Teacher professional practice and an ethic of care: an everyday problematic by Lisa Breen BA (Hons) (Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies) (Monash University) Diploma of Education (Monash University) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Deakin University June, 2014 Acknowledgements I would like to express my deep gratitude to Professor Brenton Doecke, my supervisor, for his patient guidance, enthusiastic encouragement and invaluable critiques of this research work. I would also like to thank Dr Glenn Auld for his constructive suggestions during the development of my thesis. My grateful thanks are extended to Bella Illesca for her contributions to my study and her on-going reassurance and support. I would also like to express my great appreciation for my partner, Brent, and my family who have always supported all my endeavours. Lastly I would like to acknowledge all my students who have taught me so much throughout my teaching career and continue to open my mind. 1 Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 4 Glossary of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………….……. 6 Chapter 1: Understanding my professional practice as an English teacher ….… 7 1.1 Deciding to research my own practice ……………………………………….… 11 1.2 Setting the context for an outsider: Year 10B English ………………..…. 13 1.2a My context, October 2007 ……………………………………………………….…. 13 1.2b The week before the observation, Year 10B English, October 2007... 17 1.2c The week of the observation, Year 10B English, October 31st ….…... 20 1.2d Bella’s observation: The Camera’s eye, November 2nd, 2007 ……….. 21 1.2e Bella’s observation: The Concept Game: ‘Fairness’ ……………………… 23 Chapter 2: Theorising the everyday …………………………………………………………..…… 34 2.1 Foucault – power/knowledge and techniques of the self …………..…… 39 2.2 Smith - standpoint and the actualities of the everyday …………..……… 42 2.3 Haug – memory work ……………………………………………………..…….….…… 45 2.4 Bakhtin – dialogism and ideological becoming ……………….………..….… 47 2.5 The Problematic - research as discovery …………………………………..…..… 49 2.6 Teacher professional practice and an ethic of care: an everyday problematic ………………………………………………………………………………………………..….. 52 2.6a Journal entry, February 2nd 2009 ……………………………………………..…… 52 Chapter 3: Policy changes and the impact on my practice ……………………….….….. 55 3.1 Professional Development to begin the 2009 school year …………...…. 61 3.1a Journal entry, Wednesday, January 28th 2009 …………………….………... 61 3.1b Report comment bank extract …………………………………………….…….… 63 3.1c Professional goal writing outline from Newland Secondary College.. 64 3.2 Policy mediating my practice in 2009: The Blueprint for education ... 66 3.3 How students and teachers are measured ………………………….…………. 71 3.3a Journal entry, May 11th 2009 ………………………………..…………….…….…. 74 3.4 Students responding to standardised testing ………………………….……… 78 Chapter 4: Proper English? …………………………………………………….…………………….….. 82 2 4.1 Language is social ………………………………………………………..………………. 86 4.2 Examples of language in the 2009 English classroom ……………….…… 91 4.2a First example: Haris’ favourite car ………………………………………………. 91 4.2b Second example: What I’m looking forward to ……………………….…… 93 4.2c Third example: assessment of ‘The Nightmare Lance’ ……………..…. 96 4.3 Texts mediating language at school ……………………………………….……. 100 4.4 Language and testing at Newland for the Year 7s 2009 ………….……. 103 4.4a Journal extract, Friday, February 6th, 2009 …………………………….…… 105 4.4b Journal extract, Thursday, February 19th, 2009 ……………………..……. 106 4.4c Journal extract, Monday, February 23rd, 2009 …………………….………. 107 4.5 Is escaping standardisation a possibility? ……………………………...…….. 111 4.5a Moe’s writing: What it’s like being in Year 7 …………………….……..…. 112 4.6 Understanding ‘proper English’ ………………………………………….….…….. 117 Chapter 5: What counts at school ………………………………………………….……….…….. 119 5a 7B On Demand data for Reading, February 2009 …………….………….…. 120 5b Journal entry, Tuesday, February 10th 2009 …………………….….…………. 122 5.1 Forgotten everyday ……………………………………………………….…………….. 125 5.2 Connecting through experience ……………………………………….…………… 127 5.3 The importance of making connections ………………………….……….…… 131 5.3a Journal entry, December 8th, 2009. Orientation Day …….…………..… 137 5.3b Journal entry, June 25th, 2009 …………………………………….….…………… 139 5.4 Connecting through texts ………………………………………………….……….… 141 5.5 Beyond our control? Disconnect in the classroom ……………….………… 144 5.5a Journal entry, December 12th, 2009 …………………………………….….…… 144 5.6 Reflecting on the everyday ………………………………………………………...… 151 Chapter 6: Discipline and Power …………………………………………………………….……… 155 6a Discipline in Grade 1 ……………………………………………………….……………… 155 6.1 Mechanisms of discipline ………………………………………………….