Innovative teaching and learning in the business education subjects : pedagogical content knowledge

Abstract

This paper discusses the notion of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and how it manifests itself in the business education secondary school classes in Malta. PCK represents the merging of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular topics or lessons are organised, represented and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of students (Shulman, 1987). It is an epistemological concept that usefully blends together the traditionally separated knowledge bases of content and pedagogy (Mishra and Koehler, 2006; Neumann et al., 2019). PCK is a teacher’s most precious creative possession which enhances student learning (Kind and Chan, 2019; Shulman, 1987). The presentation draws upon the presenter’s research that explores teaching and learning in Maltese business education classes. The underlying conceptual framework for the study is critical realism, which offers an understanding of the world that is real but which may be differently experienced and interpreted by different observers. This research consisted in interviewing and observing business education teachers, together with focus groups interviews with students. Data was analyzed by employing thematic analysis, with the help of Nvivo software. This presentation discusses an emergent theme of how teachers communicated in an innovative and creative manner their understanding of the subject knowledge by devising engaging PCK representations that involved their students into deep learning.