The Reciprocal Nature of Pedagogical and Technical Knowledge and Skill Development between Experts and Novices

Oct 15, 2026

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The paper examines how an expert teacher’s pedagogical and technical knowledge and skills influence the pedagogical and technical development of pre-service technology education teachers. The study situates this inquiry in traditional wooden boat building in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and frames analysis around expert teacher pedagogical content knowledge and the declarative–procedural distinction in technological activity. Data from semi-structured interviews, workshop observations, and journal entries used thematic analysis and a descriptive visual framework.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

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The Reciprocal Nature of Pedagogical and Technical Knowledge and Skill Development between Experts and Novices David D. Gill, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Abstract This paper outlines the findings of a study focused on the impact an expert teacher’s pedagogical and technical knowledge and skill may have on the pedagogical and technical development of pre-service technology education teachers. Specifically, this inquiry falls within the context of traditional wooden boat building in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Understanding the relationship between an expert’s knowledge and skill, and the development of a novice’s knowledge and skill is vitally important for institutions charged with graduating technology education teachers. Exploring the impact of pre-service teachers’ pedagogical and technical development was considered in relation to an expert teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge, and the nuance between declarative and procedural knowledge within technological activity. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews, workshop session observations, and researcher/participant journal entries. The sample was purposeful as the participants were recruited from boat building workshops between 2017 and 2019 and the 2017-2018 technology education diploma program cohort from Memorial University. Thematic analysis was used to identify major themes within the data. A descriptive visual framework based on the data analysis was constructed to highlight the complexities of teaching and learning within the multifaceted setting of a technical activity. An analysis of the data indicates that fostering and maintaining reciprocal interpersonal relationships between experts, novices, and peers are critical for the development of pre-service teacher technical and pedagogical knowledge and skill. Keywords PCK, technical knowledge, skill development, pre-service education, technology education, expert, novice. Research on technology education teachers’ beliefs and practices has revealed that there is a difference in their understanding of the nature of content knowledge as compared to other subject area teachers (Doyle, Seery, and Gumaelius 2019) . While teachers of science, social studies, and other well-established subjects may tend to focus on concepts and knowledge acquisition as the basis of their pedagogical practice, technology education teachers still tend to focus on technological activity with less emphasis on conceptual knowledge (Doyle et al. 2018; Jones, Buntting, and de Vries 2013; Williams and Lockley 2012) . How teachers know and enact their practice has been described through various interpretations of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for the last three decades. While PCK was framed as the intersection of a teacher’s subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and context knowledge that informed their practice (Shulman 1986), this concept has matured. Moving away from a generalized elucidation of canonical teaching practice, the idea of situating PCK within specific teachers’ experiences has emerged (Doyle et al. 2019) . This evolution of thought on PCK may have a direct effect on technology pre-service education. As de Miranda (2017) has suggested, individual technology education teachers have their own unique domain specific knowledge and any hope of transmitting this knowledge to pre-service teachers is probably a near impossible task. Rather, as pre-service technology researchers and educators there is an opportunity to generate and evaluate useful pedagogical practices for the conceptual strains of technology education. The idea of informing technology education teacher educators was the primary motivation for this study. Within the complex and situated nature of a technical activity, this paper will discuss the findings of a research study focusing on the question of whether the impact an expert teacher’s pedagogical knowledge and skill and their technical knowledge and s

FAQs

What research question guides the study?

The study asks whether an expert teacher’s pedagogical and technical knowledge and skills affect the pedagogical and technical skill development of pre-service technology education teachers, framed within wooden boat building in Newfoundland and Labrador.

How were the data collected?

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, workshop session observations, and researcher/participant journal entries.

What do the findings emphasize for pre-service teacher development?

The analysis indicates that fostering and maintaining reciprocal interpersonal relationships between experts, novices, and peers is critical for developing pre-service teachers’ pedagogical and technical knowledge and skills.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by nayy☆