Connecting Perspectives on Teacher Development

Abstract

The author addresses the question, “How do teachers grow more accomplished as professionals?” A review of perspectives on teacher learning describes professional growth as a complex process that often proceeds in a progression “outward” (from self to tasks to students) and, at the same time, can progress “inward” (from concerns about capacity to manage classrooms to broader concerns about capacity to grow as a teachers). Research on accomplished teaching emphasizes complexity and variability, with identity and agency as essential factors in trajectories toward expertise. The author's own case studies with successful teachers demonstrate ways teachers enhance their professional identity and strengthen their sense of agency in the flow of classroom events and through thoughtful reflection. Based on these studies and the construct of pedagogically productive talk, he concludes that leaders can nurture professional development by providing time for teachers to talk about their work and support for collaboration.