Abstract
This paper presents a critique of the common view of psychological studies in education. These studies generally focus exclusively on teaching method, but fail to examine the influence of the content or quality of knowledge on teaching and learning processes in the classroom. We argue not only for the importance of the interaction between methods and contents, but rather insist that the quality of the content knowledge teachers understand be taken into account in the study of teaching and learning processes. Further, the bottom-up approach to classroom practices, in which a particular lesson of a particular content taught by a particular teacher is examined, is necessary for such studies. These studies, although focused on a particular content, will then produce fresh and generalizable insights in teaching and learning processes.
