Professional Noticing into Practice: An Examination of Inservice Teachers’ Conceptions and Enactment

Teacher noticing and the related construct of professional noticing of children's mathematical thinking have proven to be fertile ground for education researchers. Professional noticing is a framework for a teaching practice consisting of three component parts: attending, interpreting, and deciding. The current study investigates the conceptions and enactment of professional noticing of 24 elementary and middle grades teachers participating in professional learning programs that incorporated professional noticing. These teachers demonstrated a wide range of interpretations of professional noticing which varied in consistency with respect to the literature in this area. This diversity of conceptions is seen as a consequence of teachers having different definitions and scopes of application for professional noticing. This study adds to current discussions about the meaning and role of professional noticing by considering the perspective of practitioners, a group whose input is often secondary to education researchers but whose conceptions and enactment of such noticing is critical for student success.