Introduction

This chapter introduces the overarching principles that inform this book. It positions the concept of 'noticing' in literacy teacher education as simultaneously personal, professional and political, highlighting that active 'noticing' is central both to teachers' identities and to the practice of dynamic, adaptive teaching. The authors note that the concept of teacher noticing emphasises teaching as intellectual work. It is important to understand how such work is shaped by professional knowledge, the professional tools and resources available and by the nature of the organisational, cultural and ideological structures in the communities of practice that shape the work of teachers. Research on literacy teacher noticing has the potential to do more than simply reflect existing arrangements because it reframes teacher knowledge in ways that can gain positive professional and political traction: It offers grounded, data-rich methodologies that allow teachers and teacher educators to collaborate and broker new, culturally responsive understandings of teaching and learning. It also generates expertise that focuses explicitly on how teacher action, knowledge and agency can act in concert, rather than individually, to address educational equity. We argue ‘noticing’ research is thus important to literacy and literacy educators but also to policy makers, students and wider society.