InTASC Standard #4: Content Knowledge

The idea that a teacher must have a thorough understanding of their content in order to
teach well is simple, almost a given, but InTASC standard #4 is about more than knowing that
Mary Shelly was born to two prominent political radicals in August of 1797 and that her novel,
Frankenstein, redefined a genre: InTASC Standard # 4 is about knowing how to sequence
learning and build instruction so that students not only know those facts, but also know why and
maybe even care. Content knowledge means that the teacher doesnt just know the content, but
also how to teach it. This involves knowing different tools of inquiry to implement and
supplementary resources for clarification of concepts. The teacher has to know how to break the
central concepts down and make them accessible and meaningful to their students. For example,
when teaching Shirley Jacksons short story The Lottery a teacher might have the students read
Abel Meeropols poem Strange Fruit, another text by a different author in a different time that
deals with a similar theme, and have the students compare and contrast the authors depictions of
lynching. By bringing in the supplementary text the teacher is able to make the theme universal,
or at least broader, across different cultures and time periods, and allows the students to look at it
from a different angle. Another example would be if the students were reading Romeo and
Juliet, the teacher could show students the play West Side Story in order to allow them to
compare and contrast the more modern interpretation of the play and attempt to find out why the
play is still relevant centuries later.
Content knowledge is the best tool teachers have to reach students who are having a
difficult time with the information as presented. If information is sequenced for optimal learning
and supported by supplementary text, it will be easier for students to understand and retain.