Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Primary Education: A Systematic Review and Cross-Disciplinary Synthesis of Teacher Professional Knowledge

Pedagogical content knowledge is central to teacher professional knowledge, yet existing models and reviews provide limited insight into the generalist work of primary teachers. This systematic review examined how this construct in primary education has been conceptualised, investigated, developed, and evidenced in empirical and review-based research on primary education across curriculum domains, teacher populations, and educational contexts. Following PRISMA 2020, Web of Science and Scopus were searched in July 2024 for articles and reviews published between 1986 and 2024 in English, Spanish, German, Turkish, and Chinese. Eligible studies focused on primary or elementary pre-service and in-service teachers; secondary, early childhood, tertiary, TPACK-focused, and conceptually ambiguous studies were excluded. A total of 303 studies were coded by discipline, teacher stage, methodology, location, and conceptual focus, and synthesized through structured narratives and comparative matrices. Quality assurance involved staged screening, manual coding, and independent verification. Evidence was concentrated in science and mathematics, Global North contexts, and qualitative designs. Findings show that primary teachers’ professional knowledge is domain-sensitive and transversal: content knowledge is necessary but insufficient, assessment remains weak as an enacted dimension, and pedagogical reasoning develops through representations, formative interpretation, reflection, and situated practice. The review provides an international knowledge base for future models, instruments, teacher education, professional development, and policy.