The Historical Production of “Bad Teachers” In U.S. Schools

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 4:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Unpacking Teacher Identities (Table 8)

Abstract

This qualitative historical study, part of a broader ethnographic project on teachers’ everyday work, explores the discourses and technologies of power that have produced a specific category called "bad teacher." Examining archival materials from Philadelphia and New York City, the project aims to show how, in particular times of “crisis,” schools and policymakers construct and use this category. In looking at how this category emerges and morphs, present day teachers who have been marked as “bad” might explore new ways of resisting and troubling harmful, normative, and disciplinary discourses about teachers’ lives and work.

Author

• Jordan Corson, Stockton University