Developing critically reflective teachers in ‘wacky’ times

Down, B. (2006) Developing critically reflective teachers in ‘wacky’ times. In: Making teaching public: Reforms in teacher education. Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference, Australian Teacher Education Conference, 5-8 July 2006, Fremantle, Western Australia..

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Abstract

This paper is about the possibility of reconceptualising and reorganising teacher education. It begins by alluding to the current obsession with testing and standardisation as a means of improving education. A central argument here is that the New Right (neo-liberal and neo-conservative) has manufactured a crisis in education which has had profound consequences for public schools and those who inhabit them, especially in disadvantaged communities. Against this backdrop, the paper considers: (i) the impact of narrowly conceived efforts of government to control teacher’s work through teacher-proof curricula, test driven threats and punitive forms of accountability; (ii) the usefulness of the notion of the critical reflective teacher as an antidote to these draconian policies and practices; and (iii) the implications for teacher education programmes and ongoing teacher development. The paper sets out to tackle two key questions: (i) what kind of teachers do we need in these changing times? and (ii) how do we go about producing them?