Unlocking the Potential of Innovations: How Resource Networks Support Teachers Transforming cPCK into pPCK

To implement innovations successfully, science teachers must enhance and refine their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). More specifically, they must transform collective PCK (cPCK) (i.e. what is known about the innovation) into personal PCK (pPCK) (i.e. their own understanding). In this paper, we combine the Refined Consensus Model (RCM) of PCK and the Network of Resources Model to investigate the mechanisms underlying the transformation of cPCK into pPCK. We adopted a qualitative case study approach to analyse how teachers accessed resources in the form of resource networks and how their prior pPCK influenced this process. We took field notes and conducted interviews with seven science teachers who implemented a digitally enhanced unit on the concept of energy. Through the combined model, we identified distinct patterns in teachers’ access to material and social resources and how these patterns shaped opportunities for transforming cPCK into pPCK. The study provides evidence that the combined model provides a lens for understanding and supporting PCK development during innovation uptake. In doing so, it highlights how resource networks can support teachers in meeting the instructional demands associated with integrating digital technologies in contemporary science education.