Teachers’ Curricular Knowledge in Teacher Education Programs: A Case of Iran’s Sociocultural Context

Teacher education programs can pursue the aim of helping teachers acquire the knowledge base for effective teaching. However, the representation of curricular knowledge, one of the important dimensions of the teacher knowledge base, varies across educational and sociocultural contexts. As this knowledge has rarely been explored in the context of Iran, the current study sought to analyze the contents of teacher education programs to identify the representation of curricular knowledge. For this aim, the programs of 15 English language institutes were analyzed using a checklist developed based on Roberts’ (1998) model. Totally, 12 general categories, including 59 components, were found in pre-service programs; however, only 4 categories and 12 components were related to curricular knowledge, namely Methodology and instruction, Planning lessons, Materials, and Assessment. Regarding in-service programs, it was found that curricular knowledge was embodied only in two programs. The findings can provide insights to teacher educations for designing more effective teacher education programs that enhance teachers’ curricular knowledge.