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Articulating the Idea of the Professional Teacher: Beyond Technocratic Compliance

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The Palgrave Handbook of Education Law for Schools

Abstract

Teaching is often described as a profession. However, the term is highly contestable and its application to teaching is becoming more problematic. As schools are harnessed to the economic priorities of the state, education and educational outcomes become sites of public debate. The regulation of education standards for teachers is primarily located in the state, rather than the professional body.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalisation in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 2.

  2. 2.

    Ludwig Edelstein, ‘The Professional Ethics of the Greek Physician’ (1956) 30 Bulletin of the History of Medicine 391, 410.

  3. 3.

    Ludwig Edelstein, ‘The Professional Ethics of the Greek Physician’ (1956) 30 Bulletin of the History of Medicine 391, 410.

  4. 4.

    Sharon Christensen and W D Duncan, Professional Liability and Property Transactions, Federation Press 2004, 3; John Southwick, ‘Can the professions survive under a National Competition Policy?’ Competition Law and the Professions Conference, Perth, 11 April 1997 online, available at http://ncp.ncc.gov.au/docs/NCP%20and%20the%20professions%20-%20the%20issues.pdf [accessed 20th January 2018].

  5. 5.

    Ibid.

  6. 6.

    Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic).

  7. 7.

    See https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-geneva/

  8. 8.

    John Whelan, ‘Doctors, lawyers and ministers all take a professional pledge: here’s why teachers should too’ The Conversation 31st August 2017 https://theconversation.com/doctors-lawyers-and-ministers-all-take-a-professional-pledge-heres-why-teachers-should-too-82909

  9. 9.

    Ibid.

  10. 10.

    Carr v Inland Revenue Commissioners (1944) All ER 163.

  11. 11.

    Commissioner of Inland Revenue v Maxse (1919) KB 647, 657 (Scrutton LJ).

  12. 12.

    Carr v Inland Revenue Commissioners (1944) All ER 163 (Scott LJ).

  13. 13.

    Currie v Commissioner of Inland Revenue (1921) 2 KB 332, 336 (Lord Sterndale MR).

  14. 14.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalization in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 2.

  15. 15.

    Michel W Lander, Bas AS Koene and Shelly N Linssen, ‘Committed to professionalism: Organizational responses of mid-tier accounting firms to conflicting institutional logics’ (2013) 38 Accounting, Organizations and Society 130–148, 131.

  16. 16.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalization in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 2.

  17. 17.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalization in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 2.

  18. 18.

    A Abbott, The system of professions: An essay on the division of expert labor (1988) Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

  19. 19.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalization in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 3.

  20. 20.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalization in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 4.

  21. 21.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalization in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 4.

  22. 22.

    J Clarke and N Newman, The Managerial State (1997) London: Sage Publications, 7.

  23. 23.

    Sharon Christensen and W D Duncan, Professional Liability and Property Transactions, Federation Press 2004, 11.

  24. 24.

    Ibid, citing Vollmer & Mills, Professionalization Prentice-Hall, Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ 1966, 2.

  25. 25.

    Currie v Inland Revenue Commission (1921) 2 KB 332, 343.

  26. 26.

    F Raymond Marks and Darlene Cathcart, ‘Discipline within the legal profession: is it self-regulation?’ (1974) University of Illinois Law Forum 193–236.

  27. 27.

    Commissioner of Inland Revenue v Maxse (1919) 1 KB 647, 657; F Raymond Marks and Darlene Cathcart, ‘Discipline within the legal profession: is it self-regulation?’ (1974) University of Illinois Law Forum 193–236.

  28. 28.

    Michael S. Greco Remarks to the Connecticut Bar Association Westbrook Connecticut, September 25, 2009; John Southwick, ‘Can the professions survive under a National Competition Policy?’ Competition Law and the Professions Conference, Perth, 11 April 1997 online, available at http://ncp.ncc.gov.au/docs/NCP%20and%20the%20professions%20-%20the%20issues.pdf [accessed 20th January 2018].

  29. 29.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalization in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 2.

  30. 30.

