Educational equity based on teachers’ reflective autonomy (DOI: 10.2436/20.3000.02.50)

Abstract

The expansion of accountability has fed the debate on the consequences of what is known as the evaluating state on teachers’ professional autonomy, in which a negative, mistrustful vision has prevailed. However, we should distinguish between two main models of accountability in education: a) the neoliberal model, which promotes the publication of school rankings and pressurises for results; and b) the teacher responsibility model, stemming from internal diagnostic assessments that activate teachers’ reflective autonomy and initiate comprehensive school restructuring and innovation processes. The first model leads to the de-professionalisation of teaching and the steamrolling of its pedagogical authority, while the second model can enhance reprofessionalisation and a renewed sense of the teaching team’s public function. The “genuine school restructuring” movement based on bottom-up changes and innovations is an example of reflective autonomy that incorporates equity as a core objective. However, the educational community knows little about the school effect and teaching effect on equity due to the limited research carried out in Catalonia and erratic educational equity policies.

Key words: teacher autonomy, educational equity, teaching teams, educational change, reflective professionalism, teacher accountability.

Original source: Revista Catalana de Pedagogia, 14: 119-151 (2018)