Is Teaching an Art or a Science? The Best Teachers Know It’s Both

Summary for Educators

Based on Larry Ferlazzo
“Is Teaching an Art or a Science?”
Education Week Teacher | August 27, 2026

🔵 THE BIG IDEA

The familiar question—Is teaching an art or a science?—creates a false choice. Effective teaching requires both.

The science of teaching gives educators an evidence base. Research on learning, memory, cognitive load, formative assessment, explicit instruction, retrieval practice, feedback, and student motivation helps teachers understand which practices are most likely to improve learning.

But research cannot tell a teacher exactly what to do at 10:17 on Tuesday morning when a normally enthusiastic student suddenly withdraws, a carefully designed lesson falls flat, or a class needs encouragement rather than another explanation.

That is where the art of teaching enters.

Great teachers read the room. They recognize when to push and when to pause, when to follow the lesson plan and when to abandon it, when humor will help, and when a student needs a quiet conversation. Those judgments develop through experience, relationships, reflection, and professional expertise.

The strongest teaching therefore occurs at the intersection of evidence and judgment. Research provides the foundation; professional skill determines how that knowledge is applied to the particular students sitting in front of us.

🔵 KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR EDUCATORS

• Start with what research tells us about learning. Effective teaching should not depend solely on intuition, tradition, or personal preference.
• Treat evidence as a foundation, not a script. A strategy supported by research still needs to be adapted to students, subject matter, age, and context.
• Develop your ability to read students. Facial expressions, questions, misconceptions, participation, and even silence provide important instructional information.
• Use formative assessment constantly. Great teachers don’t wait for the unit test to discover whether students understood yesterday’s lesson.
• Build a larger instructional repertoire. The more strategies teachers possess, the better equipped they are to respond when the original approach isn’t working.
• Reflect on judgment as well as results. Ask not only Did students learn? but also What did I notice, what decision did I make, and what might I do differently next time?

◻️ WHY IT MATTERS

Schools sometimes swing between competing extremes.

One initiative promises that a tightly prescribed instructional model will produce consistent results. Another emphasizes teacher autonomy and encourages educators simply to “do what works for your students.”

Neither approach is sufficient.

Science without professional judgment can reduce teaching to implementation. Art without evidence can turn personal preference into pedagogy.

Great schools create a third path: teachers understand the research, possess strong instructional frameworks, study evidence of student learning—and retain the professional expertise to adapt instruction intelligently.

The goal isn’t fidelity to a script. It is fidelity to student learning.

🟢 LEADERSHIP ACTION STEPS

✓ Ground professional learning in evidence. Help teachers understand not merely what strategies to use but why they work.

✓ Protect teacher judgment. Avoid turning research-based practices into rigid checklists that discourage thoughtful adaptation.

✓ Make student learning the centerpiece of observations. Ask, “What are students thinking and doing?” rather than simply counting teacher behaviors.

✓ Create opportunities for teachers to study practice together. Classroom visits, coaching, lesson study, and PLC conversations help make the invisible craft of teaching visible.

✓ Encourage experimentation followed by evidence. Let teachers try approaches, examine student results, and refine their practice.

✓ Hire for both dimensions. Look for candidates who understand effective instruction and demonstrate curiosity, empathy, adaptability, and the ability to connect with students.

🟡 LEADER REFLECTION

Think about your school’s approach to instruction.

Are teachers primarily being asked to implement programs, or are they being developed into expert practitioners capable of making sophisticated instructional decisions?

The distinction matters.

A program can provide teachers with tools. Research can identify promising practices. Curriculum can establish direction.

But ultimately, a skilled teacher must decide which tool to use, with which student, at which moment, and why.

Perhaps teaching is neither an art nor a science.

It is a profession in which the science informs the art—and the art brings the science to life.

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software

OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (5.2) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com