This book looks at the narrowing effects of contemporary modes of teacher and teaching policy and governance. It draws on political theory to provide new ways of conceptualising the effects of teacher and teaching policies and practices. It adds a new dimension to the robust body of literature related to teacher policy by looking at three interrelated domains: (1) teacher preparation and development, (2) teacher evaluation and (3) teacher leadership.
Drawing from case studies from the USA, UK and Australia, it illustrates how a coalescence around metrics, standards and compliance is producing increasingly restricted notions of teachers and teaching. It shows how the rationalities and techniques associated with accountability and standardisation are limiting the possibilities for multiple conceptualisations of teaching and teachers to exist or emerge. Using pluralism as the main framework, it challenges the dangers associated with rigid compliance and alignment and arguesthat pluralism can help secure schools as socially and culturally responsive to the needs of the community.
Jessica Holloway
Pluralism in teacher policy Fundamentalism of metrics and standards in teacher policy Metrics and standards in teacher education Teacher evaluation and the TAP system Teacher evaluation and T-TESS Teachers and teaching in the US Teachers and teaching in the UK Alignment between teacher preparation Professional development, evaluation and teacher leadership Imagining pluralism in teacher policy Political theory and teachers and teaching Restricting possibilities for alternative conceptualisations Rigid accountability Compliance-based teacher policy Teachers and teaching in Australia
“This book is a significant undertaking to evaluate and (re)address teacher accountability and educational policy. … A real strength of this book lies in the call to action that reimagining schooling needs to begin with a greater, anti-racist vision that transcends the traditional notions of our discursive plains. … Holloway’s interconnected consideration of teacher accountability and educational policy adds a new dimension to our understanding of the preparation and development … leadership of K-12 teachers in Australia and the USA.” (Ameena L. Payne, Sarah Langman and Rafaan Daliri-Ngametua, Journal of Education Policy, June 10, 2022)
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