Developing Our Collective Capacity to Resist "New Professionalism"

• In Event: 25.012 - The Curriculum of Lines of Flight in Transformative Pedagogies: Resistances in the Age of Neoliberalism

Abstract

Purpose:
In this paper I report findings from a participatory action research project (PAR) in which teacher mentors and teacher educators working in a school district-university partnered urban teacher residency program (UTR) became mutually empowered to transcend the “audit or performance culture” (Anderson & Cohen, 2015) created by neoliberal education policies.

Theoretical Frame:
In this paper I build on a theory of situated social practice, which holds that social practices, such as teacher education, can be transformed in and through relationships among people engaged in the socio-politically structured world (Arnseth, 2008; Cochran-Smith & Villegas, 2015; Freire, 1970; Kemmis & Smith, 2008). I draw on critical theory, acknowledging our group members are social agents born into and embodying the history of the education system and perpetuating its role in society (Kemmis & Grootenboer, 2008). Relational cultural theory (RCT) was employed to understand ways educators might develop their collective capacity to resist “new professionalism” (Evetts, 2011) by connecting in relationships characterized by mutuality, authenticity, and mutual empowerment (Hartling, 2010; Jordan, 2004; Walker, 2010).

Methodology:
The question that guided this study was: “How did a group of teacher mentors and teacher educators recognize, negotiate, and name a mentor practice for preparing teachers in an urban teaching residency program”? The methodology used, PAR, fosters empowerment of participants by focusing on how we come together to co-create our shared understanding of an issue in order to improve it (Kemmis, 2008). As a “second person researcher” (Kemmis, 2012), I analyzed evidence from group and individual interviews, participants’ journals, meeting reflections and field notes, and transcripts of recordings of six meetings using constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014).

Findings:
My findings show that our work together was initially hindered by traditional school/university power dynamics, which positioned mentors as pseudo-supervisors of instruction in the service of their university partners. Over time, however, we recognized the encroachment of neoliberal values into our work, developed strong bonds of trust and respect within the inquiry group, and became mutually empowered to serve the public good by working toward more ambitious goals than those required by the grant. Thus, I suggest that the “authentic mentoring” (Freire, 1997) practice we developed required the active creation of a group relational space that embraced acts of resistance as opportunities to claim authorship of our teacher education practices and develop collective capacity to resist “new professionalism” in our teacher education practice.

Significance:
The findings of this study suggest that building authentically connected, mutual relationships between teacher educators and mentors has potential for transforming teacher education; re-establishing higher education’s mission in teacher preparation; and protecting the teaching profession from “new professionalism.” While previous studies have shown teachers and teacher educators can learn from each other when they are engaged in collaborative inquiry, this study suggests that the purposeful development of connected relationships across practices creates an environment conducive to change by disrupting the power hierarchy that typically inhibits authentic collaboration between teachers and teacher educators.

Author

• Linda Whalen Abrams, Knowles Science Teaching Foundation