THE KNOWLEDGE QUARTET

A programme of research at the University of Cambridge (SKIMA: subject knowledge in... mathematics) from 2002 to the present has investigated the mathematics content knowledge of primary trainee teachers, and the ways that this knowledge becomes visible both in their planning and in their teaching in the classroom. From this research, a framework for the observation, analysis and development of mathematics teaching was developed, with a focus on the contribution of the teacher's mathematical content knowledge. Rather than considering the generic features of the lesson (behaviour management, classroom organisation and so forth), the framework, the Knowledge Quartet, categorises events in mathematics lessons with particular reference to the subject matter being taught, and the mathematics-related knowledge that teachers call upon. While Shulman's distinction between subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge underpins this consideration of mathematics teaching (Shulman 1986),..

Also known as: knowledge quartet