Tensions in Teaching and Teacher Education: Professionalism and professionalisation in England and Canada

Abstract

The argument in this article derives from a comparative case study of two pre-service teacher education programmes in England and in Canada. Using Goodson and Hargreaves' propositions about the seven principles of postmodern teacher professionalism, we discuss the tensions between government professionalisation agendas for teaching and teacher education, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the creation of conditions in schools and faculties of education in which professionalism is diminished or even systematically undermined. We extend the analysis to consider the particular tensions teacher educators experience as they manage competing definitions of professionalism within university and school contexts.