Good teachers and counter conduct

ABSTRACT

Research on policy enactment has explored tensions created by accountability approaches associated with new forms of management under neoliberalism. These approaches generate particular discursive constructs of the ‘good teacher’ – constructs that often negate the rich, unmeasurable, and ethical practices associated with teacher professionalism. This paper draws on data generated as part of an institutional ethnography at an Australian school. Five teachers reflected on their work and the policies and procedures that govern it. They reported a range of practices for coping with the demands of policy enactment; described by one informant using the heuristic of attachment, aversion, and indifference. Significantly, the influence of external contingency – specifically in the form of climate change – represents a complex space in which teachers must navigate using ethical judgment and practical wisdom. This kind of ethical work creates demands that exceed the circumscribed notions of good teaching present in governing policies. Taking up the Foucauldian concept of counter conduct, this paper argues that these ‘unofficial’ practices are an expression of ethical professionalism. Rather than being explicitly ‘activist’, these teachers are simply engaging in ‘good work’ as it might be understood under the external contingencies associated with a changing and challenging world.

KEYWORDS:

• Counter conduct
• teacher professionalism
• neoliberalism
• ethics

Acknowledgments

This paper is based on research done as part of a PhD and draws on material available in that thesis. The author would like to acknowledge Nicole Mockler for her supervision.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. ‘Olivetree High’ is a pseudonym, as are the names of teachers used in this paper, in line with HREC approval for this study received from the University of Sydney.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pat Norman

Pat Norman completed his PhD with the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney, and is currently Senior Research Officer, Sydney Business Insights at the University of Sydney Business School. His research interests include the politics and sociology of education, professional identity, and professional ethics.