Pedagogical judgment as interpretable, responsive instructional decision-making (Horn & Campbell, operationalized via inquiry as stance)¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 design), q1 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The study builds on Horn and Campbell's (2015) conception of pedagogical judgment, which the authors "operationalize as the ability to interpret classroom interactions and make responsive instructional decisions." Framed by Cochran-Smith and Lytle's inquiry as stance — practice-based work in which practitioners "collaboratively theorize, study, and act on those problems in the best interests of the learning and life chances of students" — the framework treats pedagogical judgment as a cultivable capacity made visible through structured tools, prompts, and feedback rather than a fixed trait.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Clinical structures that make reasoning visible: shared rubric criteria, structured post-teaching prompts, and supervisory feedback grounded in a theoretical orientation toward teacher learning

Constraints¶

• Developed and studied within one secondary social studies program at a major research university in the American South; the authors note the questions it raises are not unique to that setting

Target Learners¶

• novice teacher candidates in clinically rich preparation programs

Target Learning Objectives¶

• interpreting student learning and engagement; making responsive instructional decisions

Claims¶

• Structured Iterative Support Improves Pedagogical Judgment [+W]
• In a case analysis, probing instructor feedback with required revise-and-resubmit moved one teacher candidate toward citing student evidence, though his progress was not linear and another candidate did not improve [+W]
• Revised post-teaching prompts (RPTAA) advanced candidates' capacity for more sophisticated analysis compared with the original prompts (PTAA) [+W]

Related Theories¶

• Pedagogical judgment as three interrelated components: action, reasoning, and responsibility

Examples¶

• Iterative post-teaching analysis with rubric-aligned written feedback and revise-and-resubmit cycles
• Pedagogical Judgment Rubric (PJR/FPJR)
• VITAL (Visibly Improve Teaching and Learning) professional learning service

Key Sources¶

• Janis, S., Schmeichel, M., Grace, C., Wegrzyn, K., & Lee, J. (2025). Making Learning Visible: Shaping Teacher Candidates' Pedagogical Judgment in Clinical Experiences. Journal of Educational Supervision 8(3). https://doi.org/10.69772/jes.8.3.1