Building a One-Dimensional Teacher: Technocratic Trends in U.S. Teacher Education Policies

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Theorizing and Reflecting on Teaching and Learning

Abstract

In the context of neoliberal reforms, teacher education policy discourses have shifted away from social justice imperatives towards technocratic approaches. I examine these shifts by applying the tools of critical policy and discourse analysis to accreditation standards and other policy texts of the last decade. Using Marcuse’s (1964) theory of one-dimensional subjects, I analyze how teacher education policy discourses position teachers as agents of social control whose work is to preserve the status quo and to legitimize the current structures of domination. This positioning is accomplished through the technocratization of teacher knowledge and depoliticization of diversity and equity in teacher preparation. The significance of this analysis lies in establishing connections between accreditation standards and reform priorities pursued by intermediary organizations.

Author

• Elena Aydarova, Auburn University