Running head: AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

Teachers Experience of AITSLs National Professional Standards for Teachers Chapter 3 Design of the Research Adam J. Taylor adam.taylor@syd.catholic.edu.au

EDFD707 Australian Catholic University Supervisor: Dr. Roger Vallance Due Date: May 2013

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS ABSTRACT The focus of this study is professional standards for teachers and in particular teachers experience of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leaderships (AITSL) National Professional Standards for Teachers. The term professional standards has two elements to it professional and standards. Both professionalism and the standards movement were heavily influenced by the rise of neoliberalism in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Under this influence, professionalism has seen the emergence of two competing discourses. The first discourse is one of quality assurance. It is focussed on accountability levers to improve the quality of schooling. It is driven top-down by government and has a powerful impulse to

colonise the domain of teacher professionalism and professional standards, reducing standards to competency checklists and teachers to compliant officers of the state. The second discourse is one of quality improvement that is focussed on building teacher capacity through professional learning that is oriented to collaborative inquiry. The second part of professional standards is the standards element. Standards, like professionalism, have been the subject of contesting discourses of quality assurance and quality improvement. Teacher professional learning forms an almost natural nexus with professional standards and this nexus has been made explicit by AITSL in its recent publications. Accordingly, the area of professional standards as a framework for professional learning is examined. Drawing on the research bases in school improvement and teacher professional learning, the key themes of capacity building and collaborative inquiry are explored: The moral purpose of teaching; the critical importance of professional judgement in teachers work; the place of social capital and the importance of risk and trust in building collaborative networks of practitioner inquiry emerge as thematic elements of the practitioners response to the quality agenda. A case is made for teachers to be subversive deeply and questioningly critiquing the status quo which has seen decades of plateauing in student outcomes despite bids to improve the quality of teaching and learning. This is a conception of engagement with professional standards where the teacher is

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS an Activist Professional (After Sachs 2011). It is a conception which provides a framework for

examining teachers experience of AITSLs professional standards, for which no research has yet been noted in the Literature.

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS TABLE OF CONTENTS

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 1. RATIONALE FOR THE CHOSEN METHODOLOGY From ED707: State the purpose of the chapter and restate the purpose of the research itself. You have already generated research questions from the previous chapter so the research questions should be restated. Rhetoric v reality in Zajda, 2002. Critical theory necessary to give voice to the voiceless in a current neoliberal paradigm - the teacher - to address the potential disempowerment that comes with the danger of standards reducing the teacher to mere technical officer. Neoliberalism as the unit of research (Beck & Sznaider, 2006, p. 15). Chomskys rationale is good enough for me (Chomsky & Foucault, 2006, p. 15). Why the international context is important: Methodological cosmopolitanism (Beck, 2006) and methodological nationalism (Beck & Grande, 2010). Later (1996), after the publication of the Theory of Communicative Action (Habermas 1984, 1987a), and recognising that agreement about these was only possible when people were in

communication with others, he drew attention (Habermas 1987b and especially 1996, Chap. 8) to the role of communicative action in opening communicative space between peoplethe space of intersubjectivity (which plays an important role in some of his more recent works, including Habermas 1998,2002,20033, b, c). Opening communicative space, in turn, depends on our use of language as a tool for reaching understanding (Kemmis, 2011, p. 16). Discussions of Australian national or state politics are less relevant to my thesis than is the global trend of #neoliberalism (Beck & Sznaider, 2006).

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK What is the philosophical stance informing the methodology? (Crotty, 1998, p. 2). The notion of the research paradigm. Note (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010) and the nature of policy research and the distinction between the

types - analysis for policy vis a vis analysis of policy, pp xi-xii; 45. Perhaps comment here on the irrelevance of Jensens policy for work at the Gratten Institute (Jensen, 2012). The importance of research purpose and positionality (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010, p. 51). An ironic part of our positionality is that as neoliberal people, driven to innovate and succeed on our own (or be dammed if we do not) is that it drives teacher-researchers like me as professionals to attempt to seize the Standards Agenda to make national professional standards for teachers their own (Ball, 2012, p. 144). The significance of neoliberalism (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010, p. xii). Studying of public policy in a globalised world dominated by a neoliberal imaginary demands new theoretical and methodological approaches (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010, p. xii). A theoretical paradigm is thus the identification of the underlying basis that is used to construct a scientific investigation; or, a loose collection of logically held together assumptions, concepts, and propositions that orientates thinking and research (Bogdan & Biklan, 1982, p. 30). (Krauss, 2005, p. 75). What is the Weltanschauung of this piece of work?

2.1.

EPISTEMOLOGY

Describe and justify your chosen epistemology. Philosophical assumptions about what constitutes knowledge claims (Creswell, 2003). Search #positivism.

