Although the field of research on effective practice in education is vast and although expectations for professional action and practice are communicated formally to teachers, a clear framework to describe what teaching is–the whole of what it is–remains absent. Grounded in Ingersoll’s professionalism, and guided by existential phenomenology, this research study provides a snapshot of the complexity of teaching as a missing but essential component of any productive conversation about improving the profession through a systematic review of literature and first-hand accounts of participating teachers’ lived experiences.

Both the professional literature between 2010 and 2019 and the teachers participating in this study suggest that teaching is significantly complex. The research outlines 13 distinct yet intertwined competencies and practices that are integral to the essence of teaching:

Know Your Subject Matter;

Demonstrate Pedagogical Expertise;

Plan for Practice;

Create a Learning Environment;

Engage Students in Learning;

Implement Effective Strategies;

Provide Authentic Learning Experiences;

Support Learning;

Monitor Learning;

Know and Follow Laws and Policies;

Reflect on Practice;

Teachers affirm that, in their experience, these factors are all, in fact, part of teaching.