ABSTRACT
Professional noticing is a long-standing feature in New Zealand classrooms. It arguably stems from two intersecting traditions: an emphasis on teaching the individual child and the notion of teaching as enquiry into practice. As a community, teachers have to build a repertoire and a set of shared resources (Wenger, 1998) to negotiate meaning and enable professional noticing. Repertoires include tools and routines. The assertion here is that theoretically sound tools and the routines of practice that evolve around their use are ideal supports for teacher learning to inform professional noticing. To illustrate, the nature and use of tools available to NZ primary teachers are explored within the writing classroom. In writing, an example to support negotiation of meaning is a scoring rubric which directs attention to features of writing characterising progress or achievement at different points in development, whereas an associated routine is the processes followed by a group of teachers to moderate writing samples. In the teaching of writing, an example of a tool that supports understanding of concepts of effective practice and professional noticing is a research-informed classroom observation schedule and associated routines that include individual guided reflection or collegial discussion and feedback about practice from community members.
