Practising the public? Collaborative teacher inquiry in an era of standardization and accountability

Abstract

This paper analyses the nature of collaborative teacher learning as a form of ‘public sphere’, under current policy conditions. The research draws upon Habermas’ notions of communicative action and public spheres, and literature on the nature of teachers’ learning in the context of standardized curriculum and assessment reform, to analyse how teachers’ work and learning can be understood in light of pressure for increased accountability for improved performance. Drawing upon transcripts of professional learning meetings—referred to as ‘Inquiry Cycles’—at a school in northern Queensland, Australia, and interviews with participants, the research reports that while the Inquiry Cycles constituted a ‘public sphere’ for teachers’ learning and inquiry, they were simultaneously influenced by more instrumental policy support for an increasingly prescriptive curriculum, and pressure for improved performance, particularly against standardized measures of literacy and numeracy. The research explores how a public sphere in the form of the Inquiry Cycles was responsive to these more instrumentalist forms of rationality, revealing a need for cautious engagement with such initiatives under current policy conditions, even as they have the potential to effect more productive learning on the part of teachers.

Keywords:

• Educational policy
• testing
• standardized curriculum
• teacher learning
• public sphere
• communicative action
• Habermas

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the support of the teachers and school administrators involved in this study, and without whom the research would not have been possible.

Notes

1. Path dependency in this context refers to the way in which educational processes continue to be heavily influenced by the particular national conditions within which they are enacted, and prior practices at the national level, and are not simply reflective of broader global processes alone.

2. 1. The PM Benchmark program is a collection of reading books designed for Preparatory (approximately 5 years of age) to Year 3 students (approximately 8 years of age). There are 30 ‘levels’ in the series, with students commencing with ‘Level 1’ readers at the beginning of Prep, and aiming to be proficient in fluency and comprehension of ‘Level 30’ readers by the end of Year 3. A ‘running record’—a record of the errors students make as they read and comprehend a particular text—is taken to determine the ‘level’ of students’ fluency and comprehension.

3. Progressive Assessment Testing—Reading (PAT-R), and Progressive Assessment Testing—Mathematics (PAT-M) are standardized tests in literacy and numeracy given to students at the beginning and end of each year level to measure students’ growth in attainment over that year.

4. Learning support teachers provided one-on-one and small group assistance to students with special needs and problematic behaviours, and worked with teachers to enhance their capacity to work with students with complex physical, cognitive and emotional needs.