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS Describe the missing ontology in the nation professional standards for teachers and why the expression of the ontology of teaching has implications for the selection of research methods, seeking expression to teacher voice. Constructionism is an epistemology. Postmodern perspectives from Usher & Edwards, 2000. From Joseph Zajdas presentation on mixed methodologies: The epistemology of qualitative research (Zajda, 2002; 2005). Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, methods and limits of

human knowledge The epistemology of qualitative research: provides the underpinnings for how research is conducted, underlying assumptions, how data are collected and analysed and how conclusions are reached.

2.2.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

Describe and justify your theoretical perspective. Not sure if this belongs here or the section above...The program notes read: Research paradigms mean the varying approaches to assumptions about reality and knowledge that contribute to different ways of understanding research problems. Commonly these approaches are gathered into categories that include the experimental/empirical, sometimes labelled as: positivist or post-positivist, interpretative and critical. cf here Creswell, 2003. Heed the cynicism of (Stronach, 2010, p. 5). Read here (Candy, 1989; Cherryholmes, 1993; Crotty, 1998; Pring, 2000; Gibbons & Sanderson,

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

2002; Gough, 2002; Neuman, 2006; Schnelker, 2006; ODonoghue, 2007; Feast & Melles, 2010; Lincoln, Lynham & Guba, 2011).

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND METHODS For example, if you are doing a case study, describe and justify its use and its relationship to the research purpose. Firstly, what are the strategies of inquiry (Creswell, 2003, p. 3) and then the means of data collection? Critical discourse analysis is helpful in providing an account of how political ideologies are

authorized through policies by locating them in the dominant popular imaginaries so that they are interpreted as emerging from a commonly agreed set of values. (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010, p. 63). We don not have well developed research methods for determining the extent of power and influence of networked public policy (Ball, 2012, p. 7). Interviews. Ethical issues (Plummer, 2001; Briggs, 2003; Krauss, 2005). Why distinguishing between the perspective of social actors and that of social scientific observers (Beck, 2006, p. 81) is important. Cf Becks distinction between actor and observer from the cosmopolitan theoretical perspective (Beck & Sznaider, 2006, p. 4). From Silverman, 2005: How did you go about your research? 2 What overall strategy did you adopt and why? 3 What design and techniques did you use? 4 Why these and not others?

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 4. RESEARCH DESIGN Mixed methods? Probably not, although there may be a place for a short survey.

10

4.1.

PARTICIPANTS

Who, Why and How.

4.2.

DATA GATHERING STRATEGIES

4.3.

ANALYSIS OF DATA

What methods of analysis have you chosen? How do they work? Carefully use diagrams and tables.

4.4.

VERIFICATIONS

What have you done to ensure the integrity of your work, your writing and your findings?

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

11

4.5.

ETHICAL ISSUES

What ethical issues arose and how did you cope with these? How did you plan and conduct the study so as to avoid major ethical dilemmas?

4.6.

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH DESIGN

What happened and when? Use a diagram

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 5. PROPOSED RESEARCH TIMETABLE

12

5.1.

5.2.

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

13

7. ANNOTATED REFERENCE LISTS Ball, S. (2012). Global Education Inc. New policy networks and the neo-liberal imaginary (Kindle ed.). London: Routledge.. Makes connections between profit seeking organisations and individuals and the neoliberal agenda for education in the last twenty years. XRef to Fairclough2003/187. Beck, U., & Grande, E. (2010). Varieties of second modernity: The cosmopolitan turn in social and political theory and research. The British journal of sociology, 61(3), 409443. Wiley Online Library. Beck, U., & Sznaider, N. (2006). Unpacking cosmopolitanism for the social sciences: A research agenda. The British Journal of Sociology, 57(1), 123. Wiley Online Library.. Such a seminal paper that it was republished in 2010: The British Journal of Sociology The BJS: Shaping Sociology Over 60 Years: 381403. Beck, U. (2006). The cosmopolitan vision. (C. Cronin, Trans.). Cambridge: Polity Press.. Review: In the best 20 pages of the book, Beck summarizes advancements made since the early 1990s in meeting the epistemological challenges of studying globalization empirically Briggs, C. L. (2003). Postmodern interviewingJ. F. Gubrium & J. A. Holstein (Eds.), (pp. 242 255). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781412985437 Candy, P. (1989). Alternative paradigms in educational research. The Australian Educational Researcher, 16(3), 111. doi: 10.1007/BF03219446 Cherryholmes, C. H. (1993). Reading research. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 25(1), 132. doi: 10.1080/0022027930250101 Chomsky, N., & Foucault, M. (2006). The Chomsky-Foucault debate: On human nature. New York: New Press.. if it is correct, as I believe it is, that a fundamental element of human nature is the need for creative work, for creative inquiry, for free creation without the arbitrary limiting effect of coercive institutions, p.3738 Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

