Teacher professional judgement in teaching and learning decisions

Abstract

In June 2005, Sophie Palavestra, a Year 12 student opened the National Forum, Engaging young Australians with Asia, with a view of her future: Most of all, I want to be wise over what to believe about me and my world. I want to know what the wisest people on earth believe. I want to know how to be a success with my life. My school-teachers are very important to me because they tell me how to deal with the future. She then went on to ask: Do you know what to teach me? Do you know what I need to learn? Are you confident that you can design a curriculum which will equip me to live in my world? My name is Sophie. And I am a student in one of your classrooms today. Globalisation, advances in technology, and the rise of the knowledge economy are part of the contemporary world. Schools, and more particularly teachers are not only a part of this transformation-they also contribute to the changes through the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that they agree are important and nurture in their students. At a Federal level there has been an increased appetite for greater consistency across the education sector, notably in teacher standards, assessment, and reporting of student achievement, common school starting age, and debate around a national curriculum consistency. In this continually changing environment, educational policymakers need to ensure that they are not drawn from, or lose sight of the most important relationship in education. The classroom teacher remains at the core of education, there is no substitute for the relationship underpinned by authority and developed through dialogue (Delors, 1996). Teacher's professional judgements in relation to curriculum, how to teach it and how to assess it are central to the learning experience of every "Sophie" in every classroom. The future challenge is to ensure that any global or Federal agenda recognises that students and teachers are at the heart of education and to be successful they must recognise and utilise the expertise of the profession. In crafting initiatives aimed at improving educational outcomes, it is critical that teachers are empowered to the information and support that empowers teachers to confidently exercise their professional judgement in all teaching and learning decisions. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.