Restructuring teachers’ work‐lives and knowledge in England and Spain

Abstract

This article explores the restructuring of education in England and Spain. Against a presumably homogeneous global streamlining of educational systems according to competition‐driven goals, the comparison of teachers’ work‐lives and professional knowledge evidences a variety of experiences under‐represented in discourses on global restructuring. Our argument highlights how in England political reforms have worked their way deep into the working lives of professionals, giving rise to a ‘managerial’ model of professionalism, whereas in Spain reforms are more loosely coupled with teachers’ work, favoring a ‘social service’‐oriented model. However, despite the different professional ideals, teachers uniformly stressed the challenges they face were predominantly due to broader social transformations for which policy reforms provided few if any remedies. Our study emphasizes the variety of educational reforms and teachers’ experiences in the European context and argues further educational change should be bound to the historical trajectory and the concrete needs of the professionals in question.

Keywords:

• welfare restructuring
• Spain
• England
• teaching profession
• professional knowledge

Notes

1. Profknow: Professional Knowledge in Education and Health: Restructuring Work and Life between the State and Citizens in Europe (Citizens‐506493). See http://www.profknow.net for an overview of the Consortium members.