Discovering New Zealand Technology Teacher’s PCK

Abstract

An important and under-researched area of technology education is teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This concept reflects the notion that expert teachers’ knowledge is a unique integration of their pedagogical technique and their understanding of technology content as applied in a particular instance. The authors are interested in inquiring into technology teachers’ PCK from a comparative perspective between New Zealand and South African teachers, who have implemented and reviewed their technology education curriculum according to a similar timeframe. This article therefore reports on the first phase of this study on lower secondary technology teachers’ PCK, with the focus on New Zealand. The ultimate aim is to compare the PCK of New Zealand technology teachers and the PCK of South African technology teachers via a case study approach. The findings in this paper are reported from the interviews, classroom observations, and document reviews of four New Zealand technology teachers.