Teaching as Academically Based Professional Practice

Abstract

This discussion presents an argument for developing teaching as a profession wherein practitioners have a shared academic knowledge base, practices, procedures, and protocols with an understanding of how and the conditions under which to apply specific approaches. In this conceptualization, teaching is viewed as an interpretive practice that relies on academic knowledge for practice generated through research on practice translated into procedures and protocols that have been tested and validated. Knowledge from practice is generated through systematic observation and documentation of students’ responses to learning experiences and the social context for learning. Teacher preparation includes the knowledge base for teaching and a separate knowledge base for learning to teach.