A teaching moment is a significant occurrence that prompts deeper reflection and learning about teaching. It is any relatively commonplace classroom moment that, when examined closely, reveals something important about teaching, learning, or professional judgement.

Teaching moments therefore support beginning teachers to:                                             

• Recognise their assumptions about teaching and learning
• Explore how their actions and decisions affect children and their learning
• Develop professional judgement through reflective practice

These are achieved by:

1. Deepening their understanding of teaching and learning
   • Recognise and challenge assumptions about teaching, learning, and the role of the teacher
   • Understand how teacher actions, explanations, and decisions affect children’s thinking, motivation, and progress
   • Notice subtle cues by the children, misconceptions, and learning patterns that may be missed in real time
   • Explore how classroom interactions, tone, questioning, positioning, shape learning experiences
2. Strengthening their reflective and professional judgement
   • Engage in focused, evidence-based reflection using real examples from practice
   • Develop the ability to interpret, analyse, and learn from specific moments within a lesson
   • Build adaptive expertise by examining how to respond productively to unexpected or challenging situations
   • Make tacit beliefs and instincts explicit, allowing for more deliberate decision-making
3. Enhancing the quality of their pedagogical practice
   • Identify effective teaching strategies and understand why they worked
   • Recognise areas where alternative approaches could enhance learning outcomes
   • Develop a repertoire of strategies that can be adapted and applied across subjects and contexts
   • Strengthen inclusive practice by examining equity, participation, and access to learning for all children
4. Promoting ongoing professional growth
   • Develop reflective habits that underpin long-term professional learning
   • Track emerging patterns, strengths, and areas for development across multiple lessons
   • Support goal-setting and targeted next steps for future teaching
   • Build confidence through recognising successful moments and understanding their impact
5. Supporting emotional and relational awareness
   • Reflect on emotional responses, of both the beginning teachers and the children, and how they influence classroom climate
   • Develop empathy for children by considering their perspectives and interpretations of lesson events
   • Strengthen relationships through greater awareness of how beginning teacher communication affects children’s sense of safety and belonging
6. Contributing to a collaborative professional culture
   • Provide a structured basis for meaningful dialogue between mentor and beginning teacher
   • Build a shared language for discussing teaching and learning
   • Enable discussion and collaborative analysis
7. Encourage inquiry-oriented and ethical practice
   • Frame teaching as a process of inquiry, experimentation, and reflection
   • Support ethical decision-making by examining issues of fairness, inclusion, and representation
   • Encourage beginning teachers to consider the needs of the most vulnerable learners when evaluating practice

How to Identify Teaching Moments to Support Reflective Practice

Identifying teaching moments is not about finding dramatic events or major problems. As Tripp (1993) emphasises, these moments, which he refers to as critical incidents, become “critical” because we choose to treat them as opportunities for insight. The role of the mentor is to notice moments that, when explored with the beginning teacher, can deepen their understanding of teaching, learning, and professional judgement.

Below is guidance on how to recognise these moments and select two meaningful incidents for beginning teacher reflection.

1. Observe with a “reflective lens,” not a checklist

While the formal lesson observation criteria, as laid out on the observation form, are important, teaching moments often arise in the spaces between the criteria, for example, in how children respond emotionally, how the beginning teacher adapts, or how a misunderstanding unfolds.

Focus on moments where:

• Something unexpected happens
• A discrepancy appears between the beginning teacher’s intentions and outcomes
• Children’s responses reveal insight into their thinking
• The beginning teacher makes an instinctive decision that influences learning

2. Look for moments of learning significance

A critical incident is worth selecting if examining it would help the beginning teacher understand something important about teaching.

For instance, moments that reveal:

• Children’s misconceptions
• Issues of inclusion or equity
• Engagement or disengagement triggers
• How the beginning teacher’s actions influence behaviour
• Opportunities the beginning teacher seized, or missed, to deepen learning
• How the children respond to challenge, scaffolding, or questioning

If analysing the moment could change how the beginning teacher teaches in future, it is likely to be an appropriate teaching moment.

3. Notice your own reactions during the lesson

Mentors often identify teaching moments by observing their own responses to the events of the observed lesson. They are therefore encouraged to ask themselves:

• Did I pause, lean in or sit up at any point?
• Did something surprise me about the children’s learning or behaviour?
• Did a moment feel particularly effective or particularly costly?
• Would understanding this moment help the beginning teacher progress?

Mentors’ instinctive reactions are valuable indicators of teaching moments that may be worth unpacking.

4. Prioritise moments that show patterns or habits

Teaching moments are most useful when they help the beginning teacher recognise:

• A repeated behaviour (e.g., rushing explanations, over-scaffolding)
• A strength that appears regularly (e.g., building positive relationships)
• A developing a habit that needs refinement (e.g., managing transitions)

Selecting moments that represent patterns helps beginning teachers move from isolated fixes to broader professional growth.

