ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ideas of becoming a professional, developing their identity as a teacher and developing teacher professional judgement. It discusses core ideas about how teachers learn, in relation to their development as a professional. The entrance requirements for professions also play an important social and gate-keeping role that helps generate professional identity. Each profession comes with a set of assumptions about the nature of the work and the responsibilities and activities of a professional. During the course of teachers initial teacher education, they receive a considerable amount of advice, observe many experienced teachers, become familiar with ‘requirements’ of the role and develop their teaching. Professional learning tools are complex and underpinned by extensive research and theory but are also implicit throughout discussions of all aspects of becoming a teacher. These professional learning tools include: critical reflection on teachers' actions and behaviours as a teacher; and enquiry into their own practice and its effects on their pupils.
