Open AccessOn the Faultline Between the Profession and the State: The Ambiguous Role of Teacher Professional Bodies
Author(s) -
Noeline Alcorn
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
new zealand annual review of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1178-3311
pISSN - 1171-3283
DOI - 10.26686/nzaroe.v0i13.1451
Subject(s) - surrender , accountability , curriculum , state (computer science) , power (physics) , political science , pedagogy , public administration , public relations , psychology , sociology , law , quantum mechanics , physics , algorithm , computer science
The New Zealand Teachers Council was established in 2002 to enhance the professional status of teachers. Though its responsibility for teacher registration and discipline makes it a gatekeeper to the profession, its status is problematic. Self-regulation is key to the professional status of doctors, lawyers and engineers, but the powers of teaching councils internationally are limited. Governments, increasingly prescriptive about curriculum, assessment and achievement, are reluctant to surrender power over standards and accountability to a teacher dominated body. The article examines the challenges for teaching councils across four countries, as they grapple with complex issues of professionalism and accountability in the contested ground between teachers and the State.