Tacit Knowledge for the Training of pre-service Industrial Design and Technology Teachers in Australia - Dissertation Example

From the research it can be comprehended that a lot has been heard and talked about tacit knowledge in the field of teaching and teacher training. According to Chandra and Chalmers, the knowledge contains certain tacit aspects that cannot be codified but are only transmitted through personal experience or training. Tacit knowledge is defined by Shulman as the knowledge that cannot be transferred to other using words either written or verbalised. As such, tacit knowledge has been recognised in the literature of teacher training only one aspect – who possesses this knowledge – rather than focusing on other aspects and taking it a step further on how this knowledge can be passed down or diffused within the pre-service training period.

Various educational theories have cited tacit knowledge as the sole means of learning to teach but this has been a topic of debate and controversy throughout the history. Ma debating on one of the educational theories stated that the traditional epistemology is about teaching which include the concepts of objectivist, behaviourist, and positivist. Even though, as stated by Ball, that each of these concepts visualise a different teaching method, the concepts centre on the idea of delivering the content from a tacit point-of-view.

In other words, the traditional teaching epistemology focuses on articulating the tacit knowledge rather than to prompt the pre-service teachers to respond or act in a particular manner. (Ball, 2000, p.244). Over the past few years, attention to research on teacher training and education has shifted away from behaviours or skills teaching to the knowledge and beliefs of the teachers i.e. the tacit knowledge (Lampert, 2001, p.127). This shift occurred because of dissatisfied teachers that deliver the teaching contents in a mechanistic manner.

In order to understand this behaviour, investigations were carried out in classroom settings that focused around the knowledge and beliefs of the teachers (Chick, 2002, p.180). Recently, the interest in the training of pre-service teachers has increased because of the concept and utilisation of knowledge. Although researchers take different approaches in their researches and purposes, knowledge is broadly defined as tacit knowledge that teachers learn with respect to their teaching experiences (Sullivan and McDonough, 2002, p.250). Tacit knowledge, for many researchers, implies the presence of complex and context specific teaching nature that can contribute to the enhancement of teachers teaching status as a profession (Chick, 2002, p.187). This tacit knowledge has been explained by many researchers, but was introduced and elaborated by Shulman using the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (Chandra and Chalmers, 2008, p.25). The concept explains tacit knowledge as the interpretations and transformations of subject matter in context that can facilitate student learning (Chandra and Chalmers, 2008, p.26). Teachers who are preparing to teach in secondary schools that often struggle in subjects such as science particularly industrial design and technology.

They need to take sufficient courses to meet the degree requirements and learn enough about the subject to be able to teach in schools. However, the training of pre-service industrial design and technology teachers often falls short of preparing the new teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge (Shulman, 1986, p.11). As argued by Ma (1999, p.26), the curriculum changes in the schools particularly in the industrial design and technology subject area, teachers are not being adequately training.

The reform in the curriculum requires that teachers need to be trained to be able to provide quality education to all students (Ball, 2000, p.243). However, the exact contents of the subject have been subjected to controversy as when, what, where and how can it be acquired by the teachers. One research suggests that in order to underst