Teachers' Adaptation to the Intricacies of the Performativity Era

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Educational Policies and Reforms: Reactions, Responses, and Adaptations

Abstract

The research question that guides this study is: What are the adaptive mechanisms that teachers developed to uphold their professional autonomy as a response to the high-stakes accountability system's demands in which they work? The theoretical framework of this paper is based on Gregory Bateson’s concept of the double-bind. This qualitative study is part of a larger mixed-methods study that looked at the relationship between teacher autonomy and high-stakes accountability technologies. Although it is essential to understand why teachers struggle to maintain high levels of autonomy, this paper uniquely describes how teachers navigate a high-stakes accountability system. Sharing teachers’ adaptive mechanisms help us spread strategies to disrupt the systemic inequity that promotes the robotization of teachers serving marginalized students.

Authors

• Ignacio Barrenechea, University of Miami

• Wendy Cavendish, University of Miami