CONTENT KNOWLEDGE TRANSFORMATION - AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN CONTENT KNOWLEDGE AND CURRICULA

Theories associated with teacher knowledge suggest that teachers trans form subject content knowledge into pedagogical content knowledge in t eaching to enhance the content comprehensibility. It is assumed that t he connection between teacher content knowledge and curriculum is char acterized by the content knowledge transformation. This study, using a n interpretive research method combined with cognitive knowledge elici tation and mapping approaches, examined the subject-pedagogical conten t knowledge transformation process that was associated with the teache rs' curricular decision-making in secondary physical education. Findin gs indicated that the teachers shared a common subject content knowled ge base but demonstrated a personalized pedagogical content knowledge repertoire, suggesting that the teachers' pedagogical content knowledg e was personally constructed even though they shared a subject content knowledge base. The classroom curriculum was closely connected to the pedagogical content knowledge base. In addition, the teachers' curric ular decisions regarding content inclusion/exclusion were primarily ba sed on their perceptions of student learning abilities. The findings m ay imply that enhancement of prospective teachers' pedagogical content knowledge should be emphasized in teacher preparation programs becaus e it serves as a bridge linking the subject content knowledge with the curriculum delivered in classrooms.