    Currie v Inland Revenue Commission (1921) 2 KB 332, 343, Scrutton LJ.

  31. 31.

    Diane Rowland, ‘Negligence, professional competence and computer systems’ (1999) (2) Journal of Information Law and Technology [available at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/1999_2/rowland/#fnb3].

  32. 32.

    John Southwick, ‘Can the professions survive under a National Competition Policy?’ Competition Law and the Professions Conference, Perth, 11 April 1997 online, available at http://ncp.ncc.gov.au/docs/NCP%20and%20the%20professions%20-%20the%20issues.pdf [accessed 20th January 2018].

  33. 33.

    See Allan Fels, ‘Regulation, Competition and the Profession’ Industry Economics Conference 2001, 13 July 2001 [available at https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Fels_Industry_Economics_14_7_01%5B1%5D.pdf].

  34. 34.

    Ibid, 4.

  35. 35.

    Senate, Employment and Training Reference Committee, 1998, Senate Inquiry into the Teaching Profession, A Class Act p. 12.

  36. 36.

    For instance, in America the American Federation of Teachers, in Australia the Australian Education Union, and state equivalents, in England the National Education Union.

  37. 37.

    For instance, in America the Association of American Educators.

  38. 38.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalization in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 3.

  39. 39.

    Brian Caldwell, ‘Australian perspectives on leadership: the principal’s role in radical decentralisation in Victoria’s schools of the future’ (1994) 21(2) The Australian Educational Researcher 45–62.

  40. 40.

    Brian Caldwell, ‘Australian perspectives on leadership: the principal’s role in radical decentralisation in Victoria’s schools of the future’ (1994) 21(2) The Australian Educational Researcher 45–62, 46.

  41. 41.

    Anne West & Annamari Ylönen (2010) Market-oriented school reform in England and Finland: school choice, finance and governance, Educational Studies, 36:1, 1–12, 7.

  42. 42.

    Kenneth Leithwood and Teresa Menzies, ‘Forms and effects of school-based management: a review’ (1998) 12(3) Educational Policy 325–346.

  43. 43.

    Anne West & Annamari Ylönen (2010) Market-oriented school reform in England and Finland: school choice, finance and governance, Educational Studies, 36:1, 1–12.

  44. 44.

    John Southwick, ‘Can the professions survive under a National Competition Policy?’ Competition Law and the Professions Conference, Perth, 11 April 1997 online, available at http://ncp.ncc.gov.au/docs/NCP%20and%20the%20professions%20-%20the%20issues.pdf [accessed 20th January 2018].

  45. 45.

    Anthony Ogus, ‘Rethinking self-regulation’ (1995) 15(1) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 97–108, 100.

  46. 46.

    John Furlong (2013) Globalisation, Neoliberalism, and the Reform of Teacher Education in England, The Educational Forum, 77:1, 28–50.

  47. 47.

    See Table 9.1.

  48. 48.

    Section 2.6.12B Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic).

  49. 49.

    Section 2.6.22A Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic).

  50. 50.

    Section 2.6.24 Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic).

  51. 51.

    Sections 2.6.30–2.6.52 Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic).

  52. 52.

    Section 2.6.55 Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic).

  53. 53.

    Section 2.6.6AB Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic).

  54. 54.

    Section 2.6.5 Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic).

  55. 55.

    Eckersley v Binnie (1988) 18 Con LR 1, 80 (Bingham LJ); John Southwick, ‘Can the professions survive under a National Competition Policy?’ Competition Law and the Professions Conference, Perth, 11 April 1997 online, available at http://ncp.ncc.gov.au/docs/NCP%20and%20the%20professions%20-%20the%20issues.pdf [accessed 20th January 2018].

  56. 56.

    [1919] 1 KB 647, 657.

  57. 57.

    [1919] 1 KB 647, 657. Robbins Herbal Institute v Federal Commissioner of Taxation (1923) 32 CLR 457, 461 (Starke J), GIO General Ltd. v Newcastle City Council (1996) 38 NSWLR 558, 568 and Weber v Land Agents Board (1986) 40 SASR 312, 317 (O’Loughlin J) contain similar pronouncements about the need for education, knowledge or skill.

