The work of the teacher-educator in Australia: Reconstructing the "superhero" performer/academic in an audit culture. Issue 4 (7th August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tuinamuana, Katarina
• Is Part Of: Asia-Pacific journal of teacher education. Volume 44:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 333
• Page End: 347
• Publication Date: 2016-08-07
• Subjects: Teacher-educator -- audit cultures -- performativity -- teacher education -- critical discourse analysis; Teachers -- Training of -- Australasia -- Periodicals; Teachers -- Training of -- Pacific Area -- Periodicals; 370.71095
• DOI: 10.1080/1359866X.2016.1194369
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-866X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: What is it that teacher-educators "do"? This paper draws on interview data with Deans/Heads of Schools of Education in the Australian context to explore this question by asking: How is the teacher-educator produced as a category of academic worker? Using critical approaches to discourse analysis, the paper presents two interlocked storylines woven with varying emphasis through the interviews. First, the teacher-educator is produced as a superhero researcher and teacher, elevated by the expectations of the Excellence in Research for Australia audit/surveillance tools. Second, there is a concomitant struggle to reconcile pressure to research with commitment to meeting the needs of schooling systems, and to addressing the work of the teacher-educator in ethical terms. It is suggested that teacher-educators' work reflects a desire to legitimate various performances of teacher education within current dynamics of audit culture pressures, set against the less visible ethical project of education more broadly conceived.