Professionalism in the Accountability Era: Role Discrepancy and Working Strategies Among Teachers in the Netherlands

• In Event: Enacting Accountabilities in Education (Part 2): Its Effects on Teachers' Work and on the Teaching Profession

Abstract

Objectives
This study examines primary teachers’ practices and beliefs in the era of performance-based accountability (PBA), and asks whether they experience role discrepancy: a divergence between those tasks they (are required to) engage in at work and those they consider at the heart of good teaching. If so, what strategies are adopted to manage this and what does this reveal about professionalism today?

Perspectives
Teachers’ experiences of PBA are situated within broader literature on the changing nature of the professions (Evetts, 2003; Muzio, Brock, & Suddaby, 2013). There is a lack of research that examines role discrepancy amongst teachers, yet comparable findings exist, for example, for nurses (Takase, 2006a; Takase, 2006b) and school social workers (Agresta, 2006). The paper also builds on theories of teacher policy enactment, inspired by the work of Perryman, Ball, Maguire and Braun (2011) and Moore, Edwards, Haplin and George (2002) amongst others. These interpretations go beyond a dichotomous ‘compliance/resistance’ interpretation of enactment, understanding teacher response as more nuanced and pragmatic.

Methods
The study aims to uncover new ways of understanding teacher enactment of, and beliefs towards PBA through a qualitative research strategy. Due to the significant policy changes experienced over the last decade or so, yet the understudied nature of the context, Dutch primary schools were chosen as a case-study through which to explore the impact of ‘global’ education trends (Yin, 1984). Findings are based on 20 in-depth, semi-structured teacher interviews conducted in six primary schools in the Netherlands.

Findings
Findings show that all teachers experience the pressure of high workloads and (varying degrees of) role discrepancy. Many believe that too much time is required for tasks designed to measure teaching and learning, resulting in insufficient time for core teaching tasks. Confronted with this reality, five teacher strategies have been identified: alignment, integration, accretion, evasion, and resignation, with teacher career stage found to shape response. Beyond this, findings indicate that many teachers have (re)oriented their beliefs and expectations of key aspects of the profession, such as autonomy, to better align with the policy environment. This supports conceptualizations of professions not only ‘being changed by’ external reform, but changing from within (see Ball, 2016).

Significance
The research lends value in a number of ways, seeking to make unique contributions to the field. Conceptually speaking, this is done through its application of the role discrepancy concept to the field of teaching and through its identification of various teacher policy-response strategies. Contextually speaking, its focus on the ‘lower-stakes’ country of the Netherlands goes some way to address the imbalance of research focused on neoliberal systems (USA, UK, Australia), providing a deeper understanding of which formulations of PBA produce which effects. Finally, the study has policy and social significance. Role discrepancy is linked to intention to quit (Takase, 2006b) and job dissatisfaction (Agresta, 2006). Given the instabilities and uncertainties surrounding the teaching profession such as severe teacher shortage in the Netherlands and elsewhere, a better understanding of teachers’ practices and beliefs in the current policy environment is crucial.

Authors

• Natalie Browes, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

• Hulya K. Altinyelken, University of Amsterdam