Investigating the Link Between Professional Vision and Professional Action in Technology Education

Abstract

Effective teaching requires the ability to swiftly and accurately interpret classroom situations - a skill known as professional vision (PV). PV is considered crucial for teaching quality. This article introduces two research instruments that have been developed to evaluate professional teaching practices and PV among technology and design teachers. The first instrument analyses teachers’ classroom videos using a structured observation manual focusing on cognitive activation and constructive support (N = 9). The second instrument assesses PV through instructional video vignettes depicting classroom situations that highlight pupils’ conceptions. Teachers respond to these vignettes by describing, evaluating, and proposing alternative instructional actions (N = 121).

Together, the instruments provide complementary perspectives on professional competence by linking teachers’ interpretive processes with their enacted classroom practices. This combined approach allows an examination of how teachers perceive, interpret, and respond to pupils’ conceptions in instructional situations and provides a basis for investigating professionalisation pathways, particularly across different entry routes into the teaching profession.