Noticing-as-design: generating new possibilities for teacher noticing

Abstract This paper presents a reconceptualisation of teacher noticing as an intentional and generative design process. Drawing on ecological psychology and phenomenology, with enactivism serving as an integrative theoretical lens, we develop the Noticing-as-Design Framework. This framework elucidates how teachers proactively shape opportunities for meaningful noticing through two interrelated components: ecological design and phenomenological design. Ecological design entails teachers deliberately crafting physical, social, and cultural aspects of the classroom environment to create affordances that support noticing. Phenomenological design involves bringing specific phenomena into focus through carefully structured experiences and interactions. These components operate within what we term the D-E-S-I-G-N cycle (Design, Emergence, Seeing, Interpreting, Generating insights, New iteration), which conceptualises how teachers might iteratively develop their noticing capabilities. This theoretical framework extends existing perspectives on teacher noticing by highlighting how intentional design potentially shapes both what becomes noticeable and teachers’ capacity to notice. We discuss implications for research, teacher education, and professional development, acknowledging both the potential and limitations of this theoretical approach.