Conceptualizing Teacher Knowledge in Domain Specific and Measurable Terms: Validation of the Expanded KAT Framework

Abstract

: This study contributes to discussions on teacher knowledge by providing evidence that teacher knowledge can be conceptualized in domain specific and measurable terms instead of theorizing it in general terms and using proxy measures for it. The groundbreaking attempt at this type of conceptualization was done by the KAT project in the US when they put up a framework that hypothesized three types of knowledge whose intersections were considered blurry. Arguing that the intersections of the three hypothesized knowledge rather produce some form of complex blends of knowledge that cannot be ignored, an expanded form of this original KAT framework has recently been suggested. It is this expanded framework that guided the current study. Using an instrument developed through adaptation of the KAT project’s instruments, exploratory factor analysis conducted on data from 252 mathematics teachers in 40 senior high schools in Ghana validated the expanded framework Recommendations for further research in different domains of mathematics and the use of the framework to develop measures of teacher knowledge have been made.