Conceptualising pedagogical content knowledge for writing through the lens of curriculum statements: A comparative case study

Abstract This study explores the knowledge required for teaching writing by considering how writing and learning to write are conceptualised in Norway's and Aotearoa New Zealand's curricula. Using Shulman's concept of Pedagogical Content Knowledge as a lens, it examines the explicit and implicit knowledge requirements of the curricula that have implications for teachers' interpretation and implementation work. While previous research focused on the craft of writing, this study adopts a broader perspective, encompassing competencies, context and society. The findings reveal three main categories of knowledge—about (1) language and texts as objects or resources for meaning making, (2) how to act and interact with these resources and (3) purposes of writing at individual and societal levels. The study uses the metaphor of ‘multifocal lenses’ to illustrate teachers' need to operate across multiple planes of focus, from linguistic resources and various subject matters to the roles of writing within the societies' collective cultures and histories. Additionally, despite shifting emphases in curriculum statements, the study highlights the potential of curriculum analysis to be a methodological window into a more general phenomenon, in this case the pedagogical content knowledge for writing .