Closely Observed Pendulums: reflections on teacher professionalism

Abstract

The authors – one a specialist in mathematics teaching, the other in curriculum – offer reflections on school reform, teacher education and student engagement after observing a mathematics lesson given by a middle-school teacher who has recently completed an in-service master's degree course and is currently a candidate for a national teaching award in the USA. They argue that teacher professionalism directed towards understanding and commitment cannot be based on predetermined outcomes, nor on a separation between the elements of curriculum, instruction and assessment in pursuit of ‘best practice’. Continual reflection upon experience through in-service professional studies, linking theory with the art of the practical in a contextualised systems-based approach, is the vital element in school improvement.