THE NEO-PERFORMATIVE TEACHER: SCHOOL REFORM, ENTREPRENEURIALISM AND THE PURSUIT OF EDUCATIONAL EQUITY

The impact of neoliberal reforms of education systems on the work of teachers and school leaders, particularly in relation to high-stakes accountability frameworks, has been extensively studied in recent decades. One significant aspect of neoliberal schooling is the emergence of quasi-autonomous pub...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of educational studies 2021-01, Vol.69 (1), p.27-45
Main Authors: Wilkins, Chris, Gobby, Brad, Keddie, Amanda
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Access to Education
Accountability
Administrative Organization
Charter Schools
Concept formation
Education reform
Educational Change
Educational Equity (Finance)
Educational leadership
Educational systems
Elementary Secondary Education
Entrepreneurship
Equal Education
equity
Fairness
Foreign Countries
Governance
High Stakes Tests
Institutional Characteristics
Instructional Leadership
Leadership
Management development programmes
Neoliberalism
Performance Based Assessment
Performativity
Primary secondary education
Professional Identity
Professionalism
Public schools
School Administration
School leaders
School Restructuring
Social Justice
Teacher identity
teacher professionalism
Teachers
Teaching Conditions
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Summary:The impact of neoliberal reforms of education systems on the work of teachers and school leaders, particularly in relation to high-stakes accountability frameworks, has been extensively studied in recent decades. One significant aspect of neoliberal schooling is the emergence of quasi-autonomous public schools (such as Academies in England, Charter Schools in the USA and Independent Public Schools in Australia), characterised by heterarchical governance models, the promotion of entrepreneurial leadership cultures, and the promotion of a discourse of pursuing educational equity by means of 'achievement for all'. This paper explores the emergence of a mode of teacher professionalism characteristic of these quasi-autonomous schools, and conceptualises this as being 'neo-performative'. The neo-performative profession is shaped by the shift in the focus of the regulation and management of schools from 'governing to governance', and the consequential rise of the 'responsibilised profession', and marked by the emergence of an entrepreneurial model of school leadership. The paper argues that this new conceptualisation of teacher professionalism requires further, more focused, empirical study in order to explore how neoperformative teachers and school leaders articulate their vision of educational equity and social justice, and how they enact this vision in an increasingly intensified high-stakes accountability culture.
ISSN:0007-1005
1467-8527
DOI:10.1080/00071005.2020.1739621