Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Teachers and Educational Reforms: Teachers' Response to Policy Changes in England and France.
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Broadfoot, Patricia |
| Copyright Year | 1994 |
| Abstract | This paper assesses how French and English elementary school teachers have responded to broad, radical educational policy changes affecting individual teachers and schools. The paper uses findings from two linked studies, the Primary Assessment Curriculum and Experience (PACE) project in England and the Primary Teachers and Policy Change (STEP) project in France, and compares them with base-line data collected as part of the BRISTAIX project in both countries between 1984 and 1987 before the reforms took place. Since reform in France was towards more decentralization and reform in England was towards much greater central control, the paper provides comparative insights into teachers' reactions to imposed changes which challenge their professional assumptions. The analysis concludes that despite some important differences between French and English teachers, for both sets of teachers the reality of change lies not in the adoption of particular pedagogic approaches or working practices but in the more gradual process of evolution in professional ideology itself. In particular teachers have clear but potentially rather different professional ideologies which inform their work. Such teachers' ideologies change over time, and while some change in ideologies is likely to be the result of policy changes, this is likely to be less significant than evolving professional judgment concerning priorities. (JB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. * *********************************************************************** TEACHERS AND EDUCATIONAL REFORMS: TEACHERS' RESPONSE TO POLICY CHANGES IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE Patricia Broadfoot Marilyn Osborn Claire Planel Andrew Pollard "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS M ?El:MAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 5 ( TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." U.S. DEPARTMENT Of' EDUCATION Office ci Educehor Newton end Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced u received from the person or orperstation oreautating it 0 Minor changes hay* been made to ,mprose reproduction quality Pcrntsot viewer oprnions stated thts document do not necessry's represent °Rival 0E111 point ton or popsy. Centre for Curriculum and Assessment Studies School of Education, 35 Berkeley Square University of Bristol Paper presented at the BERA Annual Conference, St. Anne's College, Oxford. 8-11 September 1994 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE In both England and France, primary education provision has recently been subject to radical change. In both countries these changes have been imposed by central government on individual teachers and schools. This paper will report findings from two linked studies The Primary Assessment Curriculum and Experience (PACE) project in England and the Primary Teachers and Policy Change (STEP) project in France. (Both projects are funded by the British Economic and Social Research Council.) This paper compares current findings with base-line data collected as part of the BRISTAIX project in both countries between 1984 and 1987 before the reforms took place. These data investigated primary teachers' conceptions of their teaching role to establish how far teachers' priorities and ways of working have been affected by the reforms. Given the very different emphasis of the policy initiatives in the two countries towards more decentralisation in France and towards much greater central control in England, the paper provides valuable comparative insights into teachers' reactions to imposed changes which challenge their professional assumptions. More generally it sheds light on how the management of change within an education system may be more effectively accomplished. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED380463.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
