University to school: Challenging assumptions in subject knowledge development

Abstract

This investigation addresses the complex issue of teachers’ subject knowledge. Specifically it focuses on the teaching of secondary school English; however, the principles it suggests apply more widely. Drawing on the experiences of trainee English teachers undertaking full-time and flexible PGCE courses during both their university- and school-based training, it explores the subject knowledge models of Banks, Leach & Moon and of Grossman, Wilson & Shulman, delineating how these can be used as a foundation on which beginning teachers can build their own personal deliverable models of subject.