Brennan, Marie (2009) Steering teachers: working to control the feminised profession of teaching. Journal of Sociology, 45 (4). pp. 339-359. ISSN 1440-7833

Abstract

Changes in public sector management need to be unpacked for different sectors to understand their impact in a particular country. This article focuses on the governance of the feminized profession of teaching in Australia, the single largest professional grouping in the country. Neoliberal assumptions have been built into teachers’ work through policy change in three related ‘waves’. The first wave in the 1980s installed managerialism in public education by recentralizing curriculum policy, establishing ‘self-managing’ schools, and downsizing infrastructure. The second wave in the 1990s steered teachers’ work through federal intervention into curriculum, and individualization of teachers’ work in contexts of marketization; this wave consolidated a national political role in education. The third wave in the 2000s emphasized the codification of knowledge through establishment of standards and criteria for teacher employment and promotion. The article concludes that the governance efforts to steer teachers’ work by neoliberal assumptions have been significantly, but not totally, effective.

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