Recalibrating teacher judgement through recurring classroom tensions: a longitudinal case study

Teacher professional development is often described in terms of changes in knowledge, competencies or instructional practice, offering less insight into how professional judgement develops through continuing classroom experience. This longitudinal qualitative case study examines one Japanese elementary teacher’s judgement across an academic year. Drawing primarily on 40 hours of video-recorded literacy lessons, the analysis examined seven focal episodes across four phases, together with a June counter-case. The findings show that professional learning unfolded through the recursive recalibration of situated judgement as recurring tensions changed with classroom conditions. The teacher’s professional vision remained relatively stable but non-static, while his interpretations of situations, prioritisation of educational purposes and thresholds for intervention became increasingly differentiated. Earlier judgements also reshaped the conditions under which later tensions emerged, making development historically layered rather than mechanically sequential. The study argues that competencies and techniques remain necessary resources but cannot alone explain professional learning, because their educationally responsible use depends on situated judgement. Professional development should therefore support inquiry into how teachers interpret recurring tensions, not only the acquisition of effective practices. Longitudinal analysis can reveal forms of reinterpretation and recalibration that shorter-term accounts of professional development may overlook.