Shuman’s Educational Knowledge Framework

The seven categories of teacher knowledge outlined by Shuman(1987)cover all the essential areas of teaching and learning in any disciplinary area.The set of knowledge includes①content knowledge，②general pedagogical knowledge，③curriculum knowledge，④pedagogical content knowledge，⑤knowledge of learners and their characteristics，⑥knowledge of educational contexts，and⑦knowledge of educational ends，purposes and values，and philosophical and historical background.

A cursory look at the knowledge framework for teaching readily connects the two groups of Chinese teachers(native-speaker and non-native-speaker teachers)with some of the knowledge types.For example，native speaker Chinese teachers appear to be relatively strong in types 1，3 and 4，while their non-native-speaker colleagues are good in types 2，3，5，6 and 7.This is reflected in their varied approaches to teaching and understanding of the process of learning as well as the role they play in classroom instruction，as implied in the anecdotal exchanges in the staff common room.The role of the teacher is envisaged differently by the two groups of teachers.The overseas trained Chinese teachers tend to be more responsive to a teacher as an instructor or knowledge transmitter，and the role of the teacher as a facilitator and entertainer is more fitted for the Australian trained teachers of Chinese.Yet it is not an issue of one being better than the other;it is more of an instructional choice that teachers need to carefully make in the process of teaching.