…………… 159 6.2 Power relations at Newland ……………………………………………….………… 163 6.3 Discipline as it is enacted everyday ………………………………….…………… 168 6.3a Journal entry, August 2009 ……………………………………………….………… 169 3 6.4 Docile bodies ………………………………………………………………………………… 182 6.5 Economical surveillance …………………………………………………………..…… 184 6.6 Reflecting on Discipline and Power at School ………………………………… 189 Chapter 7: Identity work ………………………………………………………………………………… 191 7.1 Who are you today? ……………………………………………………………………… 195 7.2 School writing ………………………………………………………………….…………… 199 7.3 Stacey’s identity work ………………………………………………….……..………… 201 7.4 Jack’s identity work ……………………………………………………………….……… 205 7.4a Journal entry, November 2009 ……………………………………….…………… 206 7.4b Jack’s writing: Guess what? Im in year 7 ……………….……………………. 212 7.5 My Identity ………………………………………………………………………………...… 214 7.5a Journal entry, March 8th 2007 ……………………………………………………… 215 7.5b Journal entry, March 2nd 2001 ………………………………………………….…. 217 7.6 But who am I to others? ………………………………………………………………… 221 7.6a Journal entry, March 2009 …………………………………………………………… 222 7.7 Moving on ………………………………………………………………………………..…… 225 7.7a Journal entry, Saturday, November 28th, 2009 …………………………..… 225 7.8 Reflecting on Identity Work ……………………………………………..…………… 227 Chapter 8: My journey and discovery continues ……………………………………………… 228 8.1 My new state school and a relentless policy driven environment …… 229 8.1a Journal entry, May 11th 2012 ……………………………………………..……..… 233 8.1b Journal entry, May 18th 2012 ……………………………………………………… 234 8.1c Journal entry, September 21st 2012 …………………………………..………… 235 8.1d Journal entry, July 28th, 2012 ……………………………………………...……… 237 8.2 Managerial Discourse …………………………………………………………………… 238 8.3 Best teacher practice in whose interests? ……………………………………… 241 8.3a Journal entry, March 4th 2013 …………………………………………….…..…… 243 8.4 In Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….…… 246 References ………………………………………………………………………………………………..…… 249 4 Abstract The current trend in education is to impose accountability measures through standards-based reforms as a way to determine and assess the teaching and learning that occur in classrooms. Often such policies seem alien to my everyday experience as a classroom teacher and they compromise my ability to be responsive to the students in my care. This is particularly so with respect to the way standardised testing data are now treated as a true representation of students’ literacy ability, at the expense of paying due attention to the social aspects of schooling, the relationships between a teacher and her students and the fact that literacy occurs in our everyday interactions (Barton & Hamilton 1998, p.3), not just the formal situations of schooling. Furthermore, the research invoked to support standards-based reforms is frequently conducted by researchers located outside of the everyday actualities (Smith 1987, p212) of schools as institutional settings, diminishing the value of the knowledge that teachers are able to generate through their professional practice. By contrast, my study provides an account of teacher professional practice from a standpoint within the institution, involving first-hand knowledge of the everyday world of school. Through my research, using writing as a form of inquiry, I was able to begin to question how my ethical obligations to my students, face-to-face, could be preserved despite the pressures put on me to conform to external mandates (Davies 2006, p.236). The focus of this study is a year in my professional life as an English teacher in a secondary state school located in a low socio-economic area in Melbourne in 2009. Also crucial to my investigation are the writing and experiences leading up to and following this time, which enable me to put that year into perspective, generating stronger insights into the complexities of being a teacher and the everyday world of the school than were available to me from day-to-day. The writing in which I engaged prior to and after the year that is the focus of this study provides a resource to reflect upon and develop a richer account of what it is to be a teacher (Haug 1999) than might have otherwise been possible. By beginning from experience, I am able to critically reflect on my actions, and by exploring relevant autobiographical moments, discussions with students and student writing 5 through different theoretical frameworks, I am able to see how events are mediated by things that might not be apparent otherwise in the immediacy of my everyday practice (Smith 2005). The reflexive nature of my research exposes the ruling relations and provides greater clarity as to what schooling is now about. The difference concerns a construction of schooling along economic lines as opposed to understanding schooling in social or relational