Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a frequently used concept in the educational community. Its usage is so widespread it appears to function as a “lingua franca” across different subject areas and among researchers within a subject area. Critiques of PCK have suggested it may function at best as a heuristic and at worst as a masquerade; because there has been little consensus on its conceptualization and in many studies there is no operational definition of PCK provided. Recent studies, however, have moved both the conceptualization and measurement of PCK forward in ways that allow the concept to be operationalized. In this article we examine how PCK has evolved since Shulman’s (1986) initial conceptualization, and discuss how the concept has been used in physical education. We describe and examine five recurring research findings for PCK in physical education. These are that PCK can be described on continuums of maturity and effectiveness; is learned, is specific to content and context; and is strongly related to both content knowledge and knowledge of students.

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Researchers, textbooks authors, and educational policy makers recommend peer tutoring as an inclusion strategy for students with autism. However, there is little, if any, research supporting these recommendations in physical education. We assessed the effects of classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) in teaching catching skills to two typically developing peers and two children diagnosed with autism in kindergarten. A single subject withdrawal design assessed the effects of CWPT on total catches and correct catches. Results show that CWPT improved total and correct catches for the two students with autism. The results for the typically developing peers were mixed. These findings, while requiring further research, provide initial evidence to support CWPT as an inclusion strategy for children with autism in physical education.

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Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is the teacher's ability to pedagogically adapt content to students of diverse abilities. In this study, we investigated how teachers' adaptations of instruction for individual students differed when teaching stronger and weaker instructional units. We used functional analysis (Hanley, Iwata, & McCord, 2003) of the instructional interaction to examine PCK. We observed and measured student-teacher interactions and their appropriateness. Participants were 2 experienced elementary physical educators who taught stronger and weaker units. Primarily, the appropriateness data indicated PCK differences between the stronger and weaker units. Results show that functional analysis of instructional adaptations is an effective strategy for examining PCK and that teachers were better able to meet students' needs in the stronger unit.