S6 E5 - How to Reclaim Your Professional Judgement

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Welcome, welcome to this episode of the Structured Literacy podcast, recorded here in Tasmania, the home of the Palawa people. I'm Jocelyn, and today we're diving into a topic that's both necessary and a little bit delicate - how to reclaim your professional judgement.

Now, before we go any further, let me be crystal clear about what this episode is NOT about. I'm not suggesting that you should ignore your school's approach, go rogue with your instruction, or replace evidence-informed practice with personal preference. That would be irresponsible and unhelpful to everybody, including your students. What I am talking about is finding that critical balance between acknowledging and trusting your own knowledge and skills while remaining open to the fact that there's still so much to learn.

The reality is that professional judgement isn't something you either have or you don't. It's something that develops over time, and understanding where you sit in that development journey is crucial for both your effectiveness as an educator and your confidence in the classroom.

Know Your Stuff

The foundation of professional judgement is deep, defensible knowledge. You can trust your knowledge when you can back up your assertions with deeper explanations of the 'why' that link to established theory and research.

Now, I'm not saying you need to be able to cite research papers chapter and verse. What I mean is that you need to understand the underlying principles and be able to explain them. You need to know things like why it's important that retrieval and practice isn't too easy, and that's because if students aren't having to work to recall information, they're not strengthening those neural pathways. You need to understand why computer training programs don't improve working memory, and that's because working memory is not a general capacity that can be trained like a muscle.

Effective literacy instruction is built on understanding how learning actually works. When you understand the cognitive science behind reading development (why we need systematic phonics instruction, how orthographic mapping occurs, why decodable texts support early readers) you're not just following a program, you're making informed decisions based on evidence.

And this kind of knowledge takes time and experience to develop. It's not about memorising facts; it's about building interconnected understanding that allows you to see patterns, make connections, and adapt your teaching responsively.

Ask and Answer Questions

When you encounter a problem of practice, your first question really should be: "What does established research have to say on this matter?" This isn't about replacing your thinking with someone else's, it's about informing your thinking with the best available evidence.

But the reality is that we don't have established research about every single thing we do in the classroom to back us up in every decision we make. And, for sure, research can tell us a lot, but it can't tell us everything about every specific context. And this is where professional judgement comes in. What do you know that sits adjacent to this problem that can help you? What principles can you apply? What have you learned from experience that might guide you?

And don't be afraid to reach out to people who have more experience than you. But, and this is really important, seek out people who can demonstrate what they know, that they know how to get results. Many people claim expertise, but not everyone has the evidence to back up that claim. Look for practitioners who have runs on the board, who can explain not just what they do but why they do it, and who can show you the outcomes of their work.

There's generally a school of thought that says it takes at least five years of experience to build expertise. So maybe that's a minimum five years at doing the work to be able to say, "well, do you know what? I have enough experience in different contexts," and that's the thing as well, it's not just five years in one grade in one school. So look for people with broad experience who've been able to demonstrate impact across different contexts. The other thing you can do is have unshakeable evidence.

Have Unshakeable Evidence

Data is your best friend when you want to claim professional judgement. The difference between someone claiming to have expertise and someone actually having it is that one has runs on the board, over time, across contexts, and the other one doesn't.

This means being systematic about collecting evidence of your impact. Student reading assessments, writing samples, engagement data, parent feedback - all of these contribute to building a case for your professional judgement. They also help you to build your professional profile, such as through HALT processes, which is our highly accomplished and lead teacher certification.

When you can say, "In my experience, approach X works because I've seen it succeed with students A, B, and C, in these particular contexts, and here's the data to prove it," you're speaking from a position of genuine expertise.

This isn't about arrogance or claiming you're always right. It's about being able to demonstrate the effectiveness of your practice with concrete evidence rather than just good intentions or personal beliefs.

Question Your Own Assumptions

And here's something that might surprise you: the strongest professional judgement comes from those who are constantly questioning their own assumptions. Don't take your established understandings as gospel; we all have more to learn.

Asking yourself the question, "Do I really understand this or am I making assumptions?" is incredibly powerful. I've done this so many times over the years and, yes, it has led me down a rabbit hole, but I've come out the other side of the rabbit hole a much more knowledgeable teacher and leader. When you have an insatiable appetite to understand why things work, and you're prepared to challenge your own assumptions, you become really attuned to surface-level discussions and can spot weak reasoning at a hundred paces. You also become a much more reflective, effective practitioner.

This process of questioning your assumptions isn't comfortable, but it is essential. It's what separates genuine expertise from overconfidence. And it's what keeps you growing as an educator rather than becoming stagnant in your practice.

Recognise Your Strengths

In all of this questioning, though, don't sell yourself short. It's about balance here, and yes, I'm going to use the word balance. Be proud of your achievements and back yourself. Accept that you will always have more to learn, but don't defer to others automatically. Particularly don't defer to others who don't have your knowledge just because that little voice - who you know I like to call Mildred - comes for a visit and tells you that you aren't clever enough.

If you have expertise in an area, know how to get results, and have the evidence of success to share, then you CAN say, "In my professional opinion, THIS can get us to a great outcome. It aligns with researching THIS way. THESE are the indicators of success we can expect."

This isn't about being arrogant or dismissive of others. It's about recognising the value of your knowledge and experience while remaining open to learning and growth.

