Secondary school arts teachers’ practice autonomy perceptions in New Zealand and England

ABSTRACT

New Zealand has its educational roots in 19th and 20th century British educational systems with close similarities between English and New Zealand secondary school education structures. In the last two decades, however, secondary school education in both countries has experienced multiple and sometimes radical reforms. Educational policy has diverged markedly at times. In this article, we present the findings of research into the professional autonomy of 15 secondary school music, art and drama teachers from England and New Zealand. The aim was to explore whether teachers believed themselves to be professionally autonomous and to what extent educational policy and external structures impacted their practice. Findings suggest despite similarities between jurisdictions, England teachers report a highly performative regime that restricts, governs and isolates them and the arts in school. This contrasts a progressive, even permissive, professional environment where the New Zealand teachers believe their students’ needs come first and feel primarily accountable to their local and disciplinary communities.

KEYWORDS:

• teachers
• professionalism
• performativity
• curriculum autonomy

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the collegiality and generosity of the teachers who agreed to be interviewed for this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vicki Thorpe

Vicki Thorpe is a senior lecturer in education, specializing in secondary school music education and initial teacher education. A former secondary school teacher and in-service teacher-educator, her research interests include secondary school curriculum, the relationship between creativity and assessment, and teacher identity.

Victoria Kinsella

Victoria Kinsella is senior research fellow in education researching arts education and creativity. She has worked on a number of creative arts research projects in various contexts including schools, prisons, galleries, arts centres and with educational agencies. Her research interests include creativity, partnership and assessment.