  58. 58.

    Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group, Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers December 2014.

  59. 59.

    Ibid, vii.

  60. 60.

    Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, Australian Professional Standards for Teachers February 2011.

  61. 61.

    Formerly the National Professional Standards for Teachers.

  62. 62.

    Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Limited, Australian Professional Standards for Teachers February 2011.

  63. 63.

    John Furlong (2013) Globalisation, Neoliberalism, and the Reform of Teacher Education in England, The Educational Forum, 77:1, 28–50.

  64. 64.

    Viv Ellis (2010) Impoverishing experience: the problem of teacher education in England, Journal of Education for Teaching, 36:1, 105–120, 105.

  65. 65.

    Linda Darling-Hammond (2017) Teacher education around the world: What can we learn from international practice?, European Journal of Teacher Education, 40:3, 291–309, 295.

  66. 66.

    Stephen Dinham, ‘The quality teaching movement in Australia encounters difficult terrain: a personal perspective’ (2013) 57(2) Australian Journal of Education 91–106, p. 97.

  67. 67.

    Ibid, 102.

  68. 68.

    Judyth Sachs (2003) Teacher Professional Standards: Controlling or developing teaching?, Teachers and Teaching, 9:2, 175–186, p. 176.

  69. 69.

    Ibid, p. 177.

  70. 70.

    Ibid, p. 179.

  71. 71.

    Raewyn Connell (2009) Good teachers on dangerous ground: towards a new view of teacher quality and professionalism, Critical Studies in Education, 50:3, 213–229, 214.

  72. 72.

    Ibid, 94.

  73. 73.

    Francesca Caena ‘Teacher competence frameworks in Europe: policy-as-discourse and policy-as-practice’ (2014) 49(3) European Journal of Education 311–331.

  74. 74.

    Rita Kohli, Bree Picower, Antonio Nieves Martinez and Natalia Ortiz, ‘Critical professional development: centering the social justice needs of teachers’ (2015) 6(2) The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy 8–24.

  75. 75.

    Raewyn Connell (2009) Good teachers on dangerous ground: towards a new view of teacher quality and professionalism, Critical Studies in Education, 50:3, 213–229, 215.

  76. 76.

    Raewyn Connell (2009) Good teachers on dangerous ground: towards a new view of teacher quality and professionalism, Critical Studies in Education, 50:3, 213–229, 214.

  77. 77.

    Michael S. Greco Remarks to the Connecticut Bar Association Westbrook Connecticut, September 25, 2009.

  78. 78.

    Ibid.

  79. 79.

    Murray Gleeson, ‘Are the Professions worth keeping?’ (Speech) Greek-Australian International Legal and Medical Conference, 31 May 1999, available at http://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/speeches/former-justices/gleesoncj/cj_areprofe.htm

  80. 80.

    Ibid.

  81. 81.

    Thomas S Popkewitz, ‘Professionalization in teaching and teacher education: some notes on its history, ideology, and potential’ (1994) 10(1) 1–14, 3.

  82. 82.

    Victorian Institute of Teaching, Codes of Conduct and Ethics, available at https://www.vit.vic.edu.au/professional-responsibilities/conduct-and-ethics

  83. 83.

    Elizabeth Kleinhenz & Lawrence Ingvarson (2004) Teacher accountability in Australia: current policies and practices and their relation to the improvement of teaching and learning, Research Papers in Education, 19:1, 31–49 [emphasis in original].

  84. 84.

    Senate, Employment and Training Reference Committee above n 35.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia

    Francine Rochford

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  1. Faculty of Business, Law, Education & Arts, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

    Karen Trimmer

  2. School of Education, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

    Roselyn Dixon

  3. Faculty of Business, Law, Education & Arts, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

    Yvonne S. Findlay

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Rochford, F. (2018). Articulating the Idea of the Professional Teacher: Beyond Technocratic Compliance. In: Trimmer, K., Dixon, R., S. Findlay, Y. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Education Law for Schools. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77751-1_9

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