Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
'I am not a "good" teacher, I don't do all their paperwork' : teacher resistance to accountability demands in the English Skills for Life strategy. / Tusting, Karin.
In: Literacy and Numeracy Studies, Vol. 17, No. 3, 2009, p. 6-26.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - 'I am not a "good" teacher, I don't do all their paperwork' : teacher resistance to accountability demands in the English Skills for Life strategy.
AU - Tusting, Karin
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - In 2000, Skills for Life, a new strategy for literacy, numeracy and language education was introduced in England. It included new core curricula, tough new targets for learner achievement, and significantly increased accountability requirements for teachers and colleges. Many teachers found aspects of this new system difficult. This paper analyses interviews carried out with teachers in 2002 to identify the reasons underlying their resistance. In the interviews, teachers consistently drew on a well defined discourse which defined ‘good’ teaching as teaching that is responsive to the learner, negotiating teaching in response to learners’ goals and characteristics, and flexible in the teaching moment. Resistance arose when aspects of the centralised strategy were perceived to constrain teachers’ ability to respond to learners in this way, being driven more by external demands and advance planning than by responsiveness to learners. Teachers attempted to develop strategies to maintain responsiveness while working within the new strategy.
AB - In 2000, Skills for Life, a new strategy for literacy, numeracy and language education was introduced in England. It included new core curricula, tough new targets for learner achievement, and significantly increased accountability requirements for teachers and colleges. Many teachers found aspects of this new system difficult. This paper analyses interviews carried out with teachers in 2002 to identify the reasons underlying their resistance. In the interviews, teachers consistently drew on a well defined discourse which defined ‘good’ teaching as teaching that is responsive to the learner, negotiating teaching in response to learners’ goals and characteristics, and flexible in the teaching moment. Resistance arose when aspects of the centralised strategy were perceived to constrain teachers’ ability to respond to learners in this way, being driven more by external demands and advance planning than by responsiveness to learners. Teachers attempted to develop strategies to maintain responsiveness while working within the new strategy.
KW - literacy accountability paperwork Skills for Life adult education teachers
M3 - Journal article
VL - 17
SP - 6
EP - 26
JO - Literacy and Numeracy Studies
JF - Literacy and Numeracy Studies
SN - 1441-0559
IS - 3
ER -