Preschool teachers’ noticing: a review of conceptualizations, operationalization, and empirical relations

Abstract This paper presents an overview of research on preschool teachers’ noticing. A systematic literature search was conducted to find out how noticing has been conceptualized, what methods have been used to investigate it, and whether relationships with other constructs can be demonstrated. The review included 35 studies that met the criteria for inclusion. Three conceptualizations of noticing could be identified: perception, perception and interpretation, and perception, interpretation, and decision-making. The results showed that the majority of the reviewed studies focused on video-based testing and used interviews, questionnaires, thinking-aloud practices, case studies, and journaling to asses noticing. The reviewed studies investigated knowledge, beliefs, experience, and interaction quality, as constructs related to noticing. Based on the findings, the question of which facets of perception, interpretation, and decision-making should best conceptualize noticing is discussed.