5. Choose one strength and one area for development

For each observation:

• Select a teaching moment that shows strong practice to reinforce what the beginning teacher is doing well. Teaching Moment 1. Beginning teachers should reflect on the actions they took in ensuring it went well so that these become embedded in their practice.
• Select a teaching moment that provides a growth opportunity where reflection could lead to improvement. Teaching Moment 2. The reflection on this is used to inform the discussion at the Weekly Review Meeting in identifying the FIA target.

This balance ensures reflective practice strengthens both confidence and competence.

6. Time-stamp moments for later analysis

If possible, noting the timestamp helps the beginning teacher to find the exact moment that mentors are referring to on their lesson observation form. This can help them:

• Locate the moment more easily
• Locate precisely the moment that is being referred to, e.g.:
  • To see the children’s reactions they missed
  • Analyse their own body language, tone, or decision-making

The aim is for the beginning teacher to see the moment with “fresh eyes.”

7. Frame incidents as learning opportunities, not judgements

In identifying teaching moments, and writing comments on the lesson observation form, mentors are guiding thinking, not making evaluations. Phrases that they may include on the form might therefore include:

• “I noticed something interesting here that might help you understand the children’s thinking.”
• “This was a strong example of effective teaching that’s worth capturing.”

This will help to create a safe and supportive environment in which beginning teachers feel able to reflect openly and engage in constructive dialogue.

8. Choose moments that can generate rich Explain–Assess–Modify analysis

A good teaching moment will allow the beginning teacher to:

• Explain what they intended and why this is important
• Assess the impact on the children’s learning
• Modify their approach using professional reasoning

If an incident does not naturally prompt deeper reflection, it’s probably not the right one.

Summary: What Should Mentors Aim to Do?

When identifying critical moments, mentors should:

• Actively scan for moments with learning significance
• Pay attention to surprises, turning points, or tension points
• Select one moment of strength and one area for development
• Choose moments that reveal children’s thinking or teacher decision-making
• Focus on teaching moments that can deepen the beginning teacher’s professional understanding
• Ensure the beginning teacher can revisit these moments through the recording

Frame incidents in supportive, growth-focused language

Some Typical Teaching Moments

The following examples represent typical teaching moments to exemplify what constitutes a good teaching moment. If appropriate, they can be treated as ‘ready-to-use’ and amended as necessary.

1. A child asks a sensitive or unexpected question and the beginning teacher’s response closes down discussion.
   Why is this a good moment: It reveals assumptions about handling controversial issues, questioning technique, and classroom climate for discussion.
2. A routine explanation is followed by puzzled silence from several children (misunderstanding not noticed).
   Why is this a good moment: It shows how the beginning teacher checks for understanding and responds to low-level confusion.
3. An off-task behaviour episode escalates after the beginning teacher issues a sanction.
   Why is this a good moment: It highlights classroom management choices, tone, and strategies for de-escalation.
4. A powerful child contribution redirects the lesson content, and the beginning teacher follows it or shuts it down.
   Why is this a good moment: demonstrates flexibility, value of pupil voice, and curriculum vs. teachable moment judgement.
5. The beginning teacher groups students for peer work but some children are excluded or passive.
   Why is this a good moment: raises issues of differentiation, inclusion, and task design.
6. A planned plenary runs out of time and key assessment evidence is missed.
   Why is this a good moment: lesson pacing and how assessment for learning is implemented.
7. A beginning teacher uses language or an example that a child finds culturally insensitive, and the class response is awkward.
   Why is this a good moment: explores cultural awareness, safeguarding of classroom climate, and immediate repair strategies.
8. A technology failure during a key demonstration and the beginning teacher improvises (or freezes).
   Why is this a good moment: shows adaptive planning, contingency strategies, and teacher presence.
9. A beginning teacher’s questioning routinely asks for recall rather than higher-order thinking; children remain passive.
   Why is this a good moment: prompts analysis of questioning depth and planning for cognitive challenge.
10. A child gives an answer that exposes a serious misconception, and the beginning teacher misses it or corrects publicly in a shaming way.
    Why is this a good moment: relates to formative assessment, feedback, and children’s confidence.
11. The beginning teacher differentiates tasks but an EAL (English as an Additional Language) child’s needs are overlooked.
    Why is this a good moment: inclusion and effectiveness of differentiation strategies.
12. A moment of strong practice, e.g., clear modelling that leads to the children experiencing immediate success.
    Why is this a good moment: useful positive incident showing practice to replicate and unpack (technique, language, scaffolding).