Australian teacher educators responding to policy discourses of quality

Article

Larsen, Ellen and Mockler, Nicole. 2023. "Australian teacher educators responding to policy discourses of quality." Educational Review. 75 (6), pp. 1063-1083. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.2007056
Article Title

Australian teacher educators responding to policy discourses
of quality

ERA Journal ID20015
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsLarsen, Ellen (Author) and Mockler, Nicole (Author)
Journal TitleEducational Review
Journal Citation75 (6), pp. 1063-1083
Number of Pages21
Year2023
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN0013-1911
1465-3397
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.2007056
Web Address (URL)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131911.2021.2007056
Abstract

Political appetite for neoliberal education policy has problematised teacher education in a number of countries, including Australia, the US and England. In Australia, dominant policy discourses of quality normalise the regulation and standardisation of teacher education and position teacher educators within a deficit model of education reform. Such positioning has been shown to have a deleterious impact on professional status, dismantling complex conceptualisations of teacher educators’ work. Framed by key tenets of positioning theory and conceptualisations of policy enactment, this study investigated, using online semi-structured interviews, the ways in which 16 teacher educators in one Australian university positioned policy as 'other', and the ways in which they felt they could or should respond. It found that teacher educators position policy, and engage in the policy process, in complex and varied ways. While many positioned policy as an intruder, with the potential to do harm to the profession, others had made choices that positioned policy as a tool for innovative imagining for programme renewal. Findings also highlight the potential appetite for collaborative positioning between policy makers and teacher educators as partners. These findings have significant implications for future approaches to re-shaping the teacher education policy space both in Australia and beyond.

KeywordsTeacher educator; positioning; discourse; quality; standards; education policy
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020390307. Teacher education and professional development of educators
390305. Professional education and training
390303. Higher education
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Byline AffiliationsSchool of Education
University of Sydney
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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