Mary F. Hill & Martin Thrupp (eds): The Professional Practice of Teaching in New Zealand (6th Edition)

The Sixth Edition of The Professional Practice of Teaching in New Zealand (Eds Mary F. Hill and Martin Thrupp) updates this long standing initial teacher education (ITE) text. It has a new look and the chapters convey a contemporary, inviting impression. The inviting look to the text makes this academic text attractive to those who want to be teachers. The clarity of layout is not always easy to achieve. Academic texts often feel impenetrable and dry; they’re easier to ignore than read. To that end, this edited book models appropriate professional practice. It begins with a ‘guide to the text’ page, thus orientating readers to the structure and purpose of various elements throughout the chapters. Making unfamiliar, academic text inviting, can be half the battle for anyone reading unfamiliar text, and this book addresses such possibilities with its clear layout and colour coding. The chapters are organised in what seem to be groups of topics: They begin with chapters about the teacher self, before addressing issues of classrooms—curriculum assessment, behaviour, resources and tools for learning, cultural and relational practices, understanding flexible learning spaces and pedagogy. The last section addresses issues beyond a classroom—critical awareness of leadership, policy, politics—before concluding with a chapter about taking on one’s first teaching role. Together, the chapters offer a coherent trajectory common to ITE programmes in New Zealand. Abbiss’s introductory chapter explores questions like ‘What sort of teacher identity do I want to have or have?’ thus introducing the reader to the flavour and context of the book. Both Abbiss’s and Buntting’s chapters express complex ideas in disarmingly simple and accessible ways. Both authors pose questions for readers as they become more aware of learning theories and what these mean in classrooms.