Since NAPLAN was introduced ten years
ago reading and numeracy have improved slightly and writing skills have gone
down and despite all the resources that have been invested in our system of
education we haven’t hit the lofty heights of excellence we were hoping for.
School performance in NAPLAN it is accepted, reflects best teaching practise so
teachers and students are under considerable pressure to perform.
NAPLAN
was the solution to a declared ‘crisis’ in education so we wouldn’t be ‘left
behind’ our international peers. Educational discourse centred on concepts of ‘failure’,
‘crisis’, ‘measurement’, ‘benchmarks’, ‘assessment’, ‘reporting’, ‘good/bad
teacher/student.’ Teacher’s professional worth was and continues to be
questioned and discussed in the public arena. What makes a ‘good’ teacher? If
teachers aren’t ‘good’ then are they ‘bad?’ ‘Bad’ teachers are the cause of
falling standards etc. Greg Thompson asserts in The International
Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives:
‘In Australia, one of the key
motivations for a national testing regime has been the various discourses
surrounding the “quality” of teachers in Australian schools, and a sense of some
real or imagined crisis impacting on Australian education.’
Continued and persistent focus on what
a ‘good’ teacher is and how can we lift ‘teacher capability’ to teach will
weigh heavily on the minds of teachers in every school and in every classroom.
An established regime of accountability has promoted what Susan
E. Noffke describes ‘a culture of performativity’ in education driven
by neo- liberal policies:
‘… the widespread influence of neo-liberal
policies which have resulted in a culture of ‘performativity’ (Ball, 2003). One
prominent example is the attempt to reduce the parameters of educational work
to doing only that which results in gains in the narrow band of standardised
achievement test, and the ‘mapping’ of curriculum and instructional strategies
against that which is tested.’
Teachers
are under pressure to perform according to set guidelines and this can be
confirmed in casual conversation with educators in any school setting. I won't
expand on the link between neo liberal policies and its effects but suffice it to
say I do believe that the work of the teacher is very much linked to an agenda
that is far removed from the classroom and the experience of the teacher and
learner in the school setting.
How
does this continued spotlight on the teacher effect general health and
wellbeing? I would like to consider this in the light of the REBT (Rational
Emotive Behaviour Therapy) counselling model. Albert Ellis’ ABC Theory of Emotional Disturbance
embodies the wisdom of many thinkers over the millennia e.g. The Stoic Philosophers,
Karen Horney, Alfred
Koryzybski and others.
The
ABC Theory is a philosophy based counselling model which posits that when something
happens (A) there is a behavioural and emotional consequence (C). The children
I work with often have an A=C philosophy which says ‘I am angry (C) because she
said I couldn’t join in (A)! Ellis said that how we feel and act at (C) can be
regulated by how we interpret/perceive/estimate what has happened at (A). This
part of the equation (B) alerts us to the cognitive component which drives the
strength of the emotion we feel and the kinds of behavioural choices we make.
 |
| Dr Albert Ellis, creator of REBT |
In the counselling situation we want to help the student move form an A = C philosophy to an A x B = C philosophy or way of thinking. This helps the child/adult understand that he/she is an active agent in making feelings and choosing behaviours.
If
a person’s worth is challenged and questioned incessantly either explicitly or
by implication this can begin to unsettle a person’s view of self. This in turn
will affect how the person deals with difficult and challenging situations, the
(A) part of the equation.
Confidence
is an essential personal quality that is a buffer, a protective factor against
the adversities that we all inevitably are called on to deal with. It is
constructed over time and like a wall which is well constructed it will be
tested by all manner of assault and if it’s strong it will prevail. However
even the strongest of walls can be breached and compromised to the point of
failing.
What
is confidence? It’s a way of behaving, a projection of a certain sense of comfort
with oneself that allows for healthy risk taking to work towards set personal
and professional goals. She who feels confident will also deal with adversities
constructively. What we see behaviourally and emotionally and which we call
confidence is underwritten by an internal, deeply placed habit of
thinking/believing. It is what Ellis calls ‘unconditional self-acceptance’ a
steadfast belief that one cannot be defined by the opinion of others or how one
performs in a general sense. In other words someone’s idea about you does not and
cannot define the essence of who you are. Nor can failing at a task define you
as a failure. This is the ‘psychological wall’ of self-acceptance constructed
over time.
 |
| Unconditional Self Acceptance - Albert Ellis |
However the foundations of this belief can be rattled under the weight of persistent judgement and appraisal based on ‘key performance indicators’ in a regime of testing and accountability which is so much the reality of the teaching and learning experience according to many.
Can
someone’s idea of self-worth be rearranged, reconfigured under such relentless
pressure? It seems this can be the case according to many who feel they are
performing to the beat of someone else’s drum. They do not feel in control,
they lack autonomy in what they do. Stephen
J Ball in The teacher's soul and the terrors of performativity says that
the teacher is left to question her worth as a teacher experiencing:
‘…. guilt, uncertainty, instability and the emergence of a new
subjectivity. What Bernstein (2000: 1942) calls ‘mechanisms of introjection’
whereby ‘the identity finds its core in its place in an organisation of
knowledge and practice’ are here being threatened by or replaced by ‘mechanisms
of projection’, that is an ‘identity is a reflection of external contingencies’
(Bernstein 2000: 1942).’
I
regard this ‘new subjectivity’ to mean a shift in the foundation belief of
unconditional self-acceptance to a new and shaky assessment of self to be a
conditional one. This habit of thinking /believing i.e. ‘I am only OK if … my
kids perform well, if my line manager thinks I’m going OK, if the regional director
is happy with how the schools heading etc. Self-doubt may creep into her mind
about her ability to ‘be’ a ‘good’ teacher. What do her colleagues think of
her? Will she be asked to enter into some capability building exercise to bring
her up to standard? And how will others view this?
Albert
Ellis would say that the teacher has shifted from a position of strong self-worth
to one of conditional self-worth where she only feels validated when she meets
the expectations of a teaching regime that is laid out before her. What can she
do? She can challenge the status quo and articulate her concerns about how
things are going and how she feels about things. But how will this be received?
She may think that she will be regarded as ‘the problem’ and that she will have
to lift her game. She will have to lift her level of expertise to that of the ‘good,’
the ‘quality’ teacher. Is there a place for constructive criticism to be expressed
without fear of judgement? Is there a sense that what people have to say is valued?
Teacher
mental and overall health and well-being is challenged in the present climate
of teaching and learning. The culture of performativity can for some, undermine
their sense of confidence where their view of self is challenged because the system says they’re in effect no good!
In
conclusion concerns are held for personnel at every level who suffer under the weight
of the ‘reform solutions’ that have been determined for them in response to the
‘crisis’ we have in education. The
Conversation reminds us that:
‘Over
the past decade, the policy landscape has become riddled with reform
“solutions”. These subject students, teachers, administrators and policymakers
to mounting levels of pressure and stress. The short-term cyclical churn of
today’s politics and media clearly exacerbates these problems.’
