‘Cruel optimism’: teacher attachment to professionalism in an era of performativity
Open accessAbstract
This study provides a critical exploration of the way teachers’ attachment to notions of professionalism may facilitate a process whereby teachers find themselves obliged to enact centralised and local education policies that they do not believe in but are required to implement. The study argues that professionalism involves an entanglement of (past) occupational and (present) organisational discourses and that the remainders of the former facilitate the enactment of the latter. The study draws on Berlant’s notion of cruel optimism to help understand this process, whereby teachers’ attachment to professionalism may assist them in undermining the very values they believe it embodies.
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The Musicians' Union report (2019) provides extensive evidence that many teachers of music are experiencing feelings of 'reluctant compliance'.
“The Musicians' Union report (Musician's Union, 2019) provides extensive evidence that many teachers of music are experiencing feelings of 'reluctant compliance' (Moore and Clarke, 2016, p. 667).”
From The policy and practice of music education in England, 2010–2020 (2021) · cites this paper as Moore and Clarke, 2016
Teachers find themselves having to do things they do not believe in, yet are attached to prevailing ideologies, and become 'bearers' of those ideas despite initial or ongoing reluctance.
“They find themselves in the situation of having to do things that they do not believe in, yet also are attached to these prevailing ideologies, and essentially becoming the 'bearers' (Moore and Clarke, 2016, p. 668) of those ideas, despite their initial or ongoing reluctance.”
From The policy and practice of music education in England, 2010–2020 (2021) · cites this paper as Moore and Clarke, 2016
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The policy and practice of music education in England, 2010–2020
Savage, J. (2021) · British Educational Research Journal · doi:10.1002/berj.3672 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
- Authors
- Moore, A., & Clarke, M.
- Affiliations
- Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK
- York St John University (GB)
- ORCID
- Clarke, Matthew
- Venue
- Journal of Education Policy
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-03-23
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 666-677
- ISSN
- 0268-0939 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-5106
- OpenAlex
- W2325662018
- Cited by
- 146
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 60.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- orcid.org
- Locations
- Journal of Education Policy (publishedVersion)
- Research at York St John (York St John University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Education, Philosophy, and Society
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Education, sociology, and vocational training
- Keywords
- teacher professionalism, cruel optimism, performativity, policy enactment, organizational discourse, Berlant, teacher agency, education policy implementation
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