Expanding on Prior Conceptualizations of Teacher Noticing

• In Event: Eye-Tracking Research on Teacher Noticing: Theoretical and Empirical Advances

Abstract

While recent research demonstrates that teacher noticing is a core construct of teaching, it also raises new questions about this construct. The goal of this paper is to present an expanded framework that addresses key questions about what it means to learn to notice. This paper draws heavily from van Es and Sherin’s (2002) Learning to notice framework, extending earlier definitions of each component, and introducing a new process involved in learning to notice.

Specifically, we claim that attending involves not only selecting particular features of instruction to observe, but also disregarding aspects of classroom interactions that are less consequential. In addition, we propose that a stance of inquiry about observed phenomena is central to interpreting observed phenomena. Finally, we extend the boundaries of teacher noticing to include the process of shaping, which we explain is the act of creating interactions that provide increased opportunities to attend to and interpret noteworthy mathematical interactions. In other words, teachers are not simply passive bystanders in the act of noticing, rather they shape interactions to gain access to additional information to allow for further observation and interpretation of student thinking.

Illustrative examples and summary data from video clubs in which teachers share and discuss excerpts of video from their math lessons with peers form the basis for the claims shared in the manuscript. In particular, data are revisited to highlight how the expanded framework offers new insights into the nature of teacher noticing. Implications for instruction are discussed, with close attention to how the role of shaping is manifested during interactions with students.

Authors

• Miriam G. Sherin, Northwestern University

• Elizabeth A. van Es, University of California - Irvine