Pied Pipers of Teacher Education Reforms: Nonprofit Actors and the Rise of Technocratic Accountability Regimes

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Education: Where Have We Already Been? Where Do We Go From Here?

Abstract

The involvement of nonprofit sector in teacher education policies has grown over the years. Apart from advocating for the introduction of alternative routes into the teaching profession, intermediary organizations have facilitated the spread of outcomes-based teacher preparation accountability. Rooted in anthropology of policy (Shore, Wright, & Pero, 2011), this paper examines nonprofit sector actors’ policy activities and artifacts using methodological tools of critical discourse (Gee, 2014) and social network analysis (Scott, 2017). The paper examines how nonprofit actors use new accountability systems to redesign teacher education programs based on technocratic principles of economic efficiency, depoliticization, and displacement of professional knowledge. The significance of this paper lies in demonstrating how technocratic visions of social control undermine democracy.

Authors

• Elena Aydarova, Auburn University

• Sedighe Zamani Roodsari, Auburn University