MTSS Integrated Conference '26

Teaching is a profession defined by uncertainty that no amount of training can prepare you for. Classrooms are complex environments where lessons rarely unfold exactly as planned, where students respond in unexpected ways, and where new challenges continually emerge—from shifting curricula to the rapid rise of technologies such as AI. In these moments, the most effective teachers aren’t simply those with a large repertoire of strategies. They are those who know what to do when they don’t immediately know what to do. This is the hallmark of expert teaching. The natural question, then, is: How do teachers develop this kind of expertise?

Part of the answer lies in recognising that teaching is both a science and a craft and both need to be continually developed and honed, long after initial teacher education has been completed. This path to expertise development requires ongoing intentional and effortful commitment to growth. Some teachers rely primarily on gaining more experience in the classroom, others on continuous professional development and training. A third pathway—deliberate practice—focuses on consciously and systematically improving specific aspects of instruction. This keynote explores how these different routes shape teacher development, and why deliberate practice may offer a particularly powerful way of strengthening teachers’ ability to make effective instructional decisions over time.