14

Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.. Read Chp 7 pp106ff Outline of my approach is on p.5 Foundational statement of critical theory, p.99 Freire and human creativity, p.115 Feast, L., & Melles, G. (2010, 28 June - 1 July). Epistemological positions in design research: A brief review of the literature. Unpublished paper. Connected 2010 - 2nd International Conference on Design Education, University of NSW. Gibbons, T., & Sanderson, G. (2002). Contemporary Themes in the Research Enterprise. International Education Journal, 3(4), 122. Gough, N. (2002). Blank spots, blind spots, and methodological questions in educational inquiry. Unpublished paper. Higher Degrees Summer School, Faculty of Education, Deakin University. Jensen, B. (2012). Catching up: Learning from the best school systems in East Asia. Carlton, Victoria: Grattan Institute. Retrieved from http://www.grattan.edu.au/ Kemmis, S. (2011). A self-reflective practitioner and a new definition of critical participatory action research. In N. Mockler & J. Sachs (eds), Rethinking educational practice through reflexive inquiry: Essays in honour of Susan Groundwater-Smith (pp. 1129). Dordrecht: Springer.. Radical critique of the System, p.14. Definition of action research, p.13ff. Essentially, the act of continual self-and critical reflection and action is the path of school self improvement (from my leadership perspective. Always asking, what (more) needs to be done? (see Kemmis2010) or how can we do it better?

Action research can emancipate the teacher from the chains of compliance and accountabilities, p.19; 24 Krauss, S. (2005). Research paradigms and meaning making: A primer. The Qualitative Report, 10(4), 758770.. Positivism is objectivist, p.761 Lincoln, Y. S., Lynham, S. A., & Guba, E. G. (2011). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences, revisited. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (eds), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed., pp. 97128). Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.. #farewell to criteriology p.121.

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

15

Neuman, W. (2006). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Boston: Pearson. ODonoghue, T. (2007). Planning your qualitative research project: An introduction to interpretivist research in education. Abingdon: Routledge. Plummer, K. (2001). Documents of life 2: An invitation to a critical humanism. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781849208888. Chapter excerpt: The Moral and Human Face of Life Stories: Reflexivity, Power and Ethics. The disparity between what seems to be the intention of an interview as it is taking place and what it actually turns out to have been in aid of always comes as a shock. Pring, R. (2000). The false dualism of educational research. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 34(2), 247260. doi: 10.1111/14679752.00171 Rizvi, F., & Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing education policy. Milton Park: Routledge.. Critique of the source of the concept of education as in the service of the knowledge economy, p.8081. In a comment (p.201), I discuss a #dilemma that might be considered in my #conclusion.

through public policies the state laid out a framework which guided educational practices but did not wholly determine them. ix

Through public policies, the state expressed its value preferences, either as an expression of democratic choices of a community or in steering that communitys expectations. But we insisted that just as policies embody particular values, so does their analysis. ix

Critical discourse analysis is helpful in providing an account of how political ideologies are authorized through policies by locating them in the dominant popular imaginaries so that they are interpreted as emerging from a commonly agreed set of values. 63

public policy in the grip of #positivism - precisely the reason that post-positivist perspectives stand to cast new light on to the subject. cf p.57

AITSL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS Sachs, J. (2011). Skilling or emancipating? Metaphors for continuing teacher professional development. In N. Mockler & J. Sachs (eds), Rethinking educational practice through reflexive inquiry: Essays in honour of Susan Groundwater-Smith (pp. 153167). Dordrecht: Springer. Schnelker, D. L. (2006). The student-as-bricoleur: Making sense of research paradigms. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(1), 4257. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2005.07.001 Silverman, D. (2005). Doing qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 302309). London: SAGE Publications.

16

Stronach, I. (2010). Globalizing education, educating the local: How method made us mad. London: Routledge.. Argues that the PISA and TIMSS narratives are pseudoscience and distorting nonsense. Chapter 3: The conflicted professional, caught between global and external economies of performance and more local ecologies of practice, in terms of internal commitments, p.5 Usher, R., & Edwards, R. (2000). Virtual research in performative times. In J. Garrick & C. Rhodes (Eds.), Research and knowledge at work: Perspectives, case-studies and innovative strategies (pp. 250268). London: Routledge. Zajda, J. (2002). Education and policy: Changing paradigms and issues. International review of education, 48(1), 6791.. The recurring theme of #rhetoric v #reality.

This analysis brings into question the efficacy of the grand narratives of education that policy seeks to respond to and begs the analysis that #critical discourse analysis can bring. Zajda, J. (2005). Globalization, education and policy: Changing paradigms. In J. Zajda (Ed.), International handbook on globalization, education and policy research: Global perspectives and policies (pp. 121). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/1402029608_1