Be Humble and Generous

And even as we honour our strengths, we have to remember to be humble. None of this can be done on our own. It takes a village to get every child reading and writing with confidence. So don't shy away from vulnerability (yours or others), listen as much as you speak, avoid giving unsolicited advice, and recognise your own limitations.

However, I want to share a caution here. Listening as much as you speak isn't about taking everything that everyone says at face value. Listening is about better understanding those around us and the context in which they're operating. Yes, listening is about learning and building your own knowledge, but it can also be about identifying misconceptions and points of challenge that others may have so you can help them. Listening is about connection, not about replacing your own judgement with another person's.

One of the hardest things to navigate when we're learning something new is the difference between this practice isn't working and I'm not skilled enough to make it work yet. And, let's be honest, it is a natural part of human development to blame the tools when we're not getting the outcomes we want.

In my Responsive Leadership Model, this challenge most often occurs in phase two - achieving. In this phase, you can get results in a specific set of circumstances, but when the context starts to stretch outside those circumstances, things can go awry. Those feelings of excitement and confidence you had when all was going well can evaporate in an instant.

I've recently taken up piano again after many years of not playing. And when I reach a difficult point, it's so easy to say that Beethoven was out of his mind thinking that I could reach keys that far apart or play those notes at a particular speed. But of course, Beethoven's not the problem, there's nothing wrong with the music. It's ME who needs to develop. The answer isn't to throw the music out and learn a different piece, although that has been tempting. The answer is really to break things down into small chunks and get the help I need to do what I need to do, and it's no different in our teaching.

Understanding Your Developmental Phase

Finally, and this is crucial, accept that there will be a point in your own development where you can't rely solely on your own judgement because you don't have enough knowledge, skills, and experience to do so.

In the Responsive Leadership Model I mentioned just before, phases one and two are the learning phases. Phases three and four are the knowing phases where you can rely on your own judgement because you do actually have sufficient knowledge, experience, and skills to do so.

The reality is that not every person on a team should have the same expectations about how much of their judgement they can use to make decisions for instruction. And I'm going to say that again because I think it might have caught a few people by surprise. What I said was, not everyone on the team should have the same expectations about how much of their judgement they can use to make decisions about instruction.

In other professions, this is widely accepted and practised. A first-year surgical resident doesn't have the same decision-making responsibilities as a senior specialist, and an experienced doctor will supervise their work for a period of time. In education, anyone with a degree is told, by some,  that they should have the same decision-making capacity as an experienced, instructional or school leader.

And this system sets teachers up to fail and creates tense, tricky situations that aren’t fair on anyone, least of all our students. It puts teachers in the position where, right at the exact point that they need the most guidance and coaching - the exact point when cognitive biases like the Dunning-Kruger effect enter the picture, where we're most likely to claim expertise when we have the least knowledge - we just hand them the whole job and throw them in the deep end. Now this applies to graduate teachers and early career teachers. It also applies to teachers with years of practice under their belt who are learning new techniques and strategies.

Now don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that less experienced people shouldn't have a voice or make any decisions. But the Year 1 team (and this isn't just about Year 1 teachers, but I'm using this as an example), the Year 1 team who have some knowledge about structured literacy but not enough to make nuanced decisions for the big picture long-term strategy of the school, can't say, "Well in our professional judgement, we believe that XYZ program is best and we'll be doing it differently from everyone else."

The key here is to make sure that everyone understands what the development journey looks like as we learn and are open to the deep work and the boundaries that are needed to truly grow in our understanding of the craft and science of teaching. When this happens, development is done WITH people as active participants in their own professional development, not TO people where they tick boxes or complete modules and then go back to the classroom with exactly the same knowledge and skills they had before. And leaders? Leaders have to lead. They have to set the boundaries, treat people with respect, continue to build their own teaching capacity as new techniques emerge, and set the example for the rest of the team about managing vulnerability and being a reflective practitioner. 

Recap

There’s been a lot to this episode, so let’s recap. 

Know your stuff - Build deep, defensible knowledge that you can explain and defend, not just implement.

Ask and answer questions - Always starting with what the research has to tell us, then apply your proven professional knowledge and experience in making the nuanced decisions we know are important.

Have unshakeable evidence - Collect data over time to demonstrate the effectiveness of your practice across different contexts.

Question your own assumptions - Stay curious and be prepared to challenge what you think you know.

Recognise your strengths - Don't let Mildred convince you you don't know anything. If you have expertise, own it.

Be humble and generous - Listen well, but don't replace your judgement with someone else's just because they're talking loudly.

Understand your developmental phase - Be honest about where you are in your professional journey and what level of independent decision-making is appropriate, and know that you will pass through this whole development process for every new thing you learn. So it's entirely probable, not just possible, but probable, that you will be sitting in different phases for different aspects of your role.

Closing

Professional judgement isn't about having all the answers. It's about having the knowledge, evidence, and wisdom to ask the right questions and make informed decisions that serve students well. It's about finding that sweet spot between confidence and humility, between expertise and openness.

Remember, reclaiming your professional judgement isn't about going it alone or dismissing the knowledge of others. It's about becoming the kind of educator who can think critically, act wisely, and continue growing throughout your career.

The children in our classrooms deserve nothing less than teachers who are both knowledgeable and humble, both confident and curious.

You've got this. Trust the process, trust your learning, and keep that appetite for really understanding alive. Your students will be the beneficiaries of your thoughtful, evidence-informed professional judgement.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Structured Literacy podcast. Happy teaching, everyone. See you next time.  Bye.

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