In this chapter you will be introduced to some of the literature, research and practices that will help you learn about and reflect on teaching and the teaching profession in the twenty-first century. You will also be introduced to relevant information about Australia’s school communities and school structures so that you can best understand the complex and diverse nature of the work involved in teaching students across the full learning spectrum from early years to senior secondary.

One of our goals in this opening chapter, and throughout the entire book, is to challenge your thinking about the range of issues involved in learning to teach in the twenty-first century. Therefore, we invite you to engage with and question the concepts and ideas presented in the coming pages, rather than accept them at face value. In many cases, we will prompt you to do so, particularly by examining key issues through social and ideological lenses. Adopting a critical inquiry stance is crucial in learning to become a teacher – it will help you to discover what it is that really matters in teaching in the twenty-first century.

Teachers work across a diverse range of learning environments in an array of different contexts, sectors and settings. The first section of this chapter explores this theme, and provides insight into how classroom management practices are historically, socially and culturally contextualised.

In the second section of the chapter, we introduce some of the theoretical principles and practical issues associated with establishing and maintaining positive, supportive, safe and inclusive learning environments that encourage all students to participate fully in educational opportunities.

Managing the classroom environment, particularly in relation to addressing diverse student behaviours, has been shown to be an area of major concern – often the greatest concern – for many preservice and beginning teachers (Mayer et al., 2015), and this has been the case for many years (see, for example, Veenman, 1984). Managing the classroom for diverse learners is the focus of the third section of this chapter.

In the fourth section, you will gain insight into classroom management frameworks and plans.

The importance of effective communication between the adults in the lives of children has gained prominence in theory, policy and practice, and throughout the different contexts in which children participate. In educational contexts throughout the world, it has been well established that the best outcomes occur for children when the adults in their lives come together to support them.

In this chapter, the concept of communication is explored in relation to the educational context. Initially, the dearth of knowledge in the field of communication is drawn upon to introduce some of the theoretical insights into education-based communication, including some of the facilitators and barriers that might be encountered by teachers when working with children, colleagues and parents/caregivers. Different models of communication are then presented, and some practical strategies for communicating with staff, children and parents/caregivers are outlined and discussed. The chapter concludes by discussing the role of professional reflection in developing and refining education-based communication skills.

Planning for learning is essential for creating environments conducive to learning and to developing student understandings. Standard 3 of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2017) specifies the need for all graduate teachers to be able to ‘plan for and implement effective teaching and learning’. Quality planning involves the systematic use of feedback data to design activities that encourage the assimilation and synthesis of information, leading to the creation of new understandings.

Good planning begins with the end in mind and incorporates multifaceted and interdependent elements that demand constant monitoring and adjustments by teachers in response to their ongoing assessment and evaluation as plans are enacted (Cornish & Garner, 2009). Planning, implementing, monitoring and adjusting are part of an ongoing recursive process.

In this chapter, we look at the planning process in relation to all these elements, including: big picture planning, classroom-level planning, learning adjustments to cater for students’ learning needs.

Schools are shaped by political and social contexts that enable and constrain teachers’ work. Consequently, teachers are under increasing scrutiny from the community and the profession. The scrutiny of the teaching profession is often justified because of the moral value of teachers’ work, especially with young people who are considered a ‘vulnerable’ part of the population. Teachers have responsibility for facilitating the cognitive, social, emotional and civic development of children and adolescents, which is often viewed as a moral practice. They are required to demonstrate professional competence and behaviour that sometimes exceeds standards expected of the rest of the community. The expected standards of behaviour and values are described in codes of conduct and codes of professional ethics, which are enforced through registration processes and legislative frameworks. As practitioners in this regulated environment, teachers need extensive knowledge of the codes, regulations and legislative frameworks that inform their work (ranging from copyright law through to common law interpretations of duty of care and negligence).

No two teachers go about teaching in the same way, which is to say that each teacher’s way of teaching is unique. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) require that teachers not only know the content and how to teach it, but also know their students and how they learn. This chapter introduces the concept of pedagogy and the centrality of relationships between teacher, student and content, as a defining feature of one’s pedagogy. Pedagogy is the most outward expression of how a teacher considers that teaching and learning best take place. Teachers should always base their decisions on ‘how’ to teach on their understanding of how their students learn best. This will involve considerations such as their stage of development (physical, cognitive and social) as well as their individual interests and preferred ways of learning. A number of different pedagogical frameworks are explored in the chapter, which concludes with a discussion of some of the key elements of exemplary teaching and how these are embedded in pedagogy. As you read this chapter it will be important to reflect upon the age of the students and the subjects that you will be teaching.