Schools are now situated within a dominant public policy regime that is demanding compliance and standardisation, at a time when the achievement of success for all students demands a capacity at the school level to design and deliver an approach that embeds "an ongoing process of professional learning for teachers" (Caldwell, 2014, p. 4). Such professional learning must provide opportunities for teachers to reflect on their own assumptions and beliefs, to test their assumptions and adapt and reshape strategies in light of their analyses in the context of a collective profession. The development of teacher capability matrices at a primary school in New Zealand appears to be a unique and authentic expression of dialogue between teachers about how teachers can seriously engage in their own learning and be accountable for continuously improving their instructional practice through integrating what they have learned into their classroom practice. The matrices support dialogue about teaching and learning through making knowledge and thought "more explicit", providing a platform for regular reflection, observation and feedback among and between beginning and experienced teachers. In cultivating such dialogue, teachers learn to conceive of, to speak in, and to assess their work, in terms of agreed 'standards'.