Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge Within Gifted and Talented Education in the Context of Inquiry-Based Instruction

Inquiry-based instruction is an effective instructional approach, generally in education and notably in gifted, creative, and talented education (GCT). The knowledge and skills teachers require to effectively facilitate learning are captured in the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). However, PCK has mostly focused on its core types of equally important and interacting teacher knowledge: content, pedagogy, and students. This paper extends the consideration of PCK to three interconnected parts of instruction—planning, teaching enactment, and assessment—through a historical overview of how additional elements were added to the founding elements of PCK, the ways an inquiry-based approach adds to each in terms of expanded opportunities, and challenges that can facilitate talent development and the development of learners’ expertise. A three-by-three grid summarizes this inquiry-based perspective of PCK focused on GCT teachers.