This paper discusses competing norms for justifying teacher decisions, their effects on productivity and legitimacy in teaching, and the teaching profession as a moral and learning community. Drawing on philosophical analyses and studies of elementary and secondary schools, teacher preparation, staff development, and the adoption of innovations,…

Many aspects of teaching reveal it to be an activity imbued with uncertainty. Teachers are frequently unsure of their students' knowledge and understanding, of the effects of their instructional strategies, of the most appropriate content to cover in their limited time with students, and ultimately of their own intellectual and social authority.…

This paper aims to accomplish several purposes through conceptual analysis, story telling and interpretation, excursions into philosophy, and recent studies of teachers' professional development. First, the paper identifies limitations and confusions in current conceptions of teachers' professional thinking: equating teacher thinking with planning…

Teaching has a history in which women figure prominently. Driven by need and ambition, many women worked as schoolteachers in the nineteenth century, although not necessarily attracted by the work itself. This essay focuses on Charlotte Bronte, examining the constraints and values that account for her choice of teaching as a career. It is based on…

This paper, on the central and distinctive contribution of knowledge to teaching, combines philosophical analysis with a discussion of work in research on teaching, student conceptions, and curriculum. The hierarchical argument contains two main points: (1) that content knowledge is a logical precondition for the activities of teaching; and (2)…