In-the-moment dilemmas and situational awareness are central to teachers' work, but these concepts may not always find their way into teacher education - as they often get pushed aside in favour of curriculum coverage and compliance agendas.

This book challenges a technicist and mechanistic view of teaching and learning to examine how teacher educators might best prepare soon-to-be teachers to make sound professional judgements in their classroom practice. It discusses evidence in the literature that teaching does not directly 'produce' learning and that nurturing learning is a complex business which relies on both 'art and science'. Current policies and compliancy agendas influencing the content of ITE programmes are analysed, and the text provides practical suggestions for how to nurture professional judgement in trainee teachers through HE provision and school-based mentoring.

It describes the dynamism of those who teach in classrooms and reminds teacher educators of the value and necessity of managing structure and improvisation, protocol and intuition which are at the heart of what it means to be a professional.

A new addition to our Critical Guides for Teacher Educators series.