Implicit Knowledge – a New Phenomenon in Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper draws attention to the significance of implicit pedagogical knowledge in the educational process of future teaching staff . Implicit pedagogical knowledge is here understood to be the “hidden” knowledge of students of teaching, which originates on the basis of their prior experience, is derived from a student’s implicit theories of learning and teaching, is interlinked with their explicit knowledge – and which influences the behaviour of the student in a pedagogical situation. In the process of creating and developing implicit pedagogical knowledge, the author considers the following to be key elements: self-reflection and the publicising and sharing of pedagogical experience. He indicates that it is absolutely essential that the traditional understanding (such as has been handed down to-date in the literature) be enriched by a new dimension – and especially by the dimension of one’s personality. He offers a newly-coined term “pedagogical condition”, which is understood to describe the ability and flexibility of a student to behave proactively under a variety of pedagogical situations.