The rights and responsibilities of teacher professional autonomy

Beck argues that by selecting limited perspectives from management theory, and by adhering to a loose form of behaviouralism which lists and limits competencies, ―professionalism‖ and the work of teachers is narrowly framed in specific ways that exclude consideration of wider focus found in the literature, and that this narrow and excluding perspective suits management control. [...] To guide and to teach in such places, teacher judgment is crucial, and to exercise judgment teachers must have that degree of autonomy within the requirements of the ethics and the law, but without those tight managerial controls over teachers‘ work and teachers‘ learning which BCPSEA wants to impose. [...] The case is made that autonomy needs to be tested in more public spaces, especially with peers, so that teaching is less private and is more openly shared and discussed, harnessing the creative energy of autonomous individual teachers while connecting them with others in more public spaces to discuss teaching and learning, to share ideas and critiques, and to exercise their autonomy within an enga [...] Such discussions might help teachers build forms of autonomy that create or connect to intelligent forms of accountability, thereby extending the professionalism of teaching, meeting the needs of students to learn and grow, while also addressing the needs of an education system to show accountability to parents and communities. [...] The dilemma for teachers is that the kind of problem-solving and critical thinking skills they wish to develop in students may not be the focus of tests, so that a teacher may in some situations choose between what they intend to be a richer experience of student learning, and styles of teaching that are primarily targeted towards generating good marks on tests.