Reconceptualizing framing theory for adaptive teaching expertise: the role of strategic and expansive framing

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Teachers are increasingly called to enact student-centered instructional approaches that promote a socially and intellectually ambitious vision of classroom teaching. Such approaches require adaptive expertise to effectively elicit and respond to students’ developing thinking amidst a constantly evolving and multifaceted classroom environment. However, the field’s understanding of the cognitive learning mechanisms that support developing adaptive teaching expertise and how to cultivate them in professional learning contexts is still underdeveloped. In this article, we integrate key cognitive and situated learning perspectives, with a particular focus on characterizing in detail the kinds of learning interactions that support teachers’ adaptive problem solving and knowledge transfer. Our primary contribution is to offer a revised theory of frames and framing for developing adaptive teaching expertise, situated in the context of expert-guided teacher reflection. Specifically, we describe key components of a teaching frame (teaching schema and teaching principle) and argue that two framing dimensions (strategic and expansive) are especially consequential for facilitating learning interactions that support developing adaptive teaching expertise. Our core argument is that frames and framing are central for understanding teacher learning and cognition, and that extending this literature into teacher learning research holds promise for advancing more robust teacher professional development.