Professionally present – highlighting the temporal aspect of teachers’ professional judgment

Novice teachers need to develop their professional judgment. Teaching is performed in the face of imperfect, complex but above all continuously emergent situations. These matters have not received adequate attention in theories relating to professional judgment and professionality in teaching or in the contemporary discourse of education policy. The purpose of this conceptual article is therefore to contribute to the understanding of teachers’ judgment. By discussing empirical examples that indicate how sensing and knowing guide judgment, concepts are introduced that are intended to further the understanding of teachers’ professional judgment; something that will hopefully benefit teacher education as well as practicing teachers.