What Do Current U.S. Professional Teaching Standards Tell Us? A Dialectic Analysis of Teacher Policy

• In Event: Examining Assumptions Underlying Teaching Standards and Practices: A Focus on Equity

Abstract

In challenging times, how do we navigate U.S. societal debates in which excellence versus equity and democracy versus diversity conflict (Milner, 2008)? As policy language reveals intention to guide action, this paper discusses the findings from
a 50 state professional teaching standards discourse analysis of how teachers may understand their roles with students. Guided by dialectic micro-level theoretical perspectives of principled resistance (Sniderman & Carmines, 1997) and cultural responsiveness (Gay, 2000/2018; Ladson-Billings, 1995) and macro-level sociohistorical perspectives attending to context, this paper discusses the current landscape of teaching and learning as read through policy language. Implications for
race-neutral policy language debates, understanding principally resistant attitudes, and
cultivating equitable education systems in the 21st century are discussed.

Author

• Danielle M. Carrier, University of Georgia - Athens