The Work of Teaching and the Challenge for Teacher Education
Abstract
In this article, the authors argue for making practice the core of teachers’ professional preparation. They set the argument for teaching practice against the contemporary backdrop of a teacher education curriculum that is often centered not on the tasks and activities of teaching but on beliefs and knowledge, on orientations and commitments, and a policy environment preoccupied with recruitment and retention. The authors caution that the bias against detailed professional training that often pervades common views of teaching as idiosyncratic and independently creative impedes the improvement of teachers’ preparation for the work of teaching. They offer examples of what might be involved in teaching practice and conclude with a discussion of challenges of and resources for the enterprise.
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Developing capacity for pedagogic reasoning requires that future teachers come to understand that teachers' decisions about what to do are not appropriately rooted in personal preferences or experiences but are instead based on professionally justified knowledge and on the moral imperatives of the role.
“In contrast to the two approaches described above, developing capacity for pedagogic reasoning requires that future teachers come to understand that teachers' “decisions about what to do are not appropriately rooted in personal preferences or experiences but are instead based on professionally justified knowledge and on the moral imperatives of the role” (Ball & Forzani, 2009, p. 500).”
From Conceptualising work-integrated learning to support pre-service teachers' pedagogic reasoning (2021) · cites this paper as Ball & Forzani, 2009
Cites
Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform
Shulman, L. (1987) · Harvard Educational Review · doi:10.17763/haer.57.1.j463w79r56455411 · Cited by 16,787 · see citing works
Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement
Rivkin, S. G., Hanushek, E. A., & Kain, J. F. (2005) · Econometrica · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0262.2005.00584.x · Cited by 4,501 · see citing works
Effects of Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching on Student Achievement
Hill, H. C., Rowan, B., & Ball, D. L. (2005) · American Educational Research Journal · doi:10.3102/00028312042002371 · Cited by 2,812 · see citing works
Self-citationBack to the Future: Directions for Research in Teaching and Teacher Education
Grossman, P., & McDonald, M. (2008) · American Educational Research Journal · doi:10.3102/0002831207312906 · Cited by 1,164 · cited 4× · see citing works
“None-theless, they still do offer helpful illustrations, even if too simplified, of what it might look like to develop teacher education around approximations of teaching practice (Grossman & McDonald, 2008).”
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Zeichner, K. (2010) · Journal of Teacher Education · doi:10.1177/0022487109347671 · Cited by 2,615 · see citing works
Developing an AI-based chatbot for practicing responsive teaching in mathematics
Lee, D., & Yeo, S. (2022) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104646 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Tutor CoPilot: A Human-AI Approach for Scaling Real-Time Expertise
Wang, R., Ribeiro, A., Robinson, C., Loeb, S., & Demszky, D. (2024) · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-5363154/v1 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Jackson, A., & Burch, J. (2016) · Professional Development in Education · doi:10.1080/19415257.2015.1052090 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Conceptualising work-integrated learning to support pre-service teachers' pedagogic reasoning
RusznyakI, L., & Bertram, C. (2021) · Journal of Education · doi:10.17159/2520-9868/i83a02 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
“…requires that future teachers come to understand that teachers’ “decisions about what to do are not appropriately rooted in personal preferences or experiences but are instead based on professionally justified knowledge and on the moral imperatives of the role” (Ball & Forzani, 2009, p. 500).”
BackgroundKlette, K., Hammerness, K., & Jenset, I. S. (2017) · Acta Didactica Norge · doi:10.5617/adno.4730 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Mikeska, J. N., Francis, D. C., Lottero-Perdue, P. S., Park Rogers, M., Shekell, C., Bharaj, P. K., Howell, H., Maltese, A., Thompson, M., & Reich, J. (2025) · Teaching and Teacher Education · doi:10.1016/j.tate.2024.104858 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Tutor CoPilot: A Human-AI Approach for Scaling Real-Time Expertise
Wang, R. E., Ribeiro, A. T., Robinson, C. D., Loeb, S., & Demszky, D. (2024) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2410.03017 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“This approach allowed us to assess whether more or less effective tutors benefit differently from using Tutor CoPilot in terms of improving student performance.”
- Authors
- Loewenberg Ball, D., & Forzani, F. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI,
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Forzani, Francesca M.
- Venue
- Journal of Teacher Education
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-11
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 497-511
- ISSN
- 0022-4871 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7816
- OpenAlex
- W2157762133
- Cited by
- 1,675
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 70 · 2025: 89 · 2024: 117 · 2023: 102 · 2022: 105 · 2021: 130 · 2020: 146 · 2019: 159 · 2018: 140 · 2017: 145 · 2016: 125 · 2015: 103 · 2014: 88 · 2013: 53 · 2012: 56
- FWCI
- 145.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Teacher Education (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Assessments
- Social Sciences › Education › Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques
- Keywords
- teaching practice, teacher education curriculum, teacher professional development, teaching as practice, teacher recruitment and retention
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