Interrogating Self-Evaluation Using a Freirean Lens: The Changing Politics of Teacher Reflection?

• In Event: Freirean Educational Approaches in Uncertain Times

Abstract

We draw from Freirean philosophy to critically interpret the changing politics of teacher reflection/self-evaluation. We reveal dilemmatic contradictions and hidden assumptions behind reflection legitimated as increased teacher autonomy. We illustrate our argument with a critical interpretation of two reform texts, one each in Ireland and Sweden where neo-liberalisation plays out using rapid fire policy reforms for primacy of the economy that are secured by an elite. Teacher reflection, despite differences between the education systems, appears soft sculpted in risk-averse ways foregrounding pre-scripted outcomes for the ‘individual’ student. Teachers’ positioned as self-evaluators for this limited performativity reveal many similarities with a new postmodern banking model - a sophisticated instructional design that diminishes teachers’ public intellectual role for a dynamic democratic society.

Authors

• Geraldine Mooney Simmie, University of Limerick

• Silvia Edling, University of Gävle