Teachers’ Knowledge and Classroom Management

Abstract

A central issue raised in earlier chapters concerns how a teacher’s knowledge enables her to manage classroom engagement and participation. Because classrooms are complex contexts for learning, the sheer range of expertise that a teacher requires in order to do this work adequately is enormous. This is complicated by the fact that managing classrooms is also a social activity, and learners too are involved in managing the context. One of the most difficult issues raised by the recent shift of emphasis in education from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning is that many of the responsibilities that have been hitherto discharged by teachers are being handed over to learners, a process requiring the acquisition of new skills and knowledge both for learners and teachers.