The Practice of Teaching

The account of teaching in the previous chapter is by no means a complete one. It ignores the empirical research on teaching, which comprises a massive literature; it ignores as well the practical experience gained by teachers. As a philosophical account it is incomplete; philosophers of education who have considered the activities of teaching have considered many more aspects of this concept than I have introduced. I hope, though, that what I have said is accurate and true as far as it goes; as limited as my story is, it does provide a basis for considering a theoretical account of the practice of teaching, which is my task in this chapter. To achieve this task, I will outline a conception of practice and use my account of teaching to show what important questions must be considered in the practice of teaching. I will then discuss the kinds of knowledge that we possess with respect to the practice of teaching. This knowledge will comprise, in a sense, the theory of teaching. The next issue I will tackle is the question of how this knowledge is utilized; this issue can be seen as the question, then, of how theory is translated into practice. Finally, I will conclude the chapter with some reflections on this general question of how the theory and practice of teaching are related. My concern in this chapter is to provide a way of understanding how teachers use their knowledge and beliefs in practice or, if you will, how they integrate theory into practice. What should be clear at this point is that unlike other positions considered earlier, I am placing the burden of discussion on the practice of teaching. Instead of identifying what a theory of education or teaching is and then moving to practice, I believe these issues are highlighted if we consider first the practice of teaching and then ask how theoretical knowledge is brought to bear on it.