It’s all just a little bit of history repeating: 40 years of political review and reform in teacher education
Open accessAbstract
There have been at least 100 governmental inquiries into teacher education in Australia since the 1970s, making thousands of recommendations, the majority of which have never been fully actioned or realised. Additionally, there is minimal evidence about the efficacy of this continuous review cycle. Here, we problematise these issues by conducting a comparative analysis of the Bassett report, Review of Teacher Education in Queensland, the first review of independent teacher education in Australia conducted in 1978, and the most recent review by the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group, Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers. Applying discourse analysis techniques associated with Foucauldian archaeology, findings reveal: a self-referential use of policy is accelerating; those involved are less likely to have knowledge of the discipline of education; similarities in the discourses despite the 40-year timeframe; and increased marginalisation of teacher educators. In the light of these findings, the authors highlight the need for teacher educators to be politically savvy about the mythologising and canonising of allowable problems in teacher education. Teacher educators need to challenge policy and enter the public sphere in doing so.
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The 'accountability agenda' visible in ITE reforms in England is also visible in Australia and the United States.
“For example, the 'accountability agenda' visible in ITE reforms in England (Ellis et al., 2019;Mutton et al., 2021;Towers et al., 2023) are also visible in Australia (Alexander & Bourke, 2021) and the United States (Fuller & Stevenson, 2019).”
From Space as a lens for teacher agency: A case study of three beginning teachers in England, <scp>UK</scp> (2024) · cites this paper as Alexander & Bourke, 2021
A key aim of these reforms has been to increase regulatory control over the ITE sector through centralised curricular and a focus on 'accountability' and 'professional standards'.
“A key aim of these reforms has been to increase regulatory control over the ITE sector through centralised curricular and a focus on 'accountability' and 'professional standards' (Alexander & Bourke, 2021;Churchward & Willis, 2019;Mutton et al., 2017) which are consistent with policy reforms beyond England.”
From Space as a lens for teacher agency: A case study of three beginning teachers in England, <scp>UK</scp> (2024) · cites this paper as Alexander & Bourke, 2021
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- Authors
- Alexander, C., & Bourke, T.
- Affiliations
- Australian Catholic University (AU)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Alexander, Colette
- Venue
- Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2021-03-09
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 471-486
- ISSN
- 1359-866X (ISSN-L)
- 1469-2945
- OpenAlex
- W3131713955
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 8.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- eprints.qut.edu.au
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Assessments
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Global Educational Policies and Reforms
- Keywords
- teacher education policy, policy review, policy reform, Foucauldian archaeology, policy discourse, teacher educators, policy implementation, Australian teacher education
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