GED4902

Teachers' work: research and policy

Not offered in 1999

Associate Professor L C Ingvarson

12 points - 3 hours per week - First semester - Clayton

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should have deepened their understanding of the relationship between educational policy and teachers' practice; demonstrated detailed understanding of current research about teachers' work, in particular, research on the condition of teaching as an occupation, teacher knowledge, collegiality, teacher pay systems and career structures, and the restructuring of teachers' work organisation; demonstrated their understanding of contextual conditions affecting the nature and quality of teachers' work, and teachers' attitudes to their work, such as the subject taught, the students taught, the immediate work group or department, school leadership, and government policies related to curriculum, assessment and school management; developed an understanding of current policy at state and federal levels related to teachers' work, in particular, policies related to teacher quality, teacher assessment, standards for teaching, career restructuring, registration, professional development, accountability and professional bodies for teaching; developed their ability to use methods for conducting research on teachers' and their work; enhanced their skills in academic writing by preparing a paper of publishable quality for a professional journal through a process of peer review and editing.

Synopsis The focus of this subject is research and policy related to teachers' work and its context. Recent policy initiatives in many countries have centred directly on teaching in response to concern about conditions of teachers' work, morale, quality and the quality of teaching. The effects of such policies on teachers and their work will be examined. Particular attention will be paid to research on contextual influences on teachers' work. What conditions in the workplace influence student and teacher engagement in learning and teachers' job satisfaction. How should teaching be restructured in the light of technological change? What conditions are conducive to the building of a professional culture in schools and greater collegiality among teachers? How do teachers perceive the expectations placed upon them by new curriculum developments. Attention will also be given to the setting of standards for teaching, teacher evaluation, and teachers' careers and pay system. Students will be expected to critically evaluate existing research and draw implications from it for policy related to teachers and teaching.

Assessment One major paper (8000 words): 100%

Preliminary reading

Johnson S M Teachers at work Basic Books, 1990
Little J and McLaughlin M Teachers' work: Individuals, colleagues and contexts Teachers College Press, 1993
Lieberman A 'The changing contexts of teaching' in Ninety-first Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, U Chicago P, 1992

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