Teachers' personal practical knowledge on the professional knowledge landscape

Though research on teaching has a long history, teacher knowledge research is relatively recent, mostly occurring in the 1980s and 1990s. Teacher knowledge research is part of a revolution in how educators think about classroom practice. In contrast to the concern for teacher characteristics and teaching/learning methods, the assumption in teacher knowledge research is that the most important area is what teachers know and how their knowing is expressed in teaching. There are several lines of such research. In this paper we describe one line of research focused on teachers' personal practical knowledge as it is developed and expressed on the professional knowledge landscape. In the paper we outline the methodology for undertaking this type of research. The methodology is illustrated by a case study of a teacher in China. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.