Which is more important: content or pedagogy?

This has been a question for debate as long as I have pursued education. Does the success of students develop from what you teach or how you teach? Going into Kenan Fellows I had a desire to deepen my knowledge of my content in an effort to better support my pedagogy but I did not initially know whether I would be able to choose one side or the other as a result of the Kenan experience. Throughout the course of the professional development and the internship this conversation came up multiple times in regards to various subject areas and even in the microbiology lab which is generally detached from these sorts of conversations. Some argue that knowing what you’re teaching is the key to success and some argue that it is how you teach the content that really matters. Some argue that you need a balance of both, but no one has really talked about why they have chosen one side of the other.

These conversations have made me wonder if the value of content and pedagogy vary in relation to the experience a teacher has. For instance, thinking back to my first year of teaching I’m not sure having a true grasp on the content was even an option after coming from general science courses in college. The curriculum in middle school science is so vast that there are not enough credit hours in college to cover it all. I think the key to my success was the delivery of the content that I brushed up on along the way. There were some topics, such as the electromagnetic spectrum, that I could not even remember when I learned it in grade school, let alone college. It was in instances like this that I think pedagogy kept my head above the water as a beginning teacher. I knew how to differentiate and and deliver the content and I have done that really well. However, while I still have so much left to learn with both pedagogy and content, I feel there is a larger gap with the science. This may be a result of many things, from my background of science in grade school, to majoring in education instead of science, but it is very much a reality for me as a beginning teacher and I would have to say that at this point in time the pedagogy is more important than the content because it has led to so much of my success as a beginning teacher.

This is when I wonder if either pedagogy or content matter more or less at different points in a teacher’s career. I know a balance of both is ideal and necessary, but if every teacher had to pick a side I wonder how experience would influence the decisions. For me, I feel that pedagogy is most important because until I have gained adequate experience it is the thing that helps me make sure my students are getting the content. However, to a veteran teacher, I wonder if the content is the most important component because the pedagogy is ever-changing.

Kenan Fellows is an opportunity for teachers, beginning and veteran alike, to craft both their pedagogy and content. We have had the opportunity to delve into specific fields and work with professionals who have no dealings with how we teach the information we are gaining from them. When talking to my postdoc I told her that she was really good with the “what” and I am really good with the “how.” I think this is generally the case with most internships/fellows. We as teachers are great at navigating our curriculum and figuring out how to supplement it with our wonderful projects. With that, I think the varying aspect is how deep our content knowledge goes. Maybe this is what comes with experience in terms of the number of years you have taught or maybe it comes from experiences like Kenan Fellows.