Toward a Critical Professional With Action Research at Its Center

• In Event: Creating Spaces in Schools for the Critical Professional: Action Research as Principled Resistance

Abstract

Theoretical Framework: Neoliberal reforms of public education do more than shape policy and curriculum; they also influence educators’ understanding of themselves as professionals, driving at the very core of what it means to be a teacher. This “new professionalism” has been documented by sociologists of the professions (Evetts, 2009). Objective: This article explores the effects of Neoliberal policies and New Public Management practices on teachers and the ways they result in a “new professionalism.” Specifically, I explore how prospects for teachers as inquiring professionals have diminished under current reforms and how teachers are currently resisting in both active (e.g., organizing) and passive (e.g., early retirement) ways. Mode of inquiry: Drawing on literature on new professionalism and New Public Management (Evetts, 2009; Ward, 2011), I theorize how we might think of action research (defined broadly) as principled resistance (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2006). Conclusions: Action research as principled resistance will require rethinking how we engage with our own organizations through inquiry that is both functional (What works?), but also subversive of maket and NPM values that are conterproductive and deprofessionalizing. Recognizing that teachers cannot do this work alone as individual professionals, a broader alliance will be needed that brings together multiple consituencies. Scholarly Significance: Ther are currently many signs of teacher resistance to neoliberal reforms. There is a need for resistance, but also proposals for what kind of professional might replace the current dimished vision of professionalism.

Author

• Gary L. Anderson, New York University