Teacher readiness: TPACK capabilities and redesigning working conditions

Abstract

The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. [McKinsey Report (Barber & Mourshed, 2007 p.13)] We argue that intelligent pedagogical uses of technology require the development of a complex, situated form of knowledge we call Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK). At the heart of TPCK is the dynamic, transactional relationship between content, pedagogy and technology. Good teaching with technology requires understanding the mutually reinforcing relationships between all three elements taken together to develop appropriate, context specific strategies and representations. [Matthew J. Koehler, Punya Mishra, and Kurnia Yahya (2007)p.741] The quotation from the McKinsey Report focuses the reader’s attention on the importance of quality teachers. In authors in Chapter 1 drew attention to the differentiation between quality teachers and the more sophisticated concept envisioned by the creation of networked school communities of quality teaching where teaching is seen as a shared responsibility. The networked school community vision recognises the importance of quality 21st Century teachers being ready and having the capabilities to assume the new roles and develop the home-school relationships required in realising this vision. In this chapter, drawing on the contemporary work of Mishra and Koehler (2006; 2008), we present the conceptualisation of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, now being referred to as TPACK (formerly TPCK) – ‘the total package’ – to inform teacher readiness.