Modern Times? Work, Professionalism and Citizenship in Teaching

This is an account of modern since the 1930s teaching. The book examines changes in teaching, past policy, and new policies introduced since the 1988 Education Act. In the context of market-led education replacing a public education system, the book looks at the impact of: the end of collective bargaining; the beginning of performance-related pay; and the recent emphasis on local school management and budgeting. It examines how these changes affect work and the professionalism of teachers. It also explores the impact of new kinds of work relations and skills in relation to changes in public service and the state.

The politics of teaching - arguments around school work; the spur and the bridle - changing the mode of curriculum control; modernizing professionalism - a culture of enquiry and teachers' labour league; the British way and purpose - the spirit of the age in curriculum history; social constructions of quality in teaching; encouraging license and insolence in the classroom - imaginging a pedagogic shift; a determining moment for teachers - the strike of 1985; reform dilemmas for the union - cultural changes and the labour process; the end of the modern in teaching? - implications for professionalism and work; second guessing the past - organizing in the market; orderings and disorderings - questions about the work of the primary head in the new public/private mix; a synthetic exit.

Martin Lawn