Developing Habits of Noticing in Literacy and Language Classrooms

This volume is solidly grounded in the observational protocols of Marie Clay and the kid-watching perspective championed by Yetta Goodman, epistemologically centered in social pragmatism of Dewey, and cognizant of Hillary Janks’ big P and little p politics of assessment in modern education systems. Editors Simpson, Pomerantz, Kaufman and Ellis have assembled a team of authors who are able to illustrate, with an uncanny mix of conceptual integrity and hands-on practicality, how both pre-service and practicing teachers can become apprentices in learning how to notice what, how, and why their students are learning. Most important, the purpose of the noticing is always fixed on pedagogy—creating exactly that set of learning practices that will allow each child in their classroom care to take that next step on their pathway to becoming a confident, collaborative, and critical user of oral and written language. Without naming it as such, they have given us a model of what formative assessment can do when it is done right! Kudos to all!

David Pearson, Evelyn Lois Corey Emeritus Professor of Instructional Science and Professor of the Graduate School, Graduate School of Education, University of California, United States

I really like this book. It picks up on the essence of professional teaching practice – the relational capacity to notice, and respond appropriately to, the needs of individual learners. Across a wide range of teaching contexts, this volume provides a comprehensive theoretical frame and practical guide to teacher educators and school leaders. What is unique is the consistency of focus on the relational dimensions of teaching – supporting teachers to attend to individual learners from a position of deep theoretical and practical knowledge so that, having taken notice, they can then take action, in the spirit of practitioner inquiry.

Jo-Anne Reid, Adjunct Professor of Education, Faculty of Arts and Education
Charles Sturt University, Australia

This edited volume is the first of its kind to explore research on teacher noticing in the context of literacy. The chapters not only bring to life teacher noticing in the practice of literacy and language instruction, they also extend the meaning of teacher noticing in ways that are both theoretically and practically important as they examine the relationship between teacher noticing, teacher agency and teacher identity. This book is a worthwhile read for those with interests in the concept of teacher noticing!

Miriam Gamoran Sherin, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, Alice Gabrielle Twight Professor of Learning Sciences, Northwestern University, United States