend, T., & Bates, R. (Eds.). (2007). Handbook of teacher education: Globalization, standards, and professionalism in times of change. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
57.
Tulodziecki, G., Herzig, B., & Blömeke, S. (2004). Gestaltung von Unterricht. Eine Einführung in die Didaktik [Design of instruction: An introduction to teaching]. Bad Heilbrunn, Germany: Klinkhardt.
58.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (1997). International standard classification of education. Montreal , Canada: Author.
59.
von Davier, A.A., Carstensen, C.H., & von Davier, M. (2006). Linking competencies in horizontal, vertical, and longitudinal settings and measuring growth. In J. Hartig, E. Klieme, & D. Leutner (Eds.), Assessment of competencies in educational contexts (pp. 53-80). Göttingen , Germany: Hogrefe.
60.
Weinert, F.E. ( 2001). A concept of competence: A conceptual clarification. In D. S. Rychen & L. H. Salganik (Eds.), Defining and selecting key competencies (pp. 45-65). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.
61.
Wilson, S.M., & Berne, J. ( 1999). Teacher learning and the acquisition of professional knowledge: An examination of research on contemporary professional development . Review of Research in Education, 24, 173-210).
62.
Wright, B.D., Linacre, M., Gustafsson, J.-E. & Martin-Loff, P. ( 1994). Reasonable mean-square fit values. Rasch Measurement Transactions, 8, 370.
63.
Wu, M.L. ( 1997). The development and application of a fit test for use with generalised item response model. Unpublished masters of education dissertation, University of Melbourne, Australia.
64.
Wu, M.L., Adams, R.J., & Wilson, M.R. ( 1997). ConQuest: Multi-aspect test software [computer program] . Camberwell, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research.
