Pedagogical content knowledge in natural sciences textbooks when teaching electric circuits to Grade 9 learners

This study investigated pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) revealed in natural sciences textbooks and its impact on teachers' enacted PCK when teaching electric circuits to Grade Nine learners. Data was collected from three textbooks commonly used at Sekhukhune East and from teachers teaching Grade 9 natural sciences. For textbooks, only pages that present the topic of electric circuits were sampled. Regarding teachers' data, classroom observations and interviews were used to reveal that teachers enacted pedagogical content knowledge. The observations and interviews were then transcribed for data analysis. The refined consensus model (RCM) of PCK was used as a conceptual framework to investigate collective PCK in textbooks and teachers' enacted PCK. PCK was conceptualised using the components of knowledge related to: i) curricular saliency; ii) learners' understanding of science; and iii) conceptual teaching strategies including representations. Guided by the RCM and using PCK components, two rubrics were developed with a four-point scale to analyse the quality of textbooks and teachers' enacted PCK, respectively.