ABSTRACT
The unchallenged wisdom of experience can frequently act as a professional and practical barrier to change. This unchallenged wisdom often provides a justification or excuse for maintaining and continuing the status quo. Accordingly it becomes a regressive rather than a progressive force in terms of teachers’ school and classroom practice. In this chapter we assert that, given the current economic, social and political conditions facing teachers engaged in primary schooling, it is imperative for them to reach behind that experience in order to develop a more profound understanding of the ‘everydayness’ and takenfor-granted aspects of their practice as it relates to teaching in primary school classrooms. We argue that by understanding the complexities of the taken-forgranted, teachers can position themselves individually and collectively within their schools to be even more responsive to the increasing challenges and demands that are being placed on them virtually on a daily basis.
