GED2860

Teachers/trainers, work and workplace change

Not offered in 1999

Associate Professor T L Seddon

12 points - 3 hours per week - Clayton

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should: have developed knowledge and understanding of recent research theorising teachers'/trainers' work; be able to analyse educators' work in a variety of learning contexts; understand continuities and change in educational work and in the contribution that educators can make to workplace change.

Synopsis Teachers/trainers engage in educational work in many different workplaces: in schools, TAFE, private vocational education and training institutions, adult and community contexts, universities and industry. This subject examines the character of educational work across these different contexts, the educators who undertake it, and the workplaces they work in. Students will be introduced to sociological theories of work and to recent research investigating teachers' work which help to explain how and why teachers' work is changing. There will be a special focus on the way teachers' work is shaped by the changing relationships of state, society and economy, and how these broad contextual changes play out in the day-to-day work of teachers and their practices of educating. The significance of teachers and educational work in contemporary society will be discussed and the contribution that educators can make to workplace change will be examined.

Assessment Journal: 25% - Assignment (6000 words): 75%

Recommended texts

Connell R W Teachers' work Allen and Unwin, 1985
Seddon T Context and beyond: Reframing the theory and practice of education Falmer, 1993

Back to the 1999 Education Handbook