Is there hope for action research in a ‘directed profession’?

Abstract

In this conceptual article, we explore the idea that neo-liberalism has created a ‘directed profession’ with consequences for action research. There are dominant discourses of compliance and performativity which have diminished teachers’ capacity to ask research questions that are disruptive of existing orthodoxies and restricted curriculum and pedagogical models. The article explores the implications of this for teachers as they reflect on practice and wish to make meaningful change to learning and teaching. It has been written from the perspective of four teacher educators who have first-hand experience of developing inquiry-based projects with teachers. First, we consider how action research has been appropriated by policymakers and is in many cases a long way from emancipatory traditions. We explore the importance of dialogue in generating ‘cognitive conflict’ and ‘values–practice dissonance’ among action researchers. Finally, we discuss a ‘dialogic framework’ as a protocol that can help to generate critical perspectives among teachers. We highlight the ‘incubation phase’ of action research, and we suggest that such a protocol has a role in the early stages of thinking about a focus for action research projects. It may help to reclaim action research from bending to the pressures of accountability and performativity in what it sets out to change.

The prestige economy of elite education: a Baudrillardian analysis of an aspirational English school

“…Parents who feel that their offspring are failed by the state system will feel rescued by the reality encoded by IGSD's symbolic traits (Wright, 2008). Public education is vulnerable to undermining along many vectors: neoliberalism has transformed the teaching workforce into a 'directed profession', and compliance and performativity diminish a teacher's capacity to adopt The prestige economy of elite education 8 critical perspectives (Daly et al, 2020;Rayner and Gunter, 2020). Our contribution to education policy is timely, as public education in England continues to be subjected to central government interventions, pushing state schools previously governed by local education authorities beyond that ambit, into compliance with market forces where curriculum control is informed by a capitalist business-oriented leadership class (Martin and Yarker, 2021;West and Wolfe, 2021).…”

The ups and downs in perceived societal appreciation of the teaching profession during COVID‐19: A longitudinal trajectory analysis

“…Teachers’ perceptions of how highly the government values their profession were similarly bleak. Teaching has been considered a ‘directed profession’ that responds to the mandates of the government's changing priorities rather than having the inherent power to contribute to a self‐improving educational system (Daly et al, 2020), resulting in a ‘dispirited and demoralised profession’ (Bottery & Wright, 2000, p. 475). The experiences of teachers during COVID‐19 can be considered as another manifestation of this phenomena, although the argument can be made that quick national direction was necessary for such an emergency situation though perhaps not consecutively and one that U‐turned repeatedly.…”