Sources of Teacher Educators’ Professional Craft Knowledge: Ways and Processes

Abstract

Research on teacher educators’ professional craft knowledge portrays a grim picture across the world. The question of what knowledge teacher educators have and how they acquire it, becomes a core question for researchers aiming to explore various areas of teacher education. In this study, we employed a qualitative research approach and interviewed fifteen teacher educators from university teaching departments and teacher education colleges in the northern Pakistan to explore sources of professional craft knowledge of teacher educators. We initially transcribed the interview data and followed set rules of qualitative approaches for the analysis. Findings solicited that teacher educators’ professional craft knowledge is tacit and personal. Learning from the experiences as classroom teachers (in their earlier career), reflective practices, engagement in research work, and participation in various professional networking, emerged as key sources of teacher educators’ professional knowledge. Findings have key implications for
policy making in teacher education in Pakistan and elsewhere in alike setting.