Shulman, Lee (1939–)

Lee Shulman is an educational psychologist, a teacher educator, and a reformer who has impacted the study of teaching and teacher education through his research and writings. He has held various roles and positions during his professional career. He holds the title of Professor Emeritus, the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education, from Stanford University, as well as Professor of Psychology Emeritus. While at Michigan State University, he held the position of Professor of Educational Psychology and Medical Education. He became the founder and codirector of the Institute for Research on Teaching (IRT), thus extending and codifying research on the study of teaching.

Shulman has served as president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the American Educational Research Association, and the National Academy of Education and has received numerous awards for his research and writings. The Carnegie Foundation is an independent policy and research center whose mission is to address the hardest problems faced in teaching at all levels and contexts: public schools, colleges, and universities. He received the Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award presented by the American Educational Research Association, and is also a recipient of the American Psychological Association's E. L. Thorndike Award for his many contributions to education. Lee Shulman received the Grawemeyer Award in 2006. This award is given to individuals in five different categories: music composition, education, ideas improving world order, religion, and psychology. Its purpose is to recognize individuals who demonstrate powerful ideas or creative works in the sciences, arts, and humanities. Shulman's research focused on what makes a good teacher, recognizing that an increase in knowledge among pre-service teachers is essential if teachers are to be prepared to make skills understandable to others. He also asserts that society is responsible for preparing and assessing the performance of teachers at all levels and for giving recognition as deserved.

Shulman's research and writing transcends professions exemplified by his work in the psychology of instruction in science, mathematics, and medicine, as well as his writings on signature pedagogies in the professions of law, medicine, engineering, and the clergy. His work transcends colleges through the study of teacher education and medical education; and transcends structures in both K–12 and higher education by focusing on quality instruction at all levels.

Shulman is credited with coining the phrase “pedagogical content knowledge” in relationship to the pre-service and in-service teachers' knowledge of their subject matter and the impact of strong content knowledge on successful teaching. From his research, a model of pedagogical reasoning was developed that details the cyclic nature of teaching and activities that engage the teacher in developing good teaching practice. This model purports that good teaching involves comprehension, understanding the purposes of the discipline and teaching; transformation, aligning content and pedagogy that meets the needs of the students; instruction, the act of teaching; evaluation, using tests and evaluation as an extension of teaching; reflection, critically analyzing one's teaching and making the [Page 825]necessary changes to become a better teacher; and new comprehension, understandings based on the above acts where the teacher gains new insights about the teaching process.

...