How can teacher educators cultivate teachers’ expertise and professional judgement?
Written by: Steve Farndon and Nick Pointer
8 min read
STEVE FARNDON AND NICK POINTER, AMBITION INSTITUTE, UK
Teacher educators (those leading the professional learning of new and existing teachers) face a number of challenging decisions. What theories and techniques should we share with teachers? How should we teach these? How should our sessions be tailored for different staff? Without a clear guide, these decisions can feel arbitrary.
As teachers, when we plan a curriculum for students, it is useful to start with the question ‘What does it mean to get better at this subject?’. This helps us to decide what content to emphasise, the level of detail to go into and how students might apply their knowledge and skills.
The same applies to teacher education. Only when we’ve answered the question ‘What does it mean to get better at teaching?’ can we make informed decisions about how to plan teacher professional development.
This article will argue that the goal of professional development (PD) should be the growth of teache
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