Teacher Autonomy as Constructed: A Discourse Analysis of the Georgian National Curricula

• In Event: An Aerial View of Teacher Leadership

Abstract

Dominant rationalities of neoliberal reforms have significantly threatened the freedom and space of discretion of teachers. However, their attempts to turn educators into skilled technicians or managed professionals are contested and modified across different contexts. The purpose of this paper is to examine how educational reforms have been shaping and affecting teacher autonomy in Georgia, one of the Post-Soviet countries. We employ a historical form Critical Discourse Analysis to understand how the Ministry of Education, i.e., the actor with the power, uses the written language to shape the autonomy discourse. The study also takes a historical perspective and aims to unpack how the autonomy discourse gets appeared, is intensified, or mitigated since 2005, when the first outcome-based national curriculum was introduced.

Authors

• Ketevan Chachkhiani, Arizona State University

• Mirka E. Koro, Arizona State University