Contested Territories: English Teachers in England and Australia Remain Resilient and Creative in Constraining Times

• In Event: 45.045 - Supporting Teachers to Support Students

Abstract

The study explores the ways English [Language Arts] and literacy educators seek to find a balance between external expectations, contemporary pressures, professional aspirations, and personal values in times of change. The purpose of the research was to create new understandings about the impact of educational reform on teachers’ professionalism, their pedagogies, and their beliefs about their subject of English. It was a case study in New South Wales [Australia] and in England. Using a qualitative approach the research reveals both the enduring resilience of these teachers but also the corrosive structural effects produced by narrowly focused, neoliberal policies especially in relation to high stakes testing, the profession continues to be undermined and large numbers are now leaving permanently.

Author

• Andy C. Goodwyn, University of Bedfordshire