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How to do a DIY subject knowledge audit
Confidence in the classroom grows when you feel confident in your subject knowledge. How can we assess our own knowledge and what can we do to improve it?
For any teacher, there will come a point in your career where you’ll be teaching something outside of your area of expertise.
It might be when the exam specifications change and add a new topic, or when you’re asked to teach a different key stage, or just an extra lesson outside your specialism is added to your timetable.
Walking into some classrooms as a non-specialist, or a teacher new to a topic, can be daunting: students will test your boundaries, probe for weaknesses.
Last year, I was asked to teach a period of history, and spent time devouring everything Tudors and Stuarts in preparation.
Fortunately, my DIY subject knowledge audit saved me: the class’ skepticism (“but… you’re an English teacher!”) diminished after five minutes or so when it became obvious to them that I knew my stuff and, by the end of the lesson, had disappeared completely.
Feeling secure in your subject knowledge means you stand a little taller, speak with a bit more authority, and have a better understanding of the learning journey you’re taking your students on.
So, how can teachers undertake their own subject knowledge audit? Here is a three step approach:
1. Break down the curriculum
The first step that a teacher of any subject or phase should take when undertaking their DIY subject knowledge is to go through their department’s schemes of learning, unit by unit and year group by year group, with a fine tooth comb and annotate them.
Break each unit down into its component parts rather than focusing on the subject generally. ‘Neoclassical poetry’ as an area for development is obviously far more targeted than ‘English literature’.
It’s by sifting through the minutiae of your subject that you’ll come across topics that you’re unfamiliar with. By addressing these topics first, you will rapidly increase your confidence before teaching the material.
2. Assess your knowledge
No teacher can be expected to know everything and, undoubtedly, gaps in your subject knowledge will appear.
Be honest with yourself. Which units are you familiar with? Which units are you almost certain you’ve never encountered before reading the documentation before you?
One of our most human frailties is to overestimate our own capabilities. Try to be aware of this as you undertake your DIY subject audit. Identify the strengths in your subject knowledge alongside recognising the gaps in your own learning.
Rather than lumping everything into two categories of “solid understanding” and “alarming gap in my knowledge’, have a more accurate scale (something like a 1-5 ranking system that you might give your students as a plenary task) to assess the security of your subject knowledge in each area.
3. Work on the gaps
There are no shortcuts at this point. You will need to spend an ample amount of time learning and mastering the material.
Once you are aware of what you don’t know, there are a multitude of ways to fill the gaps in your subject knowledge. Alongside the traditional route of textbooks and course guides, make use of the benefits of our digital age: there are a plethora of resources online, with many available for free.
A great way to test your mastery of the content is to answer the exam questions you will be setting your students. It goes without saying that if you can’t answer the questions or struggle to do so, then you’re not there yet.
Here are a few questions you might want to start with as you begin your research:
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Who are the most respected bloggers in my subject area?
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What pedagogical books do other teachers of my subject area recommend?
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Are there any podcasts that are beneficial for teachers of my subject area/phase?
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Are there any lecture series, educational websites or YouTube videos that cover the material I need to learn?
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Am I part of an online community of teachers of my subject area/phase?
Shivan Davis teaches English in an